UCLA’s Taylor Embree has compassion for dear old Colorado dad

UCLA receiver Taylor Embree said he would give his father, Jon Embree, Colorado’s coach, a week to recover from Saturday’s 45-6 rout by the Bruins.

“I’ll start talking trash after the USC game,” Taylor Embree said.

Jon Embree was in the unusual position of coaching against his son on UCLA’s Senior Day. He met with Taylor Embree outside the UCLA locker room before the game.

“He said, ‘Good luck. Play fast; play physical,’” Taylor Embree said. “I told him, ‘Good luck’ too.”

Said Jon Embree: “I’m just glad it was a one-time deal. It’s very awkward. You’re cheering against him. After the game, I told him I loved him.”

During the game, the Bruins were trying to get Taylor Embree in the end zone for a touchdown. “We wanted that,” quarterback Kevin Prince said.

Prince said he looked for Embree in the fourth quarter before flipping an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Rosario.

Catching on

Rosario had six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, moving into sixth place with 2,091 career receiving yards and seventh place with 130 receptions on UCLA’s career list.

Rosario’s take on his career totals: “I’m not No. 1, so it really doesn’t matter. But I can show my kids one day, maybe come back and talk to receivers.”

Rosario has had spotlight moments — he had 151 yards receiving against Washington State this season — and also has been a disappearing act. He has a career-high 48 receptions this season to lead the team, yet he has only two touchdown catches and only five in his four-year career.

“I think as a teacher, as a motivator, you’re never going to be satisfied,” Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “I think Nelson is getting a little numb to it. But he understands that I am trying to get out his best. I think there is this amazing player inside of him.”

Rosario agreed he might have had more to give. “I feel like I left some out there,” he said. “I feel like there was more I could have done.”

Catching up

UCLA tight end Joseph Fauria caught two touchdown passes, covering five and 15 yards. Fauria has six touchdown receptions this season, the most by a UCLA receiver since Marcedes Lewis had 10 in 2005.

Running it up

Johnathan Franklin gained 162 yards rushing, giving him 2,550 in his career and moving him past Kermit Johnson into 11th place on UCLA’s all-time list. Johnson, who played from 1971-73, had 2,495 yards.

Franklin averaged 10.8 yards per carry in his third 100-yard game this season.

Crowds down

Saturday’s crowd of 57,334 at the Rose Bowl could not stop a slide in UCLA home attendance for the fifth season.

UCLA averaged a school-record 76,379 fans a game in 2007, but that number has shrunk every season since —72,795 in 2008, 64,547 in 2009, 60,376 in 2010. The average attendance in six home games this season was 56,660.

Dye returns

Senior safety Tony Dye started for UCLA in what was his first game action in seven weeks.

Dye had been out with a neck injury since the Bruins played Texas at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 17. By coming back, Dye cannot apply for a medical redshirt year. A player can seek a medical redshirt — and another season of eligibility — if he has not played after the first three games.

chris.foster@latimes.com

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