Bruins bumble but ultimately breathe life into Dorrell’s system

This was not a game, it was a gasp.

This wasn’t a victory, it was a breath.

A deep gasp, a huge breath, a reeling coach and his team bouncing off the ropes that threatened to strangle his job and their season.

Seven days after the worst loss in Karl Dorrell’s five autumns here, the UCLA Bruins slogged through a chilly Saturday night in Pasadena to hand him one of his most important wins.

It was a lot of clutching and grabbing. It was more desperate than pretty. When it ended, the Bruins were leaning on a walk-on quarterback and slumped against their weary secondary.

But, at the count of 44-31 over Washington, it was victory.

And, thus, seven days after hopeless, it was life.

The Bruins again have life.

Life with a 2-0 Pac-10 record. Life that still has a chance at the Rose Bowl. Life after Utah.

That last proper noun, you will remember forever, refers to the Bruins 44-6 loss at winless Utah last week, a game in which this talented, experienced team quit on itself and exposed the criticism that haunts its coach.

Dorrell can’t reach. Dorrell can’t teach. Dorrell can piece together a good team, but he can’t make it great.

We’ve heard it all for five years and, after last week, it was hard to disagree with any of it.

On Saturday, rebuttal.

Shortly after he returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown, an exhausted Dennis Keyes dodged the celebrating marching band while voicing that rebuttal.

“Coach takes all the heat for us, everything that happens around here is blamed on him, and it’s not right,” Keyes said. “Tonight we fought for him. Tonight we put our hearts out for him.”

They did with Dorrell acting animated on the sidelines, taking chances with the play calling, pushing his players to keep working during a fourth quarter in which the teams combined for 41 points.

“I like challenges, I like being put up to a task like this,” Dorrell said. “I answered the bell. I’m going to continue to answer the bell.”

The Bruins indeed have life, after being nearly buried in a first half in which they nearly doubled the Huskies in yardage yet were tied 10-10 because of eight dumb penalties.

Then, in danger of being out of their season, they sorted it out.

It started with Patrick Cowan, the hero of last year’s USC victory, pitching and poking them past an awful first half to a 71-yard touchdown drive at the start of the third quarter.

He had sat out the first three games because of a hamstring injury. He was playing only because Ben Olson was sidelined because of head injuries. He eventually left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.

But, goodness, if Cowan can walk, he should play, from now until January.

Cowan makes things happen. He’s not as athletic as Olson, but he can create victory out of doubt. “His toughness inspired us all,” Keyes said. “He was the fighter out there. He made all the big plays. He was our inspiration.”

After Cowan, there was Dennis Keyes, stepping in front of a Jake Locker pass and returning it 60 yards for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter to increase the lead.

“I almost ran out of gas at the end, but there was no way I was slowing down,” he said. “Tonight, nobody on this team slowed down.”

Then, after Keyes, there was Chris Markey picking a perfect time for the longest run of his career, a 72-yard run at the start of the fourth quarter after Cowan’s injury.

“We left Utah with such a terrible feeling, we never want that feeling again,” Markey said, later adding, “I’m playing every game like my last.”

Finally, there was an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Matthew Slater to clinch it.

Yea, crazy, unexpected, up-from-their-knees life.

Don’t know how long it will last. Don’t know whether it will be enough to save either this inconsistent team or its enigmatic coach.

Driving to the Rose Bowl before Saturday night’s scuffle, the problem with Dorrell football became clear.

Less than two hours before the game, the roads around the bowl were mostly clear, the speeds were fine, the trip was easy.

Once again it became apparent, every time there is any sort of buzz around UCLA football, Dorrell’s team kills it.

His second season in 2004, the Bruins nearly defeated USC, and what happened? They were beaten by Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl.

His third season, they won their first eight games and were ranked seventh in the country and what happened? They were beaten in Arizona by 38 points.

Last season it happened twice, with a fine showing against Notre Dame followed by a nasty loss to Washington State, then a win over USC followed by an awful Emerald Bowl loss to Florida State.

Then, this year, Dorrell went into his season’s third week with an 11th-ranked team that could have challenged for a BCS bowl. Twenty returning starters. One of the nation’s most exciting defenses.

And what happened? Yeah, Utah.

Although, this week in Westwood, there is little chance of anyone still talking about Utah.

One step forward, two steps back, then a final sprint forward, a Saturday night ending in deep breaths, huge gasps, and life.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.