After Adding This Up, It’s Another Step Back

Ignore the math and follow the logic: a three-point defeat after a five-point defeat represents a huge step backward.

I’ve never heard UCLA fans so thoroughly satisfied with a loss to USC as they were after the Trojans eked out a 29-24 victory on Dec. 4. The chasm between the two programs was so great that simply coming that close qualified as immense progress for the Bruins.

Throw all that giddiness away now that the Bruins completely self-destructed and lost the Las Vegas Bowl to Wyoming, 24-21, Thursday night.

So after earning accolades for hanging with the top-ranked Trojans, the Bruins couldn’t play the part of 12-point favorites against the Cowboys.

And while there was visible evidence of progress this season, there also were tangible results that suggest the Bruins still have a long way to go. This team heads into the off-season losers of three of its last four games and five of its last seven.

The Bruins also have lost four of their last five bowl games, with only one of the games -- the 1999 Rose Bowl loss to Wisconsin -- coming in the marquee month of January.

And speaking of heading in the wrong direction, all but a handful of Bruin players went directly to the locker room instead of sticking around to congratulate the Cowboys after their upset victory.

How did this loss happen?

Well, UCLA played without its best defensive player, injured Spencer Havner, and the last 35 minutes without starting quarterback Drew Olson.

That didn’t prevent the Bruins from holding a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter. UCLA couldn’t run down the clock when it had to, couldn’t make defensive stops when it had to, and finally couldn’t score when it absolutely had to. What this exposed was UCLA’s inability to impose its will on an opponent, no matter the team, level or conference. It also made one wonder who should be the quarterback next season, after David Koral had his moments in relief of Olson.

Olson sprained his left knee when Wyoming defensive end John Flora grabbed his leg as teammate Dusty Hoffschneider leveled Olson on a pass attempt. That led to the breakout night for Koral, who had never thrown a game pass in his UCLA career.

After two attempts, Koral had his first touchdown. (Hey, that’s almost as good as Matt Leinart, who threw a touchdown on his first pass last year. Start the Heisman hype NOW!) Koral also led a drive as efficient as any UCLA had put together all season. He threw a nice swing pass to Chris Markey for a first down. And he threw a tight spiral across the field to Craig Bragg for a 25-yard touchdown that put the Bruins ahead by 11 points.

The Bruins weren’t better than the Cowboys in the first half, they were just less inefficient.

UCLA came out almost expecting Wyoming to roll over for them, playing as the Cowboys actually believed all of the hyperbole coming earlier in the week from Wyoming Coach Joe Glenn, who waxed about the UCLA offensive line.

“They’re going to try to run on us, and that’s been a little bit of an Achilles’ heel for us when we don’t match up physically,” Glenn told USA Today. “If they keep the ball all day on the ground, it’s going to be a long day.”

Actually, the first time UCLA kept the ball on the ground it turned out to be a short series. UCLA ran three times for a net of four yards, including a bone-jarring stuff of Maurice Drew in the backfield on third and four.

In the first half, UCLA managed only 43 rushing yards in 17 carries -- 19 fewer yards than Wyoming on the same number of attempts.

But while Wyoming hurt the Bruins with big pass plays that led to an early 10-0 advantage, the Cowboys cost themselves with penalties and bad punts. Two penalties worth 25 yards killed a drive that had reached the UCLA 19-yard line. And three punts that traveled a total of 54 yards set up the Bruins with the field position that enabled them to score two touchdowns in the second quarter.

Just when the Bruins had a chance to put the game away, they got sloppy themselves. With a 21-10 lead -- Wyoming forced to punt from its own end zone and yet another short drive in store -- Bragg fumbled the punt off his helmet inside the Wyoming 40. The Cowboys recovered and went on a 63-yard touchdown drive to pull within four.

Koral’s inexperience showed on UCLA’s next drive. On third and 12 he was chased from the pocket and actually ran right toward Wyoming’s Derrick Martin. Koral fumbled and Wyoming recovered on UCLA’s 17-yard-line. But Wyoming quarterback Corey Bramlet lofted a spectacularly bad pass that hung in the air, apparently aimed at no one in particular, and landed in the arms of UCLA cornerback Matt Clark. Clark returned it 48 yards. But UCLA couldn’t capitalize and the drive ended with a missed field-goal attempt by Justin Medlock.

Wyoming scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 12-yard pass with 57 seconds left and UCLA couldn’t answer.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.