UCLA Is Silenced, 24-15, by Cougars : College football: Loss leaves Bruins 0-2 in Pac-10 and sparks self-doubts and a quarterback debate.

It was quiet in the UCLA locker room Saturday after the Bruins’ 24-15 loss to the Washington State Cougars.

But if you listened carefully, you could hear the creaking sound of a season coming apart.

In four weeks, UCLA has gone from the euphoria of victories over Miami and Brigham Young to the agony of an 0-2 start in Pacific 10 Conference.

Nobody spoke very loudly in the locker room, but, in hushed tones, everyone seemed to get his message across about what has gone wrong.

Quarterback Ryan Fien questioned the decision to replace him in the second half with freshman Cade McNown.

“Put me No. 1 or put me No. 2,” Fien said. “I finally started to get some momentum and, the next thing I know, I’m out. It’s tough and frustrating playing under those circumstances. I get two long drives going in the second half and I’m out. What can you do?”

Tailback Karim Abdul-Jabbar questioned the emotional commitment of his team.

Coach Terry Donahue questioned everything.

Voices of anger and frustration and confusion analyzing a season on the brink.

“Everybody’s status is being re-evaluated,” Donahue said when asked if McNown had taken the starting job away from Fien by rallying the Bruins in the second half after they fell behind, 24-0, before intermission. “We as coaches have to do a better job. It’s a collective thing. . . . It’s not all the players. It’s not all the coaching. It’s not all the quarterback. I’ll go to my grave believing that.”

Donahue didn’t do all his talking to the media. He called a timeout in the middle of the Cougars’ first drive of the second half, gathered his players around him on the sideline and implored them to make an effort to get back in the game.

It seemed to work. Washington State didn’t score again, while UCLA made a spirited, albeit unsuccessful, rally.

“I think people were getting too complacent,” Bruin linebacker Abdul McCullough said. “Our heads were down. He [Donahue] told us to keep digging away and good things would happen. I liked him coming to the defensive huddle and giving us a little attention.”

It was the Washington State defense that was the center of attention in the first half. The Cougars came into the game, their conference opener, well rested after a bye last weekend, and highly regarded, their defense first in the nation against the rush, having given up an average of only 36 yards a game.

The Bruins came in with Abdul-Jabbar, the conference’s leading rusher with an average of 151.3 yards per game.

The irresistible force against the immovable object.

The Bruins seemed determined to use that force no matter how the Cougars responded. UCLA ran on 10 of its first 11 offensive plays.

When they did go to the air, the Bruins couldn’t seem to make a connection. Either Fien, who had missed all or part of the three previous games because of two concussions, couldn’t find his target, his passes repeatedly sailing wide of the mark. Or else, when he finally was on the beam, his receivers made several crucial drops.

Even Kevin Jordan, who became the Bruins’ all-time leading receiver with his third catch Saturday, had trouble holding on to the ball.

Washington State didn’t have much trouble doing anything in the first half.

The Cougars scored:

--On a 72-yard punt return. Jay Dumas fielded Chris Sailer’s punt and blew through the UCLA punt team without a Bruin so much as laying a hand on him. Sailer was the only man with even a shot, and Dumas faked him to the turf at the UCLA 46-yard line.

--On a touchdown pass. Quarterback Chad Davis, who completed 16 of 25 passes for 151 yards, hit Eric Moore with a 20-yard scoring pass on the third play after the Cougars recovered a fumble by Abdul-Jabbar.

--On a run. Derek Sparks banged his way into the end zone off right tackle from seven yards to complete a 77-yard, 14-play drive.

--On a field goal. Tony Truant connected on a 41-yarder to end the first-half scoring.

Determined to reverse the momentum, Donahue replaced Fien with McNown late in the second quarter, but the freshman lasted only two plays. Hit by defenders Shane Doyle and Duane Stewart, McNown staggered off the field and was forbidden by medical personnel from playing for the rest of the half.

After Donahue’s pep talk in the third quarter, his defense held and the Bruin offense, with Fien at the controls seemed to wake up as well. UCLA drove to the Washington State 26-yard line, where Fien found Abdul-Jabbar wide open. The UCLA tailback took the ball to the Cougar one-yard line and, while fighting off would-be tackler Brian Walker, strained to stretch the ball across the plane of the goal line. Instead, Abdul-Jabbar lost control of the ball as Walker hit him, sending it squirting loose and out of the end zone.

The Cougars were given possession of the fumble at their one-yard line, but wound up surrendering two points when Bruin defensive tackle Grady Stretz smothered Washington State running back Frank Madu in the end zone for a safety.

Fien stayed in for one more series, leading UCLA to a 38-yard field goal by Bjorn Merten.

McNown then took over, putting the Bruins on the scoreboard twice more. Merten made a 23-yarder and McNown hit Jordan with a 31-yard scoring pass.

McNown wound up completing nine of 17 passes for 114 yards, Fien four of 13 for 72.

Abdul-Jabbar, who gained 124 yards rushing, had the last word.

“We’ve been flat the last three games,” he said, “We’ve been playing only two quarters a week.”