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Junior wide receiver Craig Bragg makes a diving touchdown catch for UCLA's only touchdown.

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Sophomore Marcedes Lewis is guarded tightly by Fresno State sophomore James Sanders and was unabl

SAN JOSE—UCLA had three weeks to prepare for the Silicon Valley Classic.

Apparently it wasn't enough practice, as a 17-9 loss to Fresno State in front of 20,126 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose on Dec. 30 further highlighted deficiencies exposed in the Bruins’ four-game skid at the end of the regular season—deficiencies that the team had hoped to correct with the extra practice afforded to it before the bowl game.

UCLA finishes its season at 6-7, the team's first losing season since 1999, when it went 4-7. The Bruins went about losing this game just as they lost most games this season: with an inept offense.

"It is inexcusable that we lost this game, even though they came out and hit us in the mouth," sophomore quarterback Drew Olson said. "It was one of the worst losses I've ever been a part of."

To start the game, the Bruins looked extremely flat, gaining only 34 yards in the first quarter, to the Bulldogs' 164 yards for the same period.

Early in the first quarter the Bruins failed to capitalize on excellent field position after senior defensive tackle Rodney Leisle intercepted a pass by Paul Pinegar on Fresno State's first offensive possession. The Bruins went three-and-out and junior Chris Kluwe punted--as he did eight more times on the night-en route to the game's Special Teams MVP award.

The Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to break open the game, with sophomore running back Bryson Sumlin rushing for a one-yard touchdown and catching a 44-yard touchdown pass from Pinegar. Sumlin bowled over a Bruin defense that seemed lackadaisical when it counted early on.

"Defensively we played well, (but) we had a slow start in the first half," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. "My hat's taken off to what they've (Fresno State) done. They were well prepared. They came out and did some stuff in the beginning of the game that put them in the lead."

UCLA put up only 164 yards of total offense, and 97 of those yards came on a drive at the end of the first half, which resulted in the Bruins’ only touchdown of the game--a 27-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Drew Olson to junior wide receiver Craig Bragg.

Bragg's diving touchdown catch seemed to energize the Bruins, and their fans. On the following kickoff the teams were involved in a scuffle and sophomore safety Jarrad Page was ejected after the shoving match was quashed.

The Bruins seemed to carry some momentum into the second half, and put themselves back in the game halfway through the third quarter when a defensive stand forced the Bulldogs into fourth-and 38 on their own 12 yard-line. Asi Faoa blocked the Bulldogs punt attempt for a safety that made the score 17-9.

"It was a designed block, for everyone to hold up and me to go for it-and it worked," Faoa said.

However, the UCLA offense sucked away any momentum the defense had built up, as it squandered several opportunities to put points on the board.

After the safety, the Bruins started drives on their own 42 yard-line, their own 41 yard-line and from the 50 yard-line, but failed to move the ball effectively.

"Offensively we didn't get a chance to capitalize on some things," Dorrell said. "That's kind of been the story of our year and the kind of thing that's going to have to change."

The Bruins took themselves out of contention for good when an Olson pass was picked off by Manuel Sanchez with 2:42 remaining in the game.

Olson went 11 of 31 and finished with 96 yards passing. Freshman running back Maurice Drew had 65 yards on 17 carries while Bragg led all receivers with five catches for 71 yards.

Despite the loss, players and coaches said they were still pleased with the three weeks of practice the team logged in preparation for the game.

"I was hoping that we would take a step forward from my anticipation coming into this game," Dorrell said. "This is going to be a great off-season. I really want to do some great things to help bring this team back to the level where it should be."

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