LA Times: Poor execution leads to woes on offense

By Lonnie White, Times Staff Writer

UCLA's offensive woes can be summed up in three game-changing plays this season.  

•  In the third game, the Bruins trailed Washington, 22-19, in the fourth quarter when Ben Olson tried a first-down pass to Junior Taylor in the flat that was intercepted by Dan Howell, who returned it 33 yards for a touchdown. The Bruins lost, 29-19, after leading, 16-0, in the first half.

•  Two weeks ago, UCLA led Notre Dame, 14-13, at the start of the fourth quarter and had the Irish on the run. But on third and three from the Notre Dame 39, Patrick Cowan was sacked for a seven-yard loss. The Bruins had to punt and ended up losing, 20-17.

•  Last week, UCLA trailed Washington State, 20-15, late in the third quarter when Coach Karl Dorrell decided to gamble. On fourth down from midfield, Cowan's pass intended for fullback Michael Pitre was knocked down. The Cougars scored on their next two possessions to win going away, 37-15.  Three plays that did not work because of failed execution, poor play calling or a combination of both.  "It can be fixed easy," said Taylor, a senior receiver. "Make a block, make the run, make the catch. Keep the chains moving. It's really on us. We need to make the plays so we don't have all of these three-and-outs."  UCLA's inability to get first downs has been a problem since the Bruins opened the season 2-0. In victories over Utah and Rice, UCLA did not have any three-play drives that ended with punts, but they had five each in losses to Washington State, Notre Dame and Washington. With four regular-season games remaining, UCLA still does not have a go-to receiver and Chris Markey's hold as the No. 1 running back appears to have changed based on his limited role against the Cougars last week.  "We're going to continue to go through our growing pains in a number of different ways," said Dorrell about UCLA's offense, which ranks eighth in total yards in the Pacific 10 Conference, ahead of only Arizona and Stanford. "The biggest point for us is to get our players in position to make plays."

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