Season Is on the Line During Next Stretch

The skeptics among the UCLA faithful will view Saturday’s 21-14 loss to Stanford as the game that finally exposed the Bruins for what they are -- a middle-of-the-Pac-10 team masquerading as a first-place team for several weeks.

The true UCLA believers will look at the conference standings, see the Bruins tied with USC and Washington State for first place and think: All is well, remain calm, do not panic.

If only they could see the opposing cavalry over the next ridge.

The reality is this: UCLA, its five-game winning streak ended and its pride punctured, is 6-3 overall, 4-1 in conference, and has the toughest part of its Pacific 10 Conference schedule ahead: at Washington State on Saturday, home against Oregon on Nov. 15 and at USC on Nov. 22.

If the Bruins don’t rebound, find some spark on offense and play their best football the rest of November, they will endure a repeat of 2001, when they went to Stanford with a 6-0 record and national championship hopes, only to suffer a defeat that sent them spiraling into a four-game losing streak.

“I’m not worried about that happening,” senior flanker Ryan Smith said. “There’s too many good senior leaders on this team, especially on defense. We’re not going to fold just because of one loss. We’re still in first place, and that’s all that matters. We can still control our own destiny.”

Not if the Bruins can’t control the line of scrimmage. If a blitzing Stanford defense that ranked ninth in the conference in passing yards allowed, last in sacks and gave up an average of 38 points in the previous four games can sack Matt Moore eight times, how badly might Washington State and USC dismantle the Bruin offense?

This was the game in which Moore was supposed to open up the offense, the game that was supposed to build some momentum and confidence for the Bruins going into the final three weeks, but by the time Moore dropped back to pass, the pocket usually closed in around him.

“I don’t know what it was up front, but there was a guy popping through almost every time,” Moore said. “I just tried to get rid of the ball, step up and run, make something happen, but it was hard to do that. I dropped back to my fifth step and was usually looking to run or throw it.”

The result was a disjointed attack that, with the exception of a Moore-led 18-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that consumed 7 minutes 45 seconds of the first and second quarters, and a quick-strike, seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that backup quarterback Drew Olson engineered in 1:18 in the fourth, mounted no other drive of 25 yards or more.

What happened? Although Moore said Stanford used some defenses “we were unfamiliar with,” others contend the Bruins were fully prepared but lacked focus on some plays and didn’t execute on others.

“We knew everything they were going to do, we went over everything, we were totally ready for this game,” guard Eyoseph Efseaff said. “The coaches put us in the right position. It came down to execution, everyone doing their job. We have to take the blame for this.”

New right guard Kevin Brown, a freshman who converted from defensive tackle two weeks ago, looked overwhelmed in his second start and was replaced in the second half by Paul Mociler, who was beaten for several sacks. Moore also held on to the ball too long on some plays.

It didn’t help that the Bruins seemed to have very few plays to counter or at least neutralize the blitz. They ran one draw play, and the one screen pass they threw resulted in a four-yard loss.

Moore had some success throwing to receivers on quick slant patterns and rolling out, and Olson had success throwing out of the shotgun formation, but that wasn’t used until late in the second half. Neither Moore nor Olson is enough of a running threat for opponents to ease up on their pass rush.

“I hate to say this, but this might be the best teaching tool we’ve had all year,” Efseaff said. “We’ve got to learn from our mistakes, be humble and get ready for Washington State [Saturday].”

They’ll do so knowing defensive tackle Rodney Leisle is out because of a high ankle sprain, cornerback Matt Ware is doubtful because of a high ankle sprain and defensive end Mat Ball, who sat out the second half against Stanford because of a lower back strain, is questionable.

“We have three games left, hopefully four if we go to a bowl game,” senior end Dave Ball said. “We just need to get re-focused, learn from our mistakes and let it all hang out.”