Buffed and Polished Off

There’s the stumble. Is the fall far behind?

Or for the first time in years will UCLA scramble to its feet and avoid allowing one agonizing afternoon to trigger a collapse?

Many of the Bruins had pushed aside their 31-17 loss to Colorado by the time they reached the Rose Bowl locker room Saturday, already bracing for a U-turn.

They certainly don’t want to go down the same road as last season, when one defeat spiraled into four in a row. In 1999 and 2000, two losses in the next three games followed the first loss.

“We are not going to have another losing streak at UCLA,” senior linebacker Marcus Reese said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Colorado (2-2) must have uttered similar words after its 37-point loss to USC last week. And rebound the Buffaloes did, punishing the No. 20 Bruins (2-1), who sauntered in feeling good about themselves after bullying Colorado State and Oklahoma State.

This time the spiked beanie was on the other noggin.

“They banged on us pretty good,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “That was a physical football team.”

Count UCLA linemen among the casualties.

Colorado outrushed the Bruins, 325-62, behind tailback Chris Brown’s 188 yards in 26 carries. Bruin safeties combined for 24 tackles, a sure sign the linebackers, tackles and ends were getting blocked.

Buffaloes’ quarterback Robert Hodge, a South Bay product who endured a week of ridicule after completing one pass against USC, turned in a mistake-free performance. Using a Hodge-podge of rollouts, screens and play-action, he passed for 117 yards, scrambled for key yardage and even caught a pass on a trick play that gained 29 yards.

The Buffaloes turned a 10-7 halftime lead into a one-sided whipping by scoring on their first four second-half possessions, marching 57, 41, 61 and 82 yards. Colorado had no turnovers and did not punt in the last 43 minutes.

The UCLA defense, which was building a reputation as opportunistic after forcing seven turnovers in two games, was reduced to chasing ballcarriers from behind. Reese had a career-high 13 tackles, but many were five to 10 yards downfield.

“Our defense was on the field too long,” Reese said. “We didn’t force any turnovers and they put together drives that got us real tired.”

Brown, a bruising 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior, scored three touchdowns and Robert Purify added 87 yards in 14 carries and 41 yards on two receptions, giving Colorado the look of an offensive juggernaut.

UCLA had the look of a team that took its opponent lightly.

“I’m sure we probably caught them off guard after the way we played last week,” Colorado Coach Gary Barnett said. “It’s hard to get your guys up to play a team that showed on film the way we showed. You understand that’s the way the game goes. You fall victim, that’s what humans do.”

The Buffaloes were as physical on defense as on offense. Bruin quarterback Cory Paus was sacked three times and did not try to throw deep until late in the third quarter.

Paus’ longest completion was of 20 yards, a week after connecting on eight passes longer than 20 against Oklahoma State. He was 21 for 35 for 189 yards with one interception--the game’s only turnover.

Freshman Drew Olson, who spelled Paus for short periods in the first two games, did not play.

“It wasn’t appropriate,” Toledo said.

Not on a day when nearly everything the UCLA offense tried failed. The priority early was to establish a running attack, but tailback Akil Harris was repeatedly stuffed and finished with 31 yards in 15 carries.

The only big play was a reverse pass of 33 yards by senior receiver Jon Dubravac to Craig Bragg that opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Bragg had six other catches, including a meaningless five-yard touchdown from Paus with four minutes to play, but all came on short throws.

“Colorado respected us and took away the deep pass,” Bragg said. “We just didn’t call many long balls and when we did, we didn’t execute.”

Dubravac’s touchdown pass marked the first time this season UCLA scored first, but Colorado answered in four plays, beginning with a 32-yard run by Brown and a seven-yard bootleg by Hodge.

Barnett deployed his own trickery with a reverse that receiver Derek McCoy took 37 yards to the end zone, but a holding penalty brought the ball back to the 19. No matter, Brown scored on the next play, changing direction after encountering traffic at the line of scrimmage and bolting to the corner of the end zone.

Colorado’s first touchdown in six quarters unleashed a torrent of points.

