Bruins Need Identity Check

This season is evolving into a never-ending quest for answers for the UCLA football team, which can’t seem to decide whether it’s rebuilding or contending, whether its offense is wide open or ultra-conservative, whether its clear-cut starting quarterback will be Drew Olson or Matt Moore.

With Saturday night’s 24-21 nail-biter of a win at Arizona the Bruins reached the halfway point of the season, a time when most college football teams have forged an identity, have a firm grasp of their strengths and weaknesses and a clear sense of the direction in which they’re heading.

But at UCLA, each week only seems to bring a whole new batch of questions and concerns, and the most pressing issue to emerge from Arizona involves a Bruin unit that was almost beyond reproach for the first five games: the defense.

UCLA entered with the top-rated defense in the Pacific 10 Conference and the 16th-rated defense in the nation, having allowed an average of 294 yards a game, but the Wildcats, who entered with the nation’s worst offense, rolled up 519 total yards against the Bruins -- 276 rushing and 243 passing.

UCLA did not sack an Arizona quarterback, and though the Bruins intercepted four passes -- two of them gifts tossed right into their hands -- their number of missed tackles, when added up on film, will probably surpass double figures.

UCLA no doubt missed Jarrad Page, a hard-hitting, sure-handed strong safety who didn’t make the trip because of a shoulder injury, but it wasn’t Page’s replacement, Kevin Brant, who missed all those tackles.

“Our tackling was horrible ... we definitely can’t have that,” said linebacker Brandon Chillar, the team’s leading tackler. “That was the first game where we were bad tacklers.”

The Bruins could not seem to wrap their arms securely around running backs Clarence Farmer, who rushed for 122 yards in 25 carries, and Michael Bell, who had 94 yards in eight carries, and as a result, they almost suffered a season-crippling loss to lowly Arizona (1-6).

“We need to tackle better against California next week, because they’re going to be up for us,” defensive end Dave Ball said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and reassess ourselves because we did not play as well as we thought we would.”

Equally disturbing for the Bruins was that, at times, they appeared to have no idea what the Wildcats were doing.

Arizona was in its second game under interim Coach Mike Hankwitz, who replaced the fired John Mackovic, and Hankwitz rotated his quarterbacks more freely than UCLA expected, switching between Kris Heavner, a more stationary drop-back passer, and Nic Costa, a quick and elusive left-hander with outstanding running ability.

Hankwitz also revamped much of the offense from the previous week, running numerous delayed handoffs out of the shotgun formation and adding a few new screen plays. These were hardly revolutionary changes, but they seemed to baffle the Bruins.

“They never really had a set offensive look,” middle linebacker Justin London said. “We prepared for a lot of shifts and movement, but they came out with a different game plan, and it was successful for them.

“[Giving up 519 yards] was a real lapse. It’s a game of preparation, and we just weren’t as sure as we usually are about what they were going to do.”

That was apparent from the outset, as Arizona took the opening kickoff and sprinted 80 yards in only six plays for its first touchdown, and throughout a game in which the Wildcats had six runs of 25 yards or more.

“Arizona had a great game plan,” Coach Karl Dorrell said. “There were some things they changed along the way that we weren’t quite ready for, and they exploited some of those issues against us. I tip my hat to them.... But I also tip my hat to our players, because they showed a lot of resolve.”

Indeed, for all their breakdowns, the Bruins came up with several big plays, including defensive tackle Rodney Leisle’s 55-yard interception return for the game-winning touchdown, drive-stopping interceptions by Mat Ball and Spencer Havner, and a game-saving tackle by defensive back Nnamdi Ohaeri, who dragged down Costa at the UCLA five after Costa’s 43-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Had Costa reached the end zone, Arizona would have taken the lead. Instead, the drive ended with Nicholas Folk’s missed 28-yard field-goal attempt with 5:28 left, and the Bruins held on to improve to 4-2 overall, 2-0 in conference.

UCLA is tied with Oregon State and Washington State atop the Pac-10 standings, and with three winnable games coming up, against Cal, Arizona State and Stanford, the Bruins could remain in the thick of the Rose Bowl picture until November games against Washington State, Oregon and USC.