Solid efforts by Kevin Prince and Johnathan Franklin are not enough

Quarterback Kevin Prince and tailback Johnathan Franklin had the type of days needed for the UCLA offense to be effective. It just happened on a day the Bruins’ defense collapsed in a 45-26 loss to California.

Franklin, playing on a tender ankle, had 101 yards rushing, including a 74-yard touchdown run.

“It was a counter and I was patient, then hit the hole,” Franklin said. “Then it was just like practice, just finish the run in the end zone.”

As for his injured ankle, Franklin said, “It’s nothing but pain.”

Prince completed 21 of 41 passes for 311 yards, and put together five scoring drives, though four ended in Kai Forbath field goals.

“I’m definitely encouraged by the progress made on offense and the way I played most of the game,” Prince said. “Still, I’m disappointed in myself.”

Prince was mostly upset by a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Tight end Logan Paulsen was wide open 10 yards beyond Kendricks.

“I didn’t get the pass high enough,” Prince said. “Logan was so wide open. I was tentative in terms of not wanting to overthrow him, so I ended up under throwing him.

“It’s one of those things; got to make sure it never happens again.”

As the fans turn

The third consecutive loss left Coach Rick Neuheisel feeling the pain of Bruins fans.

“I understand their dissatisfaction, especially given the 3-0 start and that things were turning [around], and so on and so forth,” Neuheisel said. “All I can tell them is that we’re going to keep working at it.

“It’s too long and too hard a story to give all the details, and frankly I don’t think they’d understand all the details. We have to keep working at it, no excuses.”

Transfer update

Defensive tackle Willie Mobley, who tried to transfer from Ohio State to UCLA over the summer, said he would not play football at Orange Coast College so he can focus on schoolwork.

Mobley also said he would take trips to “Arizona, Arizona State and maybe Oregon,” but still wants to come to UCLA.

He needs to earn an Associate in Arts degree and complete all the general assignment classes to be accepted to UCLA.

Injury report

The Bruins lost guard Eddie Williams, who suffered a fractured left ankle in the first quarter.

“My legs just went two different ways,” he said.

UCLA also lost his replacement, freshman Stan Hasiak, who also injured an ankle. A UCLA official said X-rays were negative.

Nick Ekbatani finished the game at guard, playing in his first game this season.

Prince suffered a bruised index finger on his right (throwing) hand.

Quick hits

Franklin’s touchdown was the longest scoring run for UCLA since Maurice Drew went 83 yards against Arizona State in 2003. . . . Forbath tied a career high with four field goals, which gave him 61 in his career. It moves him into third place on the Bruins’ all-time list. John Lee had 85 field goals and Justin Medlock had 70. . . . Terrence Austin had 182 yards on kickoff returns, giving him a school-record 1,539 for his career. . . . Cal’s victory was its first in the L.A. area since Jeff Tedford became coach. He’s 1-7 in L.A.

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chris.foster@latimes.com

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