Donahue Accepts a Big Share of Blame

Looking on the bright side after last Saturday’s ambush in the Arizona desert: At least none of UCLA’s players have run off to play in an Italian league.

And, after Arizona quarterback Ronald Veal completed only two of seven passes for 25 yards in the Wildcats’ 42-7 victory, the Bruins rank first in the Pacific 10 Conference in passing defense.

On the other hand . . .

The Bruins fell all the way to 10th in the conference against the run after Arizona stormed through them for 480 yards, a record for a UCLA opponent, and left them embarrassed and humiliated.

“At this particular time, we need to regroup, if that’s a good word, and I think it is because we were scattered Saturday,� Coach Terry Donahue said. “When you’re involved in that kind of a lopsided game, the truth of the matter is, you were splattered and scattered and sent home in disarray.

“I wasn’t with Napolean at Waterloo, but I can’t imagine it was any worse.�

Much of the blame should be laid on Donahue, he said.

“When you get your ears pinned back as soundly as we did, you take a look first at yourself and say that something isn’t right--and I certainly have to do that,� he said. “It would be easy for me to tell you that the players are all screwed up and it’s all their fault. But I don’t really believe that.

“Part of it’s coaching. Whether I like it or not, I’m deeply implicated in this whole thing.�

Arizona, which ranked last in the Pac-10 in total offense through its first five games, surprised UCLA by taking advantage of an open date to implement the same type of I-bone attack that has rocketed Colorado into the top three in the national polls.

The Bruins anticipated that the Wildcats would continue to run a triple-option, as they did in the first five weeks of the season.

“Arizona did a much better job coaching than we did,� Donahue said. “They certainly did a much better job than we did playing. The responsibility for that is squarely on my shoulders. I’m responsible for how our team is prepared and how our team plays. We were ill-prepared in every category.

“I don’t think that would have happened to us had Arizona not had two weeks to prepare for the game, but the fact of the matter is, it did happen.

“We did not prepare our team well and we did not compete well. We did not respond well to anything that happened to us. Our football team wasn’t ready to play, and that’s my responsibility.�

The Bruins, oddly, played with little emotion against a team that was only a one-point underdog. That might have been a result of complacency, Donahue said.

“There certainly is a clear lack of intensity on the team,� he said. “That partially is the responsibility of the coaching staff and that partially is the responsibility of the players.

“Sometimes you tend to think that you inherit winning, when indeed you earn it.�

Despite the harsh reviews, though, UCLA is not out of the Rose Bowl race. The Bruins are 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10, virtually tied for second place with Arizona and Washington State behind unbeaten USC.

“We’ve got one conference loss and I don’t think you’re eliminated until you’ve got two,� Donahue said. “(Until) we get our second loss, I’m going to continue to think that our football team is in competition and in contention for the championship.

“At the same time, I have to look at the defeat and analyze it and say that there would have to be some very major, sweeping changes that would have to occur in our performance level and our efficiency level for us to be able to go through our next five games undefeated.�

Does UCLA have the personnel to finish the season with five straight victories, which is probably what it would take for the Bruins to reach the Rose Bowl?

It’s hard to say at this point, but Arizona Coach Dick Tomey, asked Sunday if the talent level in Westwood has fallen dramatically this season, said adamantly: “Gosh no. They’ve got some of the best players in the country.�

Earlier, asked by Arizona reporters about the difficulty of competing against USC and UCLA, Tomey alluded to the talent level at those schools when he said: “It’s hard to coach bad enough to screw up one of those jobs.�

Donahue, though, fairly bristled when asked if the Bruins are less talented this season, as if the answer should be obvious to anyone who has seen them play.

“I’m not going to defend myself against Dick Tomey’s observations,� he said. “He won the game, 42-7, and as the man said long ago, ‘When you get whipped, you shut up and buck up.’ He has a lot of the right answers right now because he won the game.�

Donahue agreed, though, that UCLA shouldn’t play as poorly as it did last week against any team .

“I don’t think it has to be the end of the earth,� he said of the Bruins’ worst conference loss in 10 years. “But it’s a serious matter. People expect more of UCLA football than what we gave them. And they should expect more.�

While he implemented a new offense last week, Tomey considered closing practice to the media, but decided against it because he didn’t want to alert the Bruins that something was up.

Several Arizona reporters noticed the changes and commented on them, but none wrote about them, said Butch Henry, Arizona’s sports information director.

Henry said that Tomey has an understanding with reporters that they write only about practice injuries and not about strategy.

How much difference would it have made if word had leaked?

“A substantial amount of difference,� Donahue said.

Bruin Notes

More bad news for the UCLA defense: Tackle Bryan Wilcox, who has not played since suffering a concussion last month against Michigan, might not play again this season, Coach Terry Donahue said. Wilcox missed three starts last season because of a concussion. . . . Linebacker Meech Shaw, who missed last week’s game after pinching a nerve in his neck in practice, is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Oregon State at Corvallis, Ore.

UCLA’s Kirk Maggio ranks third in the nation with an average of 44.8 yards a punt. Maggio averaged 49.0 yards in four punts against Arizona, including a career-best 61-yarder. . . . Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said of the Wildcats’ 42-7 rout of UCLA: “It was as good a performance by a team as I’ve ever been a part of. We did a lot of good things in a lot of areas.�

Donahue plans no major shakeups in his lineup, he said. “I don’t have a lot of options at some positions,� he said. “I don’t have a lot of choices.� . . . A few Bruins played “OK� against Arizona, Donahue said, naming linebacker Marvcus Patton, center Frank Cornish and offensive tackle Rick Meyer, who moved over from guard for the game. . . . Freshman tailback Kevin Williams, who ran for 79 yards in 11 carries, will be used more frequently in the last half of the season, Donahue said.

Why did Arizona, which led at the time, 28-0, call a timeout when UCLA faced third-and-10 at the Wildcats’ 16-yard line with 1:14 left in the half? “We were trying to get the ball back,� Tomey said. “I was still worried about winning. I certainly didn’t think at that time we were going to win the game. We wanted to block a punt (or) give ourselves some time to score again.� Was he watching the same game?