UCLA has lots to chew on now

TUCSON -- UCLA linebacker Christian Taylor broke off some biscuit, part of a postgame chicken dinner that had little chance to cleanse the bitter taste from his palate.

This has stopped being about winning, in Taylor’s view. This isn’t about the Pacific 10 Conference football title anymore. It isn’t even about whether Bruins Coach Karl Dorrell is retained.

“At this point, it’s just about playing football,” Taylor said.

Even that seems beyond the Bruins’ grasp these days. So while Arizona’s 34-27 victory in front of 51,727 at Arizona Stadium on Saturday may simplify things in the minds of players, hard questions can still penetrate that cocoon.

This is about winning. This is about the Pac-10 title, which is now a longshot, though still a mathematical possibility, for the Bruins. And this is about Dorrell’s job.

That was too much for Taylor to gnaw on after the Bruins lost for the third time in four games.

“To us, we’re gone anyway,” Taylor said. “You guys always talk about Coach Dorrell’s future, but we got [25] seniors and yeah, you want to leave a good legacy. But we have no control over that, so why worry about it? It’s up to the athletic director. Obviously if we win, he won’t get fired. But we’re not winning.”

The message being sold by the Bruins (5-4 overall, 4-2 in conference play) was that Dorrell was not to blame.

That the Bruins were dominated early, then came up short against an opponent whose coach also might be on the chopping block, was “100% on the guys who put the pads on Saturdays,” senior defensive end Bruce Davis said.

There was blame to go around.

Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns.

The Wildcats came in averaging 77 yards rushing a game, but Nicolas Grigsby ran for 124 yards, including a scoring play covering 60 yards.

Arizona (4-6, 3-5) built a 20-point lead, then survived Osaar Rasshan’s debut as UCLA’s quarterback after Patrick Cowan was knocked out of the game.

Cowan left in the third quarter because of a concussion and, after complaining of discomfort and shortness of breath in the locker room, was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a collapsed lung.

With Rasshan running the offense, the Bruins scored 13 unanswered points, but the only momentum afterward was in the hands of those applying pressure to oust Dorrell.

“I don’t care if Mickey Mouse is our coach, it’s on the players’ shoulders,” said Davis, his eyes misting up. “We got to make plays when we’re in position to make plays. A coach can’t step out there on the field. Our coaches didn’t call any plays that had us totally out of position. They didn’t do that one time. We got to execute.”

The Bruins didn’t until the end. Rasshan entered the game after Patrick Cowan suffered a concussion early in the third quarter, and UCLA started moving the ball. The Bruins had a chance to drive for a tying touchdown, but Rasshan’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete with two minutes left.

“I’m encouraged how we played in the fourth quarter,” Dorrell said. “They didn’t score any points in the fourth quarter. We did. We still came up short.”

The good ol’ college try, though, will do little at this point to pacify fans or, probably, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero.

Guerrero said last week he would be “very interested” to see how the Bruins finish the season. He got an eyeful Saturday.

The Bruins lost to a lower-tier Pac-10 team for the second straight week, piled onto nonconference losses to Notre Dame and Utah, both of which were winless at the time.

The Bruins started well Saturday. Matthew Slater’s 100-yard kickoff return and Cowan’s nine-yard touchdown pass to his brother, Joe, gave UCLA a 14-10 lead with 6:31 left in the first half.

Then UCLA’s offense went three-and-out on six of its next seven series and the defense couldn’t handle an offense that gave it the Willies.

Tuitama’s third touchdown pass gave the Wildcats a 34-14 lead three minutes into the second half.

Things don’t get any easier for the Bruins, who close the season against three ranked teams, Arizona State, Oregon and USC.

“Really, I’m not even thinking about the Pac-10 championship right now,” Taylor said. “We just got to play football and win a game.

“You talk about goals, then we lose to these teams. You lose to Notre Dame, and I don’t know if they’ve won since. You lose to Utah, you lose to Washington State, their first win in the Pac-10, now we lose to Arizona. It’s ridiculous.”

Those losses have Dorrell on the edge of his hot seat. The Bruins are facing another second-half collapse, the kind that has haunted them three of his previous four seasons.

“We got three games left to prove ourselves,” Davis said. “Whatever will happen at the end of the season will happen. Hopefully, it will go in favor of Coach Dorrell. . . . If we don’t get it, there’s nothing he can do about that. It’s on us.”

That will be more difficult as injuries mount. The Bruins were without six starters Saturday and lost Cowan and tailback Chris Markey, who suffered a sprained ankle in the first half.

“At this point, it’s just about playing football,” Taylor said. “I still love to play the game of football. You can’t really play this game without loving it. The second I stop loving this game, I’m walking off the field.

“I’m trying to get as many guys around me who want to play football, too, whether we’re playing for the Pac-10 championship or not.”

Are there enough guys to stand around Taylor?

“We’ll find out,” he said.

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Chris Foster’s keys to the game and how UCLA measured up:

1. Good “PR” work. While the Bruins got to Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama four times, the Wildcats otherwise “protected” him well and UCLA rarely “pressured” him early in the game. Tuitama threw three touchdown passes. The flip side: Bruins quarterback Patrick Cowan left in the third quarter with a concussion.

2. Gotta run. Arizona was averaging 77 yards rushing a game, but Nicolas Grigsby ran for 124 yards himself, including a scoring play covering 60 yards.

3. Control the tempo. The Bruins went three-and-out on six of seven series after taking a 14-10 lead. That put the ball in the hands of Tuitama.