Despite losing to underdog Washington State last Saturday at the Rose Bowl, 31-27, UCLA, at 5-2, still can win the Pac-12 South and conference championships. They must win their last two regular season games.
They play at Utah (5-2) on Saturday at 12:30 (channel 11) and against USC next Saturday at the Coliseum.
If the 7-3 Bruins expect to reach the championship games, they must cut down on their penalties, stop making mental mistakes and hold the opposing team under 25 points.
Last Saturday they scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:06 left, enough time for Washington State’s quarterback, Luke Falk, to engineer a seven-play drive. He hit wide receiver Gabe Marks with four seconds to go for the winner.
“At the end we could not come up with a play to stop them,” said UCLA defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. “If we take care of little things, big things will take care of themselves. Football games are lost, not won.”
Falk completed 38 out of 53 passes for 331 yards. “He was a heck of a competitor,” said Bradley.
The UCLA offense continues to move the ball under the direction of freshman quarterback Josh Rosen. No touchdowns, but he threw for 340 yards.
Rosen ran five times for 70 yards, including a 37-yarder for touchdown that looked as if it were going to be the game-winner.
The Bruins had opportunities to score but were forced to settle for field goals.
They must become better disciplined. They are one of the most penalized teams in the nation.
“Penalties and dropped balls hurt us,” said offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. “You can’t win when you turn the ball over.”
Coach Jim Mora knows you can’t look back. “It’s something that we need to get over quickly,” he said. We are still in the hunt. That was our goal.”
Defensive tackle Kenny Clark knows what the defense has to do against 8-2 Utah: Stop the run.
“We need to knock them back, get after the quarterback and sack him,” he said.
