Bruins Scalded by Hot Walter

With less than seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter Saturday, UCLA led No. 21 Arizona State by 11 points and appeared headed for its biggest victory of the season.

But instead of making the type of plays to clinch a win, the Bruins self-destructed down the stretch and quarterback Andrew Walter took full advantage in leading Arizona State to a 48-42 victory in front of 63,985 at Sun Devil Stadium.

“This hurts because now we’re going to hear nothing but things that people want to say about this team,” junior linebacker Justin London said about the Bruins, who dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference with their second loss in a row.

“But we’re a good football team. We just gave this one away. That’s what hurts the most. We fought hard, but we just have to learn how to finish off teams.”

In a game that featured huge passing numbers from both Walter ( 415 yards and a career-high six touchdowns) and his UCLA counterpart, Drew Olson (a personal-best 325 yards), it was the team that made the fewest mistakes that won.

And for the Bruins, it was Olson who made the most glaring mistakes with four interceptions, three in the first half.

“Any game that you think that you’re going to win and then you lose, is always tough to take,” said Olson, who completed 30 of 44 passes with two touchdowns.

“This was one of my better games, but I made four poor throws that

Olson certainly made a number of plays that gave the Bruins a chance to win. He completed passes to 10 receivers, including scores to Marcedes Lewis and Tab Perry.

But his interceptions proved to be the difference in the game for UCLA, which had 535 yards of total offense, including 210 on the ground.

“Once he started to scramble, it seemed like he wanted to get rid of the ball really quick,” said Arizona State linebacker Dale Robinson, who intercepted Olson in the fourth quarter. “He would stare where he wanted to throw the ball.”

Arizona State’s defenders exposed that tendency throughout the game.

Olson’s first interception came in the first quarter with UCLA trailing, 14-3, when he tried to hook up with senior Craig Bragg, who returned to the lineup after sitting out three games because of a shoulder injury. With Bragg running an out-and-up pattern, Olson failed to look off or pump-fake safety Emmanuel Franklin, who picked off the pass near the Arizona State end zone.

Olson threw two more interceptions in the second quarter, and Arizona State (6-1, 3-1) pulled out to a 21-10 lead.

But UCLA scored 10 unanswered points in the final minute of the half on Olson’s three-yard touchdown pass to Lewis, who made a spectacular catch in the end zone, and a 48-yard field goal by Justin Medlock, and trailed, 21-20, at the break.

In the third quarter, Arizona State scored first when Walter connected with Zach Miller for a 15-yard touchdown to extend the Sun Devils’ lead to 28-20.

That set the stage for the game’s strangest play. UCLA’s Manuel White broke free for a 32-yard run but had the ball knocked out of his hands by the Sun Devils’ Maurice London. After the Bruins’ Junior Taylor failed to pick up the fumble, teammate Perry scooped it up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown. After White caught a two-point conversion pass, UCLA had tied the score at 28.

After an Arizona State field goal, UCLA took its first lead of the game on a drive highlighted by a 28-yard catch by Bragg and a 61-yard run by freshman Chris Markey. White capped off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Bruins ahead, 35-31, heading into the final quarter.

Minutes later, UCLA scored again with a time-consuming drive that ended with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Olson to Perry that gave the Bruins a 42-31 lead with 7:12 remaining.

“That’s when we had them,” UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner said. “We came back and led by 11. In the Pac-10, you have to complete games. That’s something we didn’t do.”

UCLA’s collapse was quick. Arizona State needed only three plays and 36 seconds to drive 83 yards to cut the Bruins’ lead to 42-37. Walter completed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Derek Hagan, who beat cornerback Trey Brown for the score.

On the Bruins’ ensuing possession, Olson was sacked and they punted after three plays. The Sun Devils needed only 22 seconds to take back the lead.

On third down and two, Walter caught UCLA’s defense in the wrong coverage and completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to Terry Richardson, who got behind Havner and safety Jarrad Page.

“We had the wrong guy out there covering, and when you line up wrong you don’t play hard, and that’s what happened,” defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “The whole defense missed the call.”

Olson then made things even tougher when he was picked off by Robinson the next time UCLA had the ball. That set up another field goal, and the Sun Devils led, 48-42, with 3:13 remaining.

On UCLA’s final drive of the game, Olson led the offense into Arizona State territory only to miss on his final two passes.

“I’m disappointed we lost the game,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said. “We had a chance to win it. We had an opportunity late in the game to do something.... We just couldn’t hang on.”