UCLA Can’t Look Arizona in the I in 42-7 Loss

The crimson hue on the faces of UCLA players and coaches Saturday as they walked out of Arizona Stadium had less to do with the desert heat than with the fact that the Bruins were caught unprepared for changes in Arizona’s offense and were overwhelmed by the Wildcats, 42-7.

Unprepared?

How else to explain 480 yards rushing by the Wildcats, a record for a UCLA opponent and only 12 shy of an Arizona school record?

Or 27 first downs by rushing, which was a school record?

UCLA hadn’t been beaten so decisively in a Pacific 10 Conference game since Nov. 24, 1979, when USC crushed the Bruins, 49-14, at the Coliseum.

But that was a great USC team, led by Heisman Trophy winner Charles White and owner of an 11-0-1 record that left it No. 2 in the final polls.

Arizona, which improved its record to 4-2, averaged only 246.6 total yards in its first five games, ranked last in the Pac-10 in total offense and passing offense, and scored only six touchdowns.

But, running out of the I formation for the first time this season, the Wildcats ravaged UCLA for 505 total yards, the most given up by the Bruins since Sept. 14, 1985, when Tennessee gained 510 yards in a 26-26 tie at Knoxville, Tenn., and doubled their season touchdown total.

“This is the worst licking we’ve taken in a long, long time,” said Terry Donahue, whose teams have lost by more than 35 points only once in his 14 seasons as UCLA’s head coach. “I’m not sure I can remember a more inept performance by one of my teams.”

Two weeks ago, after Arizona generated only 161 total yards in a 16-10 loss to Oregon, Wildcat Coach Dick Tomey dispatched two of his assistants to Boulder, Colo., to study Colorado’s offensive formations.

Ten days ago, Tomey implemented the Buffaloes’ option I.

Donahue, believing that Arizona would continue to run a triple-option offense out of several formations--the Wildcats had a bye last week--said UCLA practiced very little against the I.

How about not at all?

“Everything except the I formation, we prepared for,” said Mike Lodish, a UCLA senior defensive tackle.

Safety Eric Turner said that UCLA prepared to face the wishbone and the run-and-shoot, Arizona’s favored formations in recent seasons.

How confused were the Bruins?

Linebacker Craig Davis, explaining Arizona’s offensive success, said: “When a team makes its blocks and you miss your tackles, especially in the wishbone, you’ve got one guy left over and if he misses the tackle, you’re (in a lot of trouble).”

The Wildcats seldom ran out of the wishbone formation.

UCLA didn’t anticipate the speed of the Wildcat offense, Lodish said. “Their backs, I guess, were (lined up) so close to the line that they hit (the line of scrimmage) right away.

“It’s hard for a defensive lineman to get off the block and react. You don’t have much time to think.”

Arizona quarterback Ronald Veal disputed that notion.

“Our backs were a little deeper,” Veal said of the I-formation, “and they were able to read the blocks.”

Even after they had experienced the Wildcats’ new formation, the Bruins seemed mixed up.

On the other side of the ball, nobody was more excited about the offensive changes than tailback David Eldridge, who ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries, averaging more than 10 yards a carry.

Veal ran for 81 yards and two touchdowns in 11 carries and freshman running back Errol Sapp, L.A. City player of the year last season at Carson High School, ran for 77 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries.

Both coaches, however, attempted to downplay the significance of the Wildcats’ new alignments.

“It appeared from my vantage point that they could have been in any formation they wanted to be in and it wouldn’t have made a whole lot of difference,” Donahue said.

Tomey said that the Wildcats ran the same plays that they usually do, but just ran them out of different formations.

“The biggest difference was the way we blocked,” he said. “If you line up in this formation or that formation, you’ve still got to block.”

Somebody must have been blocking because Eldridge and Co. ran through some gaping holes in the Bruins’ defense.

UCLA won the coin toss before the game, elected to kick off and its day went downhill from there.

Arizona, in its new offense, took the kick and drove 80 yards in seven plays, none of which gained fewer than eight yards. Eldridge, who carried four times for 45 yards, scored the touchdown on a 19-yard run up the middle.

Then, after UCLA’s first possession went three plays and out, Arizona drove 82 yards in six plays. A 54-yard run by Eldridge around the left end of the line made it 14-0 with 7:44 still left in the first quarter.

In its fourth possession, Arizona drove 78 yards in 16 plays to another touchdown, aided by a curious decision by Donahue at the end.

An Arizona player was called for holding on a second-down play at UCLA’s nine-yard line, but the Bruins declined the penalty. Fullback Mario Hampton scored on a 10-yard run on the very next play, charging untouched through the middle and into the end zone to make it 21-0 with 9:28 left in the half.

At that point, UCLA had 21 total yards and one first down. Arizona had 246 yards and 17 first downs.

How poorly was the day going for the Bruins?

With 4:53 left in the half, quarterback Bret Johnson positioned kicker Alfredo Velasco for a 36-yard field-goal attempt, only to watch Velasco’s kick glance off a goalpost upright and fall wide to the left.

In 30 previous attempts inside 40 yards, Velasco had not missed.

Late in the half, Donahue replaced Johnson with seldom-used sophomore Jim Bonds, whose first pass was almost intercepted by cornerback Darryl Lewis, who would have scored if he hadn’t dropped the ball.

Bonds’ second pass was picked off by linebacker Chris Singleton, setting up a seven-yard touchdown run by Veal that made it 28-0.

Arizona, which rolled up 286 total yards in the first half to UCLA’s 110, waited until the second possession of the second half to make it 35-0. Veal scored on a one-yard run at the end of a 65-yard drive that featured 27 yards rushing in three carries by Eldridge and a 24-yard scramble by Veal that put the Wildcats at the Bruins’ 12-yard line.

Sapp made it 42-0 with 7:25 left, scoring on a spectacular 14-yard run at the end of a 74-yard drive.

UCLA, which hasn’t been shut out in a national-record 211 games since Sept. 24, 1971, saved some face when it scored with 4:14 left at the end of a 69-yard drive led by Bonds. Brian Brown got the touchdown on a two-yard run.

That, however, seemed of little consolation to Donahue.

“The game, obviously, was a real nightmare for us,” he said. “Arizona played a great game in every aspect of the contest and was decisively, far and away, the better team in every category and deserved the lopsided victory.

“We’re very disappointed. We had a bad day at the office.”

Bruin Notes

UCLA fell to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10 and fell out of a first-place tie with USC. . . . Arizona is 3-1 in the Pac-10. . . . UCLA’s Kevin Williams ran for 79 yards in 11 carries. His 23-yard run on the last play of the first half was the Bruins’ longest run of the season.

UCLA quarterback Bret Johnson completed 11 of 22 passes for 135 yards and had two passes intercepted in the second half. . . . Jim Bonds was five of eight for 56 yards and also had two passes intercepted. . . . Mike Farr caught three passes to move past Cormac Carney and Karl Dorrell and into second-place on UCLA’s all-time reception list with 110.

UCLA’S BIGGEST CONFERENCE LOSSES

Year Opponent Score Margin 1925 Stanford 82-0 82 1929 USC 76-0 76 1929 Stanford 57-0 57 1930 USC 52-0 52 1940 Washington 41-0 41 1970 Washington 61-20 41 1928 Wash. St. 38-0 38 1938 Stanford 42-7 35 1989 Arizona 42-7 35 1950 Cal 35-0 35 1938 USC 42-7 35 1979 USC 49-14 35 1941 Stanford 33-0 33 1962 Washington 30-0 30