Last-Ditch Losses Get to Be Habit : Stanford: After losing to Colorado with 12 seconds to play, the Cardinal ends up on short end with one second remaining.

If not for games a total of 13 seconds too long, Stanford’s football team would be 2-0 today.

Against Colorado 10 days ago, the Cardinal held a 17-14 lead, but the Buffaloes scored a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining to win.

Saturday’s 32-31 loss to UCLA was even harder to take. The Cardinal led, 31-29, until Brad Daluiso’s 21-yard field goal with one second remaining.

It is difficult for the Cardinal players to accept their plight.

Stanford held its own against sixth-ranked Colorado in amassing more than 300 total yards. The Cardinal led at halftime, 14-0.

Against UCLA, it was more of the same. Stanford gained 386 yards and led early in the third quarter, 21-7.

“It’s draining to lose two weeks in a row like this,” said Stanford wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, who caught nine passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. “It seems unfair, but there usually is a winner and loser in football, and the last two weeks, we’ve been losers. Losses like this stay with you for the rest of your life.”

McCaffrey, who missed the Colorado game because of back spasms, was disappointed that Stanford did not have an opportunity to get the ball back after Daluiso’s field goal.

“(Quarterback Jason Palumbis) was doing a great job all game reading their defense,” McCaffrey said. “I was just hoping that our offense would get back on the field one more time.”

Palumbis, who completed 21 of 32 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, felt his fourth-quarter pass that was intercepted by Roman Phifer inside Stanford’s 20-yard line was the crucial blow.

“We owned the clock, and we were able to run and pass on them all day,” Palumbis said. “But we made a few bad plays there in the second half, and my interception cost us.”

Palumbis said that the Bruins confused him on the interception.

“I thought that they would drop back into a zone and that I’d have the middle open,” he said. “But they dropped inside, and I made the mistake of throwing it in there.”

Tailback Glyn Milburn, who gained 166 yards in total offense, said it is important for Stanford to keep its morale up after these early season losses.

“We did want to make a good showing today, but things did not go our way,” said Milburn, who was a standout at Santa Monica High School. “It is disappointing to lose like this.”

The defense also felt frustration. The Cardinal’s secondary allowed Bruin quarterback Tommy Maddox to pass for 244 yards and two touchdowns in the second half.

“They had us all spread out on defense,” said Stanford defensive coordinator Willie Shaw. “In the second half when they brought Maddox in, they went to a shotgun flood formation. With his mobility and the fact that he was setting back a lot deeper, we had problems getting pressure in on him. Our young defensive line didn’t make the adjustment to rush further upfield.”

Stanford’s secondary proved vulnerable to Maddox’s hot passing despite often having six defensive backs in coverage.

“We have a good defense, but they just made the right calls at the right time,” said Stanford defensive back Tuan Van Le. “We did not know what Maddox was going to do once they got inside the 50. We knew we had to go out there and stop him at the end, but he made the plays.

“It’s tough because we kicked their butts all over the field, moving the ball whenever we wanted to. But, it comes down to the scoreboard. . . . So give UCLA credit.”

With its first home game of the season next week against Oregon State, Stanford is not giving up on its season yet.

“A loss is a loss and losing a Pac-10 game hurts a little more,” McCaffrey said. “But, we have a lot of character, and I’m sure we’ll gain from this.”

Said Shaw: “We played our hearts out. You could see it in their eyes there at the end that they wanted to win.”