Kia's back pain gets Baca into the game

"I have a history of back problems," Kia said. "It flared up pretty bad in the second quarter and was hindering my performance."

That gave freshman Jeff Baca his first college game experience. Baca played the remainder of the game at left tackle.

"There was a minute left in halftime and Coach goes, 'Baca, you're in,' " Baca said. "[Guard] Scott Glicksberg came over to me and said, 'You know the stuff, just play.' I was nervous in my stance for that first play. After it, I was playing big-time college football."

Besides Baca, tailback Derrick Coleman and defensive end Datone Jones made their college debuts, bringing the number of freshmen who have played for the Bruins this year to 11.

Running down the road

The Bruins gained 111 yards rushing after having only 38 in their first two games. Chane Moline accounted for 40 on one run, setting up a 35-yard field by Kai Forbath just before halftime.

"You don't know how good it felt to see Chane ripping it up on that play," tackle Nick Ekbatani said. "I want more of those."

So does offensive line coach Bob Palcic.

Keeping the faith

Coach Rick Neuheisel tried to take some of the heat off quarterback Kevin Craft after the loss at the Rose Bowl. Craft threw for only 81 yards as the Bruins failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second consecutive game.

"When you're the quarterback, you don't get to hide," Neuheisel said. "It's easy to say that he must be the reason you're unsuccessful. Kevin works hard, and I hope he can continue to work hard and continue to improve.

"Just like all positions on the team, we're going to evaluate them and keep working to find answers."

Not closing the deal

There wasn't anything mysterious about the shoddy special teams play that contributed mightily to UCLA's loss.

"Missed tackles," special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. said. "Guys not wrapping up, not squeezing."

The day had started so well for Gansz and his players, with Aaron Perez booming long punts to trap Arizona at the two- and one-yard line.

The second punt led directly to UCLA's recovering a fumble in the end zone for a 7-3 lead.