UCLA Faces Crossroads in Oregon State : College football: With no Rose Bowl berth in view, the Bruins can head for a second consecutive losing season or regain respectability.

UCLA is at a critical point of the football season with four games remaining and a winning record hanging in the balance.

The Bruins are 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference. They will play Oregon State Saturday at the Rose Bowl, followed by games at Oregon and Washington before ending with USC at home.

UCLA was 3-7-1 last year and hasn’t had consecutive losing seasons since the mid 1960s.

Winning the conference championship and playing in the Rose Bowl game are no longer realistic objectives.

Given those circumstances, UCLA Coach Terry Donahue was asked Monday whether he’s fearful of a letdown.

“Anyone who has control of their senses would be somewhat concerned about the disappointment that the team feels after losing two tough conference games (to Arizona and California).

“There are still a lot of objectives out there, but the main objective of winning the conference championship and going to the Rose Bowl certainly appears to be in grave doubt.

“But there are things we can still accomplish. A lot of the kids here are real committed. There’s no question there is disappointment, but what I have to do is strive to make sure that discouragement doesn’t set in.”

UCLA’s football program is enduring hard times, considering that the Bruins won seven consecutive bowl games in the 1980s.

“We have to learn how to win back-to-back games, get a little streak going, and that’s been difficult to do for two years,” Donahue said. “We just have to improve and not wallow in disappointment and discouragement.

“We’ve played four conference games, and we could have won all of them, or lost them all. So you do what you normally do, you split.”

With the exception of the first half of the California game last Saturday at Berkeley, in which UCLA fell behind, 27-10, before losing, 38-31, Donahue said he can’t fault the effort of his players this season.

“We demonstrated we have some fight, and we were in position to win the game,” Donahue said.

Donahue was referring to UCLA’s driving to the Cal 14-yard line, second and six, before quarterback Tommy Maddox was sacked, fumbling to the Bears in the final four minutes.

So how did the Bruins get into such a state, considering their previous successful years?

Donahue has said all along that UCLA made some bad decisions in recruiting that are now reflected in the record.

“I think it’s a combination of factors. It’s not a simple thing,” Donahue said. “We have some young kids who will get better as they go along, and we hope we can clear it up with some improved decision-making on our part in recruiting.

“It isn’t all the players’ fault, the coaches’ fault or my fault. It’s all our faults. We have to keep working at it to get it back where UCLA expects to be and is supposed to be. And that’s going to take some time, and it’s not going to be easily accomplished, but it can be accomplished.”

UCLA is scoring 26.9 points a game but allowing 31.4. So it would seem that the defense has been more remiss than the offense.

Donahue said it isn’t that simple, though, pointing out that offense also has floundered at times.

He also cited injuries to his defensive unit. UCLA hasn’t started the same 11 players in consecutive games since the start of the season.

“I feel sorry for our defensive players and coaches,” Donahue said. “We haven’t had all the bullets in our gun.”

As for the rest of the season, Donahue doesn’t want to look beyond the Oregon State game.

“We have to focus on Oregon State (which has a 1-6 record). We have to get some momentum generated,” Donahue said. “We have to say the glass is half full, and we have to fill it up.

“A win over Oregon State is a step in the right direction. If you look at all of it (the rest of the schedule), you could get overwhelmed.”

Donahue, in reflecting on the fortunes of the game, won’t soon forget a call by Cal in the second quarter last Saturday.

On fourth and one at their own 29-yard line, the Bears went for the first down while leading, 17-7. Quarterback Mike Pawlawski fumbled the snap, but it was picked up by tailback Anthony Wallace, who gained two yards.

“My heart said, ‘We got it (the ball)’ until the guy picked it up and made a first down,” Donahue said. “I then said to myself, ‘I don’t like the way this is going.’ ”

The Bears then drove for a touchdown, stretching their lead to 24-7.