Passing Grade for USC; UCLA Fails : Bruins Lose 8-Point Lead in 95 Seconds as Michigan Wins, 24-23

If Saturday night was a time for UCLA to show its colors, as Coach Terry Donahue suggested, then color the Bruins blue.

Not black and blue.

The Bruins stood up to Michigan and held their own.

But they squandered an eight-point lead in the closing 95 seconds at the Rose Bowl, losing to the fifth-ranked Wolverines, 24-23, when J.D. Carlson capped a furious comeback by kicking a 24-yard field goal with one second left.

So, color the Bruins blue.

“I don’t know where to start, except to say that we’re obviously very disappointed that we didn’t get the victory,” Donahue said of the Bruins’ second loss in three games. “We played with a certain amount of intensity, which we had not been playing with prior to tonight. The team grew and developed and made substantial improvement and progress.”

But it was all for naught.

UCLA lost an 11-point second-quarter lead, falling behind, 15-14, in the third quarter, but rallied to go back ahead, 23-15, on a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bret Johnson to tight end Corwin Anthony.

Vada Murray blocked Alfredo Velasco’s extra-point attempt, but with only 5:42 left, the play seemed inconsequential.

Then, when the Bruins’ much-maligned defense forced Michigan to punt with 4:29 remaining, UCLA seemed to have the game won.

But on a second-down running play, tailback Shawn Wills fumbled when he was hit by cornerback David Key. “I thought I had a pretty good grip on it,” Wills said.

Linebacker J.J. Grant recovered at UCLA’s 43-yard line.

On the sideline, Donahue was horrified by what he saw.

“Quite frankly, I was trying to squeeze a look to see if he had made a first down,” Donahue said of Wills. “Then, all of a sudden I saw the Michigan players jumping up and down with excitement. We have to be able to secure the football in those crucial moments. When the game is on the line, we’ve got to secure the football.”

By the time they got it back again, the Bruins trailed.

Freshman quarterback Elvis Grbac quickly drove Michigan down the field, completing an 11-yard pass to Derrick Walker and later a 12-yard pass to tailback Tony Boles to put the Wolverines at the UCLA seven.

Michigan scored, closing to 23-21, on a three-yard pass from Grbac to Walker, who found a hole in the Bruin secondary with 1:35 left. Walker, the Wolverines’ tight end, was open again on a two-point conversion attempt, but nose guard Brian Kelly deflected Grbac’s pass.

In the stands, celebrations began among the crowd of 71,797.

Moments later, though, an onside kick by Carlson took a kangaroo hop over the head of UCLA’s front line of defense and nestled into the arms of Murray, who might have taken the ball into the end zone if he hadn’t stumbled.

Maybe it would have been better for UCLA if he had, Donahue suggested. “Then we would have had time to come back and score.”

Carlson’s kick couldn’t have taken a more fortunate bounce.

“I couldn’t believe the way it hopped on the grass,” said Johnson, who watched it from the UCLA sideline. “You usually only see that on AstroTurf.”

Across the way, Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler called his players together and told them: “We’re going to win it.”

He was right.

Grbac completed a nine-yard pass to Chris Calloway, then a 10-yard pass to Boles. A one-yard run by Boles was followed by a screen pass to Boles, who turned the play into a 17-yard gain, taking the ball to the eight.

On third-and goal at UCLA’s three-yard line, Grbac took the snap and fell down at the six-yard line midway between the left and right hash marks, setting the stage for Carlson’s game-winning kick.

Grbac, who completed six of 15 passes for 60 yards in the first 56 minutes, hit seven of eight for 70 yards in Michigan’s last two possessions. “He plays better when we’re in a hurry,” Schembechler said.

UCLA finally got the ball back with one second left, but a desperation pass by reserve quarterback Jim Bonds was intercepted by Murray near the goal line.

Michigan, a loser in its opener to Notre Dame, is 1-1.

UCLA, though, had proven that reports of its demise, many of them made by Donahue, had been greatly exaggerated.

Each team finished with 17 first downs, and Michigan, despite its late rush, enjoyed only a slight statistical advantage, accumulating 256 total yards, including 126 on the ground, to UCLA’s 253.

Johnson’s statistics were similar to Grbac’s. The redshirt freshman completed 13 of 20 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. And he rallied the Bruins after Michigan overcame an eight-point halftime deficit by scoring nine points in under 3 1/2 minutes.

The Wolverines, who closed to 14-9 on Carlson’s field goal after Johnson’s pass was intercepted by Erick Anderson, then moved ahead for the first time, 15-14. Tripp Welborne returned a punt 63 yards to UCLA’s six-yard line, and Leroy Hoard scored the go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard dive.

Johnson, though, brought the Bruins back.

A 45-yard field goal by Velasco gave UCLA a 17-15 lead on the last play of the third quarter.

Michigan’s next two possessions ended with lost fumbles, both of them caused by UCLA linebacker Marvcus Patton, and then Johnson and Wills led the Bruins on a 41-yard drive to what looked like the game-winning touchdown.

After Brian Brown’s fumble was recovered by teammate Keith Jacobson, Wills carried five straight times for 22 yards before Johnson, after faking a handoff, found Anthony in the end zone behind cornerback Lance Dottin.

UCLA led, 23-15.

But not for long.

Several controversial calls had marred the first half, which ended with UCLA leading, 14-6, and the officials walking off to boos.

By that time, obviously, the partisan crowd had forgotten that the first judgment call by the officials favored the Bruins.

Capping a 54-yard drive that started after cornerback Dion Lambert intercepted Grbac’s tipped pass, UCLA’s Kevin Williams dived into the end zone on fourth down from the one.

When he landed, though, the freshman tailback was empty-handed, having lost the ball in mid-flight. The officials ruled, however, that Williams crossed the plane of the goal line before the ball was knocked out of his grasp.

Michigan protested, to no avail.

Velasco’s conversion gave UCLA a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, a stalled Michigan drive was given new life when UCLA’s Matt Darby, flipped head over heels by Anderson, was penalized for running into punter Chris Stapleton.

Awarded a first down at UCLA’s 42-yard line, the Wolverines advanced to the 29, where they faced third and seven. Grbac threw incomplete, and Michigan settled for a 46-yard field goal by Carlson.

UCLA then marched down the field, driving 70 yards in 10 plays, including a 12-yard pass from Johnson to Randy Austin and a 25-yard pass from Johnson to Mike Farr, to increase its lead to 14-3.

Flanker Scott Miller scored the touchdown, working himself free behind Dottin in the back of the end zone and taking a low, rifled pass from Johnson, who rolled to his right before passing.

Another controversial call aided Michigan’s last possession of the half, which ended with Carlson kicking a 36-yard field goal with 14 seconds left.

On first down at the UCLA 44, Hoard took a pass from Grbac, only to be met simultaneously by UCLA safety Patrick Bates. The ball popped loose, and UCLA’s Meech Shaw fell on it, apparently for a fumble recovery.

After much debate, however, the officials ruled the pass was incomplete, and Michigan retained possession, driving to the eight-yard line, faceing third down and three.

Shaw ruined a reverse by the Wolverines, wrapping his arms around Boles and then tripping flanker Desmond Howard after he took a handoff from the tailback. The play lost 10 yards, bringing on the kicking unit.