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Pat Cowan is slated to start as quarterback for the Bruins on Saturday against the Trojans. He to

If there is a true mismatch on the field this week, and if there is an ultimate reason for the two-touchdown point spread, it will be seen when the UCLA offense is on the field.

The Bruins, led by quarterback Pat Cowan, have had a rough and inconsistent year. The Bruins have scored just 23.5 points per game. Neither the passing game nor the rushing game has been a consistent force game in and game out.

The USC defense, on the other hand, is one of the more dominant since Pete Carroll has been the coach. They are allowing just 15.1 points per game, which is, by a fairly wide margin, tops in the Pac-10. The Trojans limited Cal to just nine points en route to their 23-9 victory.

Needless to say, it will be a hefty challenge come game day whether the Bruins will be able to put points on the boards against such a potent defense.

“They’re fast, real fast,” offensive lineman Shannon Tevaga said. “They’re as fast as we’ve seen. They’re quick; they take the right angles.

“We’re going to have to hit our zones and hit our gaps strong,” Tevaga said.

The Trojans are led by a strong front seven that has allowed just 95.5 yards per game on the ground this year.

Linebackers Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga and Dallas Sartz have been a three-headed tackling machine this year. The speed of this USC defense could cause fits among the UCLA offensive line, which has, continuing the theme, had an inconsistent year.

“They’re great, man,” fullback Michael Pitre said. “They’re the real-deal defense. (But) they put their pads on just like everybody else puts their pads on. They’re not special. They’re fast, big and strong, but we’re excited for the challenge.

“This is why we came to UCLA,” Pitre said.

The Bruins will have to hope that the speed of USC’s defense proves to be the Trojans’ undoing. With a fast defense, sometimes gaps will form as the defenders are looking to make big plays. The West Coast offense is built upon short passing that could cause trouble for an overactive USC defense.

“I think the fact that they are very fast does leave some lanes in the passing game and running game,” Pitre said. “When you have active players like that, you have to tell them to be patient. I’m sure their coaches have to tell them sometimes to just be patient and let plays happen.

“But at the same time, we’re going to have to execute well on every play,” Pitre said.

And that execution could be the real problem.

Cowan has not been an effective passer in terms of completion percentage this year, completing just 53.7 percent of his passes. In a West Coast offense built on effective short passes, that is not a good number.

It is safe to say that the Bruins will need a much-higher completion percentage from Cowan if they are going to take advantage of any gaps in the USC defense.

If there is one weakness in the Trojans’ defense, it is their secondary, which is young. But even in recent weeks, they have appeared to really start to gel. Still, if the Bruins are looking to exploit one thing, that is it.

“They’re pretty solid; they have some big safeties,” wide receiver Marcus Everett said. “If they have one weakness, though, it’s them. We think we’ve got a good matchup with them (there).”

The Bruins will need a good matchup somewhere on the field. The Trojan offense is beginning to click at this late stage in the season, so they will likely get some points against even the stout UCLA defense.

Somewhere, at some point, the Bruins are going to need some scoring out of their offense if they are to pull out a victory on Saturday against the Trojans and end the losing streak at seven.

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