Bruins Can’t Survive Another 4th Quarter in Loss to Stanford

The nightmare continues.

UCLA’s bumbling Bruins saved their worst for last again Saturday, allowing an opponent to overtake them in the fourth quarter for the third consecutive week and then faltering when they seemed ready to rally.

This time they lost to the Stanford Cardinal, winner of only one of its previous eight games but plucky enough on this day to beat the Bruins, 17-14, in front of a crowd of about 45,000 at Stanford Stadium.

That makes it four consecutive losses for UCLA for the first time in one season since 1971, when a wide-eyed 27-year-old named Terry Donahue coached the Bruins’ offensive linemen and the Bruins opened a 2-7-1 season with consecutive losses to Pittsburgh, Texas, Michigan and Oregon State.

UCLA, blown out by Arizona last month and then a one-point loser to both Oregon State and Washington, hadn’t dropped four consecutive conference games since 1948, when it lost six in a row in the Pacific Coast Conference.

With two games to play, a team that opened the season ranked sixth and boasted in its media guide of a “long list of outstanding recruiting classes” and a record string of bowl victories is 3-6 overall, 2-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference and guaranteed its first losing season in 10 years.

“The program was at the pinnacle of college football in many respects,” said Donahue, a faraway look in his eye as he reflected on his 14th season as UCLA’s coach, “and now it’s fallen to rock bottom.”

The Bruins took another tumble against Stanford, failing to score in the second half against a team that had given up more points per game than all but two other teams in the Pac-10 and, if not for an improbable rally against Oregon, would have been 0-8.

Kevin Scott’s batting down of a 37-yard third-quarter field goal attempt by Alfredo Velasco was the beginning of the Bruins’ demise.

After falling behind early, letting Stanford drive 80 yards to a touchdown in its first possession, the Bruins caught up on a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bret Johnson to flanker Scott Miller.

Then, after Stanford drove 37 yards to a second-quarter touchdown--after pressuring UCLA punter Kirk Maggio and forcing him to run out of bounds short of a first down on fourth-and-11--UCLA pulled even again.

This time, Miller caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jim Bonds, making an over-the-shoulder grab at the right flag.

Finally, with 1 minute 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter, UCLA looked as if it were ready to overtake the Cardinal.

Scott, however, jumped around tight end Corwin Anthony, who was lined up on the left side and, according to Scott, concentrated his efforts on cornerback Alan Grant as Scott charged around him on the outside.

Once past Anthony, Scott planted his feet and jumped.

“Quite honestly, I didn’t see it get blocked,” Velasco said of his kick, which was swatted away by Scott, a 5-foot-11 cornerback. “I heard the crack of the ball being blocked and saw it lying there on the ground.”

Albert Richardson fell on it for the Cardinal.

“All day, he had been coming down really hard on Alan and cutting the corner short,” Scott said of Anthony. “So, we tightened down a lot, me and Alan did. Alan jumped inside really hard and so (Anthony) banged down on Alan really hard and I got to skip (around) his outside leg.

“I turned sideways and threw my right hand out.”

Ball hit palm solidly.

Taking over at its 16-yard line, Stanford then marched quickly to UCLA’s 27-yard line, where the drive stalled and John Hopkins kicked a 44-yard field goal, making it 17-14 with 11:17 left.

The Bruins, of course, still had plenty of time to score, and Bonds, who alternated at quarterback with Johnson and completed seven of eight passes for 77 yards, had them on the move midway through the fourth quarter.

But after seemingly gaining two yards on a third-and-one dive at Stanford’s 44-yard line, fullback Mark Estwick lost control of the ball. It squirted high into the air and was recovered by Grant.

“Nobody has a crystal ball and nobody knows what would have happened,” Donahue said of Estwick’s costly fumble, “but certainly at that point in time it was a huge, huge turnover.

“He said he thought a helmet hit it. Sometimes, when the ball squirts (into the air) like that, it’s because a helmet hit it. I would assume it was just a really good defensive play by a Stanford player.”

Stanford, which generated 258 total yards to UCLA’s 309 but had no turnovers while UCLA lost three fumbles, took over at its 42-yard line with 6:25 left and used up almost five minutes in a 52-yard drive.

On fourth-and-one at the Bruins’ five-yard line, quarterback Brian Johnson was stopped for no gain, and UCLA had another chance.

Bonds completed passes of six, 11 and seven yards to tight end Charles Arbuckle. But as he made the last reception, Arbuckle was hit by Jimmy Klein, a freshman linebacker from Loyola High School.

He fumbled, it was recovered by Richardson, and Stanford, its five-game losing streak ended, was 2-7 and tied for eighth with UCLA in the Pac-10 race.

Bruin Notes

Quarterback Bret Johnson started both halves but was replaced by Jim Bonds with 7:47 left in the first half and then again at the start of the fourth quarter. Johnson completed six of 15 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, but Coach Terry Donahue said that he was not benched, per se. “I just didn’t want to go through the season not having some information about Jimmy Bonds,” Donahue said of his sophomore backup. “I don’t think we can go into next spring and not know anything about how he looks in game competition.” . . . Donahue made no mention of Johnson being booed by a sizable contingent of UCLA fans but said it would be unfair to judge either quarterback too harshly. “I don’t think we’re helping those kids very much, and it’s sad,” he said. “They’re just young kids, carrying a heavy burden.”

UCLA lost its last two Pacific 10 Conference games in 1978 and its first two in 1979, the last time it lost four consecutive conference games. . . . Grasping at straws: According to Stanford Coach Dennis Green, beating UCLA is a “benchmark” for the Cardinal. Not this season, Dennis. . . . Donahue closed the UCLA locker room for the first time this season, asking that his players be left alone until they walked out toward the bus. . . . If UCLA loses its last two games, to Oregon and USC, it will finish with its worst record since 1963, when it was 2-8.