UCLA Mourns a Lost Weekend in Tempe : College football: Bruins need more time to recover from 37-33 defeat against Arizona State.

By STEVE SPRINGER

Nov. 8, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Like all his teammates, UCLA starting center Mike Flanagan was bitter about losing to Arizona State Saturday night, 37-33, after leading, 27-10, at the half.

But what particularly bothered Flanagan was losing to Arizona State’s head coach, Bruce Snyder.

“He’s always talked down about other schools,” Flanagan said. “When I was being recruited, [Arizona State] was the only school that was negative about other schools. He [Snyder] would say, ‘We went down there and kicked the butts of the those powder-blue and gold [bleeps].’ He tries to make himself look good by downgrading other programs. That’s a real sign of insecurity to me.

“But he had his team ready to play. I’ll have to give him that.”

Losses affect different players in different ways.

Bruin defensive tackle Grady Stretz, born and raised in Tempe, Ariz., went home thinking it would be a weekend to remember.

Before taking the field at Sun Devil Stadium, Stretz went to his high school field Friday night. McClintock High, his alma mater, was playing Casa Grande in a game crucial to McClintock’s playoff chances.

Stretz had been asked to inspire the team with a pregame address and then take part in the coin toss.

It didn’t quite work out the way he had hoped. Stretz filled the McClintock players’ heads with tales of 1990 when he and his teammates went 13-2, winning the state championship.

Charged up, the 1995 McClintock squad stormed out on the field and lost, 14-7.

Oh well, there was always Saturday for Stretz. He invited family, friends and his high school coaches to watch him play against Arizona State, getting 25 tickets.

Talk about a lost weekend.

“It was the biggest disappointment I’ve ever been involved with,” Stretz said. “It was embarrassing.”

That started with his night at McClintock.

“The way the weekend went,” Stretz said, “I don’t think I’ll be invited back.”

What left such a bad taste in the Bruins’ mouths was the fact that they lost to a team they dominated statistically, running up 538 yards of offense. What ultimately did in UCLA, however, were mistakes--giving up a safety and three fumbles on four consecutive possessions starting late in the third quarter--costly penalties and an ineffective secondary.

“I still can’t believe the things that happened,” Flanagan said. “I think their defense was so bad up front. They had no speed on their outside pass rush. One of their players had no speed and no strength. I can’t think of a worse combination.”

The plane flight back to Los Angeles Saturday night was unusual, considering it followed a loss.

“It wasn’t quiet like it is after some losses,” Stretz said. “Normally, because everybody is upset and depressed, nobody says anything. This time, everybody was talking and asking questions. We were trying to figure out what happened. We were like in a haze. We felt it was one of the poorest defenses we’ve played against. We wanted to know how we could blow such an apparent win. It would have been our fifth in a row, but it fell out from under us.”

Even when the Bruins’ plane hit the ground in Los Angeles, the players’ spirits weren’t lifted.

Stretz stayed indoors Sunday.

“I didn’t feel like going out in public,” he said.

He shares a West Los Angeles apartment with Flanagan, defensive tackle George Kase and offensive lineman Matt Soenksen. It was a somber place Sunday afternoon.

“We each have our own room,” Flanagan said. “When we lose, everybody is in his room. It’s quiet as hell, not a fun place to be.”

Sunday night, Stretz watched the television replay of the game, but that didn’t help.

“It was painful, unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve never been associated with a game that turned around like that, turned around so fast. And it looked even worse on TV.”

By Monday, the players usually put their memories of the previous weekend, good or bad, aside and start thinking of the game ahead.

Not this week.

“It’s going to take a couple of days,” Stretz said. “I’m not real excited about Washington [this week’s opponent].”

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, however, isn’t worried about any long-term effects.

“One thing I’ve found out about young people, “ he said, “is that they are a hell of a lot more resilient than older people. And that’s what makes them fun to be around. They’re competitive. They bounce back quickly.

“It doesn’t mean our team won’t hurt from the loss. I’d be disappointed if we weren’t stung by the loss because it’s got to mean something to you or you shouldn’t be playing. On the other side of the coin, these are young people whose entire lives don’t rotate just around football. They’ve got a lot of other interests. So that in itself brings them out of too much focus on a particular loss.”

But this loss, it seems, is going to be a little harder to forget.