Catches Prove Far Less Than Fair to UCLA : Bruins: They fumble away two first-half punts. Oklahoma takes advantage and rolls to 34-14 victory.

There are degrees of disappointment, and UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said that he didn’t feel nearly as bad Saturday as he did a year ago at this time.

Last year, UCLA was beaten by Tennessee, 24-6, in its opening game. Saturday, Oklahoma beat the Bruins at the Rose Bowl, 34-14, before 50,068.

UCLA contributed to its demise by mishandling two punts in the first half, enabling the Sooners to score short-yardage touchdowns.

Oklahoma led, 7-6, late in the first quarter when Sean Chapelle fumbled while trying to catch a punt inside the 15-yard line. The Sooners recovered at the 11 and scored in three plays.

In the second quarter, after UCLA had tied the score, 14-14, wide receiver Reggie Moore muffed a punt at the 10, the Sooners’ Tony Levy making his second fumble recovery. Fullback Mike McKinley scored on the next play, a burst up the middle.

“The disappointing thing for me was that we were unable to even catch a punt in the first half to give Oklahoma two touchdowns,” Donahue said.

“The game should have been a 14-14 game at worst, maybe 14-7.

“It’s very clear that 14 of Oklahoma’s 34 points weren’t given up by our defense. High school kids catch balls like that. At a school like UCLA, you should have a punt catcher who can catch a ball. It’s poor recruiting.”

Donahue had lost his No. 1 punt returner, Scott Miller, because of a broken collarbone at the start of fall practice.

“We obviously didn’t get the position shored up. It was inadequate,” Donahue said.

Nonetheless, UCLA trailed by only 21-14 at halftime.

The Sooners, still an effective running team even though they ran out of the option-I instead of their traditional wishbone offense, put the Bruins away with an 80-yard, all-running-play scoring drive to open the third quarter.

Oklahoma added two more field goals while shutting out UCLA in the second half.

The Bruin offense was generally ineffective, accounting for 203 net yards to Oklahoma’s 343.

Jim Bonds, a junior making his first start for UCLA, completed eight of 14 passes for 69 yards and was sacked three times.

Tommy Maddox, a redshirt freshman playing in his first game, took over for Bonds midway through the third quarter.

He completed eight of 16 passes for 106 yards, but he threw two interceptions--as did Bonds.

Donahue declined to say who would start at quarterback for the Bruins in next Saturday’s game against Stanford. He said he wanted to evaluate the entire team before making such a decision.

Despite UCLA’s total of 28 net yards rushing, Donahue found a bright spot.

“I don’t feel anywhere near as bad today as I did at this time last year,” Donahue said. “But we’re not a strong team now. We have to go back to work.”

The game also revealed UCLA’s lack of speed, a factor that contributed to a 3-7-1 record last year.

Donahue acknowledged that deficiency but pointed out that UCLA’s fastest players--linebacker Roceen Keaton and nickel defensive back Al Jordan--didn’t play because of injuries. Keeton is sidelined for at least four weeks because of a knee injury, and Jordan is out for the season because of knee surgery.

“The 34 points don’t show how well our defense can play,” cornerback Dion Lambert said.

“Their option looked a little fast to us at first, but we adjusted to it. It wasn’t so much the heat (118 degrees on the field). We were just on the field too much.”

This is a traditional Oklahoma team inasmuch as its starting quarterback, Steve Collins, wasn’t much of a passer. He completed two of 10 passes for 23 yards, throwing one interception.

Collins was replaced by freshman Cale Gundy after the starting quarterback’s legs cramped. Gundy completed two of eight passes for 21 yards and two interceptions.

Oklahoma didn’t need to pass. Collins said that the Sooners wanted to attack UCLA’s generally inexperienced defensive line with the option rather than test the Bruins’ experienced secondary.

It didn’t help matters for UCLA when tackle Brian Kelly, regarded as the team’s best defensive lineman, suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.

UCLA Notes

It was UCLA’s first and worst season-opening loss since the Sooners pounded the Bruins, 38-3, in 1986 at Norman, Okla. . . . UCLA had a 6-0 first-quarter lead after two field goal drives. “We were up 6-0, but the momentum had swung to them,” quarterback Jim Bonds said. “We should have been up 14-0.”. . . . Leading 3-0, UCLA elected to run on third and six from the Oklahoma 22 instead of passing. Tailback Shawn Wills was stopped for no gain.

UCLA didn’t have a sustained scoring drive, getting its only touchdown after linebacker Roman Phifer intercepted Steve Collins’ pass, returning it eight yards to the Oklahoma nine-yard line. . . . Oklahoma had two 80-yard touchdown drives, in the first and third quarters. . . . UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox, assessing his performance: “I made some mistakes and I did some positive things to build on. I felt comfortable out there. Football is fun, but I felt sick to my stomach that we lost.”

Maddox drove the Bruins to a first down at the Oklahoma three-yard line in the fourth quarter. But an illegal procedure penalty pushed UCLA back to the eight and Maddox threw three incomplete passes.

* FROTH AT ROSE BOWL: Many fans beat the booze ban by bringing their own. B1.