UCLA Down to Last-Place Motivation : Football: Bruins play Oregon State in a game matching teams that are winless in the Pac-10.

Today’s UCLA-Oregon State game won’t have any impact on the Rose Bowl race, but it will have plenty on the race for respectability.

Last place in the Pacific 10 will be at stake when the Bruins and Beavers, the only teams that haven’t won a conference game this season, meet at 3:30 at the Rose Bowl.

Off to its worst conference start since 1943, UCLA (3-5 overall, 0-5 in the Pac-10) has lost its first five Pac-10 games since opening the season with three nonconference victories and is in last place in the Pac-10, half a game behind the Beavers. It has been 21 years since UCLA finished last in the conference.

Oregon State (1-6-1, 0-4-1) has finished last or tied for it the last two years and four times in the last six, and has lost four consecutive conference games since a 14-14 tie against Arizona.

This could be UCLA’s best chance to win a conference game. Oregon State ranks last in the conference in pass offense, pass defense, total defense and scoring defense and is next to last in total offense, scoring and rushing defense.

“We’ve got a very rich tradition and I don’t think any of the players or the coaches want to be remembered as the team which won three games and then didn’t win again,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said.

Donahue doesn’t think his team has quit.

“I think that because of the fact that these kids have won before, I have to believe that they haven’t written off the (last) three games,” he said. “I think there’s a part of them that wouldn’t allow them to do that, even if they might psychologically feel like they wanted to.”

Quarterback John Barnes, who transferred to UCLA last spring after UC Santa Barbara dropped football, will start for the third time this season in place of Rob Walker, sidelined because of a sprained left ankle. Freshman Ryan Fien, who sat out last week’s 48-12 loss to California because of a hip injury, will back up Barnes.

The first quarterback to come to UCLA without a scholarship and start a game since Rick Neuheisel in 1983, Barnes has completed 26 of 53 passes for 267 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.

UCLA, which used a one-back set in last week’s 36-point loss to Cal, may use the same formation today. With fullback Kaleaph Carter out with an Achilles’ tendon injury, Donahue rotated tailbacks Chris Alexander, Daron Washington and Sharmon Shah and used two tight ends.

Alexander, who didn’t carry the ball in the Bruins’ first seven games, gained 103 yards in 14 carries and backup tight end Brian Allen, who had caught only four passes in UCLA’s first seven games, caught four for 50 yards, one for 12 yards and a touchdown.

“The one-back offense isn’t a panacea, but it enables us to put Brian Allen on the field and exist without a scholarship fullback,” Donahue said.

Oregon State’s wishbone attack is led by quarterback Mark Olford and halfbacks Dwayne Owens and Chad Paulson. Olford has rushed for 468 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 288 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Owens has rushed for 349 yards and five touchdowns and Paulson has rushed for 306 yards and four touchdowns.

Averaging 239.6 yards on the ground, the Beavers lead the Pac-10 in rushing and are 13th in the nation. Oregon State ran for 262 yards in a 27-21 loss to No. 21 Stanford two weeks ago. The Beavers had a bye last week.

Bruin Notes

Although this is UCLA’s homecoming game, the Bruins may be hard-pressed to draw 40,000 fans. UCLA has averaged 45,620 in four home games this season, its lowest average since 1975, when it averaged 42,354 in seven home games at the Coliseum, despite sharing the conference championship. . . . Linebacker Jamir Miller, who has missed the last three games because of an ankle injury, will play a little. Running back Kevin Williams is expected to be sidelined for the fourth time in the last five games with a hamstring injury. Also doubtful, because of various injuries, are cornerback Carl Greenwood, linebacker Rod Smalley and nose guard Sale Isaia.