Bruins Get the Answers From Cal

The reason it was so hard to get a read on these UCLA Bruins is because they still haven’t figured out who they are themselves.

Seriously, did any other team carry so many questions halfway through the season?

As in, how legit was UCLA’s 4-1 record, considering none of the victories came against teams that currently hold a winning record?

Was that awful defensive performance against Oklahoma State in the opener an aberration or an indication of bad things still to come?

Is Maurice Drew the man who had the best rushing game in school history, or the guy who ran for 22 yards two weeks later?

Could quarterback Drew Olson build on the performance that led the Bruins past Arizona?

In order to get some answers, they had to go see Cal.

The California Bears are the real deal. Ranked No. 8 in the country. In the top five in total offense and total defense. Came this close to becoming the first team to beat USC since, well, they did it last season.

The final score -- California 45, UCLA 28 -- shows that the Bruins aren’t that close to the elite teams.

They can’t establish any one aspect of their game on demand, which is evident now that the running game has been shut down for two weeks in a row.

Now it’s a matter of how well they absorb the true lessons from this defeat. Coach Karl Dorrell seemed to have a clearer perspective than the players, showing he understood exactly where the Bruins stand and indicating they’re still a year away from where they need to be.

The players seemed to think they’re on the cusp. They need to understand there isn’t a shortcut, there’s no magic potion that will turn all of those freshmen on the field into sophomores immediately. They need to understand exactly why they suffered their first Pacific 10 conference loss and saw their overall record drop to 4-2 Saturday.

There’s “so much disappointment because we went out there on the field and we see that we can play with them,” UCLA cornerback Matt Clark said. “I don’t feel like they’re a better team than us, I feel like we matched up very well. We just needed a couple plays that we didn’t make today.”

When the offense doesn’t pick up a first down until the second quarter, when the defense gives up 290 rushing yards (550 yards overall) and when the team trails by 21 points in the fourth quarter, we’re talking about more than a couple of plays.

Said Olson: “It’s probably the hardest loss that we’ve ever felt. We had a chance. We were there with them.”

They were there, somewhat improbably tied after a flurry of 14 points in 56 seconds, with less than half a minute until halftime. Then Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers found tight end Garrett Gross for a 26-yard touchdown pass down the middle with 17 seconds left in the second quarter, and the Bears had the lead for good.

And yet, according to the Bears, the Bruins continued to talk.

“They had a lot to say,” Rodgers said. “I don’t know why.”

You’d think the Bruins would be out of breath from chasing running back J.J. Arrington (205 yards rushing) all day.

But Rodgers said he enjoyed the verbal byplay, that it kept him fired up. Maybe that’s why he completed 19 of 29 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns.

Rodgers doesn’t wow you with spectacular plays. He impresses you with what he doesn’t do: make mistakes. Rodgers always makes the proper read, delivers the ball to the proper place.

There’s a lesson somewhere in that for UCLA. The Bruins can show big-play flashes, then can’t do the little things necessary to sustain the drive.

Take the middle of the third quarter, when Tab Perry took a pass across the middle, then took a Cal defender along for the ride like a hitchhiker as he rolled off a 41-yard gain into Bear territory on the first play from scrimmage after the Bears went up, 28-14. But the Bruins couldn’t pick up the final first down despite a second-and-three at the California 12-yard line.

That series ended when the Bears stopped Manuel White short on fourth-and-one. So, for all intents and purposes, did the ballgame.

All along it was difficult to imagine UCLA’s winning when California controlled the line of scrimmage so effectively. The Bruins couldn’t establish the running game, with Drew’s 42 yards in 14 carries the best they had to offer. Their defensive line couldn’t pressure Rodgers or slow down Arrington.

“It’s definitely a learning experience for our program, given the state where we’re at, with the youth of our team,” Dorrell said. “There’s a lot to look forward to with the youth of our team.

“It’s bad that we’re young, so young, particularly on the defensive side. But it’s good for a year from now when we’re getting the chance to rebuild and then put this program where it should be.”

In the meantime, this year can’t turn into last year, when the Bruins started 6-2, then lost their final five games.

To avoid another free fall, they can’t be content to hang for one half against the team that hung with USC until the end.

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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.