This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Pasadena, Calif. • On a night when BYU had a chance to win in thrilling fashion for a third straight week, this time against 10th-ranked UCLA at the Rose Bowl, Cougars quarterback Tanner Mangum threw a late interception that killed that chance.

Suddenly, the thrill was gone.

Down by the count of 24-23, on a fourth-and-7 play, Mangum was picked off by Bruins linebacker Myles Jack at the UCLA 29-yard line, ending the Cougars' threat.

But that ending wasn't really on him. The defeat wasn't on him.

It fell, rather, at the feet and in the hands and on the shoulders of BYU's defense, a group that could not hang onto a 23-17 lead late in the game. Instead, UCLA's rushing attack chewed Bronco Mendenhall's group up, and stole victory from the Cougars.

It wasn't a complete collapse. The defense had some fine moments, holding Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen to a mostly unimpressive showing. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 106 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.

That's the happy side of it for BYU.

The unhappy side was the Cougars could not stop the Bruins' run game. Paul Perkins ran for 219 yards and Nate Starks ran for 81, including key gains late that enabled UCLA to score a touchdown with 3:21 left in the fourth quarter, when it had to erase that six-point deficit to win.

BYU's run defense, at that juncture, played as though it were hauling hundred-pound blocks of concrete on its collective back.

"The difference in the game was Perkins, the running back for UCLA," Mendenhall said.

Bruins coach Jim Mora Jr. was complimentary of the Cougars' D, saying: "They're a big, good looking defense."

Still, that defense yielded 296 rushing yards on this night, an average of 7.8 yards per carry. Perkins got an average of 8.4 per attempt, Starks 11.6.

Not even Mangum could overcome that.