Bruins Assess All That Didn’t Work

Thanks to one poorly played half of football and a 29-19 loss Saturday at Washington, UCLA has gone from a Pacific 10 Conference contender to a team in need of four victories to become bowl eligible.

The Bruins (2-1) still have time to make a run at the conference title, but their up-and-down performance against the Huskies left more questions than answers for the players and coaching staff.

UCLA dominated early and played like a well-prepared team in taking a 16-0 lead. But the Bruins’ inability to score touchdowns instead of field goals -- which first became a problem against Rice two weeks earlier -- proved costly when Washington outscored them, 29-3, over the final 32 minutes.

“It always looks bad when things don’t work,” Coach Karl Dorrell said. “That’s easy for us to see, right? It’s one of those things that we have to continue to develop as an offensive staff and our players. We’re still working through and growing as a football unit on that side of the ball and we’re doing the same thing defensively.”

Last season, UCLA finished 10-2 with five come-from-behind victories, mainly because the coaching staff made the right adjustments and the players made timely plays.

That certainly did not happen Saturday. After controlling the Huskies for much of the first half, UCLA played tight, like a team trying not to lose, over the final two quarters.

Although quarterback Ben Olson was not given many opportunities to throw on non-passing downs -- the Bruins called running plays on 19 of their 24 first-down plays -- he struggled to complete important passes.

“It’s one of those games for him,” Dorrell said about Olson, who completed 18 of 31 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. “We knew that the atmosphere was going to be different than the first two games we had.”

Olson’s biggest mistake came in the fourth quarter, when linebacker Dan Howell intercepted a pass intended for Matt Willis near the sideline. Howell returned the interception 33 yards for a touchdown.

“I had about two or three bad throws but other than that, I felt good throwing the ball,” said Olson, who completed passes to nine different receivers in his third career start.

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Defensive end Justin Hickman, on UCLA’s effort Saturday: “It was really about us not making plays. They kept hanging around, hanging around, hanging around. They had nothing to lose and once they started to believe that they could play with us, the game changed.”

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Freshman Terrence Austin came close to giving UCLA a 23-14 lead late in the third quarter but tired and was tackled at the Huskies’ nine-yard line after a 79-yard punt return.

“I gave it everything that I had,” he said. “I didn’t know I was back that far. Once I caught it, I tried to find the best route that I could and the next thing I knew, I was at the 50-yard line.”

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Defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said freshman cornerback Alterraun Verner will compete with junior Rodney Van for a starting job this week because of Van’s inconsistent tackling. Verner led UCLA with nine tackles against Washington.... Running back Chris Markey, who rushed for 124 yards and one touchdown against the Huskies, leads the Pac-10 and is eighth nationally in rushing at 121.3 yards per game.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com