BRUINS OFFER NO DEFENSE DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KERR'S JOB MIGHT BE IN JEOPARDY.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Nearly a half-an-hour after No. 11 UCLA was humiliated by top-ranked USC 66-19 Saturday at the Coliseum in one of the most lopsided losses of the rivalry's history, junior Maurice Drew remained in uniform, helmet on, sitting in front of is locker.

Bruins coach Karl Dorrell sat in Drew's locker, consoling his star tailback. Several teammates also stopped by, but none of the words took away the pain.

Drew's sometimes watery eyes told of his disappointment better than his words, but amid a solemn locker room came regret, confusion, and perhaps the realization another change is coming to Westwood.

Word buzzing around UCLA's sideline late in the game was defensive coordinator Larry Kerr's job was in jeopardy after the archrival Trojans rushed for 430 yards, totaled 679 yards of offense despite quarterback Matt Leinart not being sharp, and ran a nearly unfathomable 95 offensive plays.

``You just go out and do your job, do the best job that you can do, and it starts with me on the defense, obviously,'' said Kerr, in his third year at UCLA. ``That's where it starts. It doesn't start with your players. It doesn't start with anything else. It starts with me and it goes from there.''

Dorrell opted not to address the topic after the third-worst UCLA loss among the 75 games between the schools. The two more lopsided losses were in 1929 (76-0) and 1930 (52-0), the first two games of the series.

It also was the second-most points USC scored in a series it leads 41-27-7.

``We had a great week of practice, and to perform the way we did is disappointing,'' Dorrell said. ``That's what our players are saying. We did not operate at a level we're capable of. That's not taking anything away from USC. They're a very, very good football team, but we're a better team than showed up.''

Sun Bowl-bound UCLA (9-2, 6-2 Pac-10) finished third in the conference, but more damaging was the seventh straight loss in the series.

``It sucks. It's a (bad) feeling, '' UCLA senior quarterback Drew Olson said. ``I'm disappointed and embarrassed. We came in to put up a good fight and the opposite happened.''

Trojans tailback Reggie Bush ran for 260 yards and two scores on 24 carries, but he rushed just six times in the second half. LenDale White added 154 yards rushing as a much bigger Trojans offensive line man-handled a terribly overmatched UCLA defensive front that included sophomore Brigham Harwell, redshirt freshmen Kenneth Lombard, true freshman Chase Moline and walk-on Brian Ruziecki rotating at the defensive tackle spots.

The depleted front four Kerr had to work with came about for a variety of reasons, dating to having six seniors in the defensive line rotation in 2003 and few underclassmen, the forced transfer of C.J. Niusulu in the spring and the season-ending ankle injury to UCLA's best lineman, defensive tackle Kevin Brown, in training camp.

It all made for quite a Heisman Trophy-capping day for Bush.

``How easy was it on a scale of 1 to 10?'' Bush said. ``It was a 10. Our O-line moved the line of scrimmage five yards up on every play.''

UCLA tried to neutralize USC's offense by blitzing linebackers and safeties through the middle, but Bush was able to get outside. He had nine rushes of at least 10 yards.

``(UCLA) lost the battle up front,'' Kerr said. ``Those guys are bigger and better than you up front, and you just don't get off blocks and don't make tackles. It's been our Achilles' heel all season long.''

The Bruins, who allow 33.8 points per game, had 62 starts by sophomores or freshmen this season. UCLA is yielding 238.6 yards rushing per game, to rank among the nation's worst against the run for the second straight season.

``I felt really good going into the game,'' UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner said. ``Right now, I'm just trying to keep my head up and move forward. It's a bad loss, but I'm still proud that we're 9-2. I'm obviously disappointed that I didn't get to beat 'SC, so all that stuff goes into play, but I don't think it discounts anything that we've done this season.''

UCLA had trouble mounting any offense. The Bruins said they never were able to get in a rhythm because they were on the sideline too much in the first half, in which they fell behind 31-6.

``I don't understand,'' Drew said. ``We practiced as hard as we could. We came out, we knew the game plan and nothing worked, and we got blown out. It's tough. It's a tough loss to take.''

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) USC's Dwayne Jarrett escapes the grasp of a UCLA defender after making a first-down catch in the first quarter.

(2) UCLA's Marcedes Lewis can't hang onto the ball after taking a hit from USC's Darnell Bing in the third quarter.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer