By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Bob Toledo described Saturday's loss to Michigan as a bump in the road.
As for the offense, it was more like driving head-first into an oncoming Mack truck.
The damage? Only seven first downs (one in the second half). No touchdowns. Total offense of 170 yards. The UCLA defense scored twice as many points as the offense.
"We're going to go out and try to correct our mistakes and make them better," Toledo said.
They've got a lot of work to do.
Wolverines returned three Cade McNown interceptions for a total of 42 yards. Bruin receivers only gained 39 yards on McNown's passes.
Of the 55 offensive plays, 15 were either dropped passes or badly thrown balls.
"Some guys just didn't make plays," Toledo said. "When you look at video and see what happened there were plays there that have got to be made."
The Bruins have failed to sustain a long drive against either Tennessee or Michigan.
"We just can't get in a rhythm," Toledo said. "You've got to make some passes and get some first downs."
The only offensive touchdown against Tennessee was an 88-yard scoring strike to Danny Farmer. They failed to reach the end zone last weekend.
The Bruin defense has scored two touchdowns in that same span.
This may be a result of the sheer number of plays that each team has had on the field.
Against Michigan, the Bruin offense took 30 fewer snaps than did the Wolverines.
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The Michigan game, however, wasn't a total disaster on the offensive side of the ball.
"Our tight ends Jamal Clark and Tyrone Pierce played pretty well," Toledo said, "And our offensive line did some good things."
In fact, right tackle Andy Meyers was given offensive player of the game honors.
Defensively, Phillip Ward's interceptions accounted for one Bruin touchdown and stopped another Wolverine drive. However, Brian Willmer took the defensive player of the week honors by virtue of his team-leading 15 tackles.
"There were some bright spots," Toledo said. "We want to compete against the best and to do that we've got to get all of them doing their job. On that particular day, they were just better than us."
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After dislocating his knee on punt coverage Saturday, inside linebacker Rosco Zamano remained in Michigan while the rest of the team came back to Los Angeles.
He is expected to return home in about a week for surgery.
The doctors said the circulation in the leg could be a problem, and it remains uncertain if he will play again.
"I just know it's a lot better than what we first heard," Toledo said. "Knowing Rosco, if there's a 1 percent chance of coming back, he'll be back."
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Game time has been changed for Saturday's game at Oregon. Originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m., the game has been pushed back to 7:15 p.m. in order to accommodate television. Prime/Fox Sports Net will air the game.
In addition, ABC has decided to televise the UCLA-Arizona State game Oct. 12 at the Rose Bowl. As a result, the game will begin at 12:30 p.m.