Bruins Need Any Edge They Can Get

Be it ever so humbling . . .

The UCLA Bruins return home tonight, pretty much to stay and definitely to regain their footing. Whether it is also to die is the uncertainty.

They are 2-3 overall and in last place in the conference at 0-2, even if that puts them all of 1 1/2 games out of second place and half a game out of third in the forgiving Pacific 10. By the end of the night, they could have a three-game losing streak for the first time since 1994. But at least the Bruins are home. Where the hope is.

The 7:15 kickoff against Oregon at the Rose Bowl begins a stretch in which UCLA, a team in need of stability, plays five of the final six regular-season games in town, never having to go farther from campus than Pasadena. It has to hope that is enough to get one more trip to a bowl game.

“Playing at home is obviously a big thing,” linebacker Robert Thomas said. “We always talk about not losing on California soil. That’s a big motto we have.”

Or at least Southern California soil. That Sept. 25 loss at Stanford and all.

“It definitely helps,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “First of all, you’ve got more players, because guys can be on the sidelines yelling. When you’re away from home, you don’t have that crowd, you don’t have the people pulling for you, and that helps motivate you a little bit.

“You saw Arizona State start getting some momentum the other day and then the crowd picked it up. They went from booing them to motivating them. I think it’s sad when they boo you, but I think they can really help motivate you. I know they’ve helped us in the past. I hope we do get a good crowd that’ll help motivate us.”

Especially now.

UCLA is in danger of falling to 0-3 in the conference for the first time since 1994. The new quarterback alignment--starter Cory Paus and backup Scott McEwan--can boast of a total of 98 passes or runs. Pressure has been put on the guards to play better. The No. 1 tailback, DeShaun Foster, is hurting, physically. The secondary is hurting, period.

Where they play most of the rest of the way could help. The timing certainly does.

“I think so,” Toledo said. “When you’re young and have to play on the road, you’re just not used to doing that. When you’re an experienced team playing on the road, at least you’ve got a better chance. We had the road games early, and it showed. There’s a reason for home-field advantage--because it’s definitely an advantage.”

The journey to the end of the regular season, six games played over seven weeks, comes without many journeys, but the hope from the Bruins is that they might be able to find themselves by staying in one spot. Or at least find a way out of the cellar.

This isn’t much of a drastic change either--only two of the final nine games will require leaving the state. But now comes the road, so to speak, the rest of the way:

* Tonight versus Oregon at the Rose Bowl.

* Oct. 16 versus California at the Rose Bowl.

* Oct. 23 at Oregon State. The only time the Bruins will get on a plane in the seven weeks.

* Oct. 30 versus Arizona at the Rose Bowl.

* Nov. 6. Bye.

* Nov. 13 versus Washington at the Rose Bowl.

* Nov. 20 against USC at the Coliseum. It’s officially a road game but also closer to campus than Pasadena.

Meanwhile, Oregon is in the middle of a stretch of three consecutive games away from Autzen Stadium, an unenviable run in general but of particular concern for the Ducks. They have lost six in a row on the road, and Mike Bellotti’s teams are 11-11 outside Eugene in his four-plus seasons as coach, compared to 21-6 at home.

Not only that, but they have outscored the opponents by an average of 35.7-23.3 at home and been outscored by 32.1-31.6 on the road.