SALT LAKE CITY -- It is difficult to determine which was the greater reach:
UCLA receiver Marcus Everett stretching the ball for the goal line, just before he became a highlight-reel blooper. Or the Bruins deeply held belief that they were actually a Bowl Championship Series-caliber football team.
Everett's red-faced moment in the third quarter was a harbinger for the reality that came in a 44-6 loss to Utah on Saturday in front of 43,056 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The 11th-ranked Bruins (2-1) might wonder now how far they will slip in the next polls, but this much seems clear: Among the things that dissipated into the thin mountain air included the thought that the Bruins are a team that belongs among the best in college football.
The Utes (1-2) left UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell going through postgame questions in taut-jaw anger, saying, "Do we have enough time to discuss all the issues we have?"
While postgame prancing by Utes' fans went on outside, teary-eyed UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis sat in front of his locker, offering nothing that could be considered hyperbole.
"Right now, this is the most sickening feeling I have ever had as a college football player," he said. "Their fans are running around out there dancing on the field. We can hear [the Utah players] next door, but they earned it."
The Utes did, as there was no part of the game they didn't dominate.
They employed tag-team strategy at quarterback, using Tommy Grady (passer) and Corbin Louks (runner), who put up 30 second-half points in making it a Mountain West Conference landslide.
The Utah defense sent the Bruins' West Coast offense south, intercepting three Ben Olson passes, sacking him five times and forcing five turnovers -- converting three into 17 points.
But the linchpin to the Bruins' second-half collapse could be traced to Everett's oh-so-close, oh-so-disastrous moment.
With the Bruins trailing, 17-6, Olson found Everett deep. As the receiver churned toward the goal line with free safety Robert Johnson in pursuit, Everett leaped forward and extended his arms, only to have the ball come free and roll out of the end zone for a touchback that gave Utah possession.
At that moment, the Bruins could follow the bouncing ball to their worst nonconference loss since Nebraska walloped them, 42-3, in 1984.
"I was just stretching and the ball came out," Everett said. "I knew people were right behind me. I was trying to get in the end zone before they could get to me."