It was 99 degrees on the field, five degrees hotter than any game in Colorado history, but the Buffaloes were just getting warmed up, driving 67 yards for a field goal 27 seconds before halftime, then moving the ball with ease throughout the second half.

UCLA fans began filing out with several minutes to play, but a large contingent of gold-clad Buffaloes’ fans among the 63,880 stayed until the end, giving the Rose Bowl a look of leaves turning in the fall.

Indeed, the outcome marked a change in the weather. It was Toledo’s first loss after five victories against the Big 12 Conference. It was Barnett’s first victory after five losses against the Pacific 10.

And it was only UCLA’s second defeat in its last 12 September games. One game remains this month, at San Diego State next week, and preparing in a positive state of mind will be a challenge.

There is the recent history of one loss triggering another, and another. There is the rigorous Pac-10 schedule looming.

And to top it off, classes begin Thursday. Ugh.

“We need to stay calm, cool and collected and move on,” tight end Mike Seidman said. “The offense needs to support the defense and the defense needs to support the offense. We need to pull together, and I think we will.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Element of Surprise

A look at some of Gary Barnett’s unexpected coaching victories:

*--* SEPT. 2, 1995, AT SOUTH BEND, IND Northwestern 17, No. 9 Notre Dame 15

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* After winning only eight games in Barnett’s first three seasons, the 27-point underdog Wildcats stun Lou Holtz’s Irish behind Darnell Autry’s 160 yards rushing. After the Irish score a touchdown with 6:15 remaining, Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus is sacked on a two-point conversion attempt, securing the victory.

*--* OCT. 7, 1995, AT ANN ARBOR, MICH No. 25 Northwestern 19, No. 7 Michigan 13

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* The undefeated Wolverines have a 13-6 lead after quarterback Brian Griese’s scoring run, but the 16-point underdog Wildcats storm back, scoring 13 unanswered points to spark their magical run to the Big Ten Conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

*--* NOV. 23, 2001, AT BOULDER, COLO No. 14 Colorado 62, No. 2 Nebraska 36

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* Nebraska is 11-0, No. 1 in the bowl championship series rankings and a 9 1/2-point favorite over the Buffaloes, but Colorado storms to a 35-3 lead three minutes into the second quarter. Chris Brown rushes for 198 yards and a school-record six touchdowns.

*--* DEC. 1, 2001, AT IRVING, TEXAS No. 9 Colorado 39, No. 3 Texas 37

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* The Longhorns had routed the Buffaloes, 41-7, on Oct. 20 at Austin, Texas, are eight-point favorites in the Big 12 Conference title game and have plenty of incentive as a victory would put them in the BCS title game. But the Buffaloes’ 29-3 first-half scoring blitz proves to be too much for Texas to overcome.

*--* SATURDAY AT ROSE BOWL Colorado 31, No. 20 UCLA 17

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* The Buffaloes, held to 61 yards and four first downs in a humiliating 40-3 loss at home to USC the previous week, enter the Rose Bowl as 12-point underdogs. But Colorado grinds out 27 first downs and 471 yards to end UCLA’s nine-game winning streak against nonconference opponents.

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Steve Henson’s keys to the game and how the Bruins matched up:

Not falling behind early: Maybe UCLA should stick to the comeback approach. The Bruins took a short-lived 7-0 lead on a 33-yard reverse pass from receiver Jon Dubravac to Craig Bragg on the first play of the second quarter. Colorado tied the score four plays later, went ahead on a field goal with 27 seconds left in the half and put the game away in the second half.

Slowing the Buffalo running game: The Bruins were trampled, giving up 325 yards on the ground, including 188 by tailback Chris Brown, the most against UCLA since Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne rushed for 246 in the 1999 Rose Bowl.

Not being surprised by gimmicks: A trick play hurt the Bruins on first down at the UCLA 41-yard line after Cory Paus had a pass intercepted early in the third quarter. Robert Hodge tossed a long lateral to receiver Barry Kunkel, who threw back to Hodge along the sideline. Hodge ran 29 yards, setting up a touchdown that extended the Buffaloes’ lead to 21-7.