An era that once appeared on the verge of a return to football glory for UCLA ended with a thud Sunday when the school announced it had fired coach Jim Mora, who could not build on the early success he achieved as his teams sputtered the last two seasons.
The Bruins, 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the Pac-12 Conference, could qualify for a lower-tier bowl game with a victory over California on Friday at the Rose Bowl, but their downward trajectory led to Mora’s dismissal with four seasons left on his contract.