Donahue Doesn’t Overheat in Big Defeat : UCLA: Bruin coach is disappointed, but he controls his temper in loss to Arizona.

The temperature on the field reached 102 degrees Saturday during UCLA’s 42-7 loss to Arizona, but Terry Donahue kept his cool.

While he watched repeated cases of windburn among his defensive team as Arizona runners passed by, Donahue’s face was about the same color as his lemon yellow shirt.

His expression changed little when David Eldridge squeezed through the line, sped to the sideline and turned a pitchout into a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

After all, Donahue had seen something like it before. Only 5 minutes earlier, Eldridge had scored on a 19-yard run.

Then, in the fourth quarter, when 5-foot-8 freshman running back Errol Sapp, flowed straight up the middle of UCLA’s defense for a 14-yard touchdown, Donahue folded his arms in front of him, like a man resigned to his fate.

“We had a chance to be a clear-cut leader for the conference championship and we get totally outclassed,” Donahue said. “You have to evaluate that. You can’t sweep it under the rug.

“It wasn’t a close game, we didn’t lose a heartbreaker. We got thrashed. Our team isn’t very good now. We’re trying to get better, but we didn’t get any better today.”

For UCLA, it was a defeat of stunning proportions. The Wildcats, coming off an upset, 16-10 loss to Oregon, led 14-0 after two possessions, 28-0 at the half and 35-0 after three quarters, rushed for more yards (480) than any opponent in UCLA history and thoroughly baffled their coach in one of the most memorable performances ever.

“I’m not sure I can remember a more inept performance by one of my teams,” Donahue said.

It was also “a nightmare,” and “a thrashing,” which are the normal descriptive passages used on such occasions as these.

In the process, the Bruins watched as Eldridge rushed for 205 yards in 20 carries, the most yards a UCLA team has yielded to someone since Marcus Allen had 219 in a 22-21 USC victory in 1981.

This could be the only time that Eldridge, who missed spring drills with a broken ankle, has ever been mentioned in the same sentence as Allen.

What made the whole thing possible for Arizona was a newly installed offense, the I-formation, for which UCLA seemed totally unprepared. The Bruins countered defensively with the “What?-formation.”

It appeared as if the only hope UCLA’s defenders had was that Eldridge might break his ankle again, possibly as he tripped over the stripe at the goal line.

Arizona, which came into the game last in the Pacific 10 Conference in total offense, scored one more touchdown against UCLA than they had the rest of the season.

With Arizona leading, 35-0, quarterback Ronald Veal gave way to backup George Malauulu late in the third quarter, which meant that 51,562 witnessed the tongue-twisting passing combination of Malauulu to Olatide Ogunfiditimi.

Little worked for the Bruins. Quarterback Bret Johnson gave way to Jim Bonds with the score 21-0 and UCLA on its 12 yard line. Two passes later, it was about to become 28-0.

Chris Singleton intercepted Bonds’ pass and returned it nine yards to the seven-yard line, from where Veal scored on the first play he called.

The Bruins were outblocked, outrushed, outdistanced and outscored by an Arizona team that just wasn’t expected to be able to do those things.

But there was split end Ogunfiditimi way downfield, throwing a clearing block for Eldridge on his 54-yard touchdown run.

Later, it was Eldridge leveling Bruin Marvcus Patton on a cut by Veal, which turned out to be a key play in another touchdown drive.

There were seven touchdown drives by the Wildcats, although Arizona Coach Dick Tomey tried for more. Leading 35-0, Tomey twice called time in the last two minutes.

Although Donahue seemed to have total recall of his feelings about every other situation in the game, he blanked out when asked about Tomey’s strategy.

“I was just in the game . . . and we were getting our . . . kicked,” Donahue said.

Said Eric Turner: “That’s OK, that’s their style, if you want to call it a lack of class or whatever, we knew they’d be trying to score as many points as they could.”

And who can blame them? The Bruins had trouble enough of their own in that department, their 210-game scoring streak jeopardized until the fourth quarter.

But with Bonds at quarterback again, the Bruins scored with 4:18 to go and Donahue found something good in that.

“We could have just quit, but at the end of the game, our football team scored,” he said. “It wasn’t enough, but it surely beats the alternative.”

In the quiet UCLA locker room, players showered, changed, picked up their bags and were out the door as quickly as possible. No need to linger around this one.

Punter Kirk Maggio, one of the few Bruins who did not have an off-day, said he had no idea why the team could be so flat.

“I always thought we were going to come back, even at halftime,” Maggio said. “Coach Donahue kept reminding us of how Maryland was behind Miami, 30-0, at the half and won (31-30 in 1985).

“We thought were were going to do it,” Maggio said. “It was a great halftime speech. After the game, Coach just told us that sometimes things go our way and sometimes they don’t. Coach Donahue is just a very, I would say, quiet coach. He keeps his cool, kept his cool today.

“But he’s feeling sick right now,” Maggio said. “A lot of us are.”