Pac-10 Title Still a Possibility

As a result of Saturday’s 52-14 loss at Arizona, UCLA needs to win its final two games against Arizona State and USC, and have Oregon lose a game in order to win the Pacific 10 Conference title.

The Bruins, 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-10, would lose a three-team tiebreaker if they along with USC and Oregon finished tied for first at 7-1. The Bruins would be eliminated because they did not play Oregon and lost to a team lower in the standings. USC is the only team to defeat the Ducks this season.

“A loss is never easy to deal with,” sophomore safety Dennis Keyes said of the Bruins’ loss to Arizona. “It’s going to be hard but we’re going to have to get over it because we still have games to play.”

If UCLA, which dropped to 14th in the Associated Press poll Sunday, wins out and Oregon does not finish 7-1, the Bruins would be Pac-10 champions because of their victory over USC. UCLA would then play in the Fiesta Bowl if it wasn’t ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the bowl championship series standings.

For the Bruins, that’s more than enough motivation to bounce back.

“We’re 8-1, not 1-8,” senior tight end Marcedes Lewis said of the Bruins, who could still get an at-large bid for a BCS bowl even if they were the odd team out in a three-team tie for first in the Pac-10. “It’s nothing to be hanging our heads about. It is what it is.”

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The defense gave up 519 yards to the Wildcats, with much of it gained after missed tackles and broken assignments. That has been a problem for the Bruins the last two seasons but this year was masked by UCLA’s high-scoring offense. Not anymore.

“We came in kind of on a high and this just smacks you in the face,” senior linebacker Wesley Walker said about UCLA’s defensive effort on Saturday, “ ... this definitely hurts.”

Since losing Kevin Brown to injury and having C.J. Niusulu and Kevin Harbour Jr. leave the program, UCLA’s lack of size up front has been an issue.

Arizona Coach Mike Stoops said he expected the Wildcats to dominate the Bruin defensive line.

“I thought it was a good matchup for us,” Stoops said. “UCLA has had their injuries and struggles up front, and we took advantage of that. In this league, if you’re weak in one area, people dissect you.”

Arizona, which began the game with the worst ground attack in the Pac-10 at 97 yards a game, rushed for 315 yards, the most in a game for the Wildcats since 1998. Mike Bell (153 yards) and Gilbert Harris (113) became the first pair to gain more than 100 yards in a game since Ortega Jenkins and Clarence Farmer accomplished the feat against UCLA in 2000.

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UCLA’s offense struggled against the Wildcats’ speed, which surprised sophomore guard Shannon Tevaga. “We had a good week of practice and we were ready for what they threw at us,” Tevaga said. “They just wanted it more.”

Added running back Maurice Drew: “We just didn’t execute like we did in practice. They just played a base defense without much blitzing. They just played fast and that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”

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Arizona State, 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-10, plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and needs one more victory to become bowl eligible.... UCLA’s offense is not the same without center Mike McCloskey in the lineup. McCloskey, a four-year starter, sat out the last two games because of a shoulder injury and the Bruins failed to rush for 100 yards in both games. McCloskey’s status for Saturday is uncertain.