Pasadena, Calif. -- Saturday was a bittersweet day for senior wide receiver Derek Hagan.
The day started as almost 60 of Hagan's friends and family drove from nearby Palmdale, Calif., to watch him play in the second-to-last game of his collegiate career.
It ended with an ASU loss, a peculiar stat-line and a new Pac-10 record for the Sun Devils' premier receiver.
Hagan fumbled twice and dropped two passes through three quarters of play against UCLA.
"I was just trying to turn a small play into a big play," Hagan said of his turnovers.
With the score tied at 28 in the third quarter, Hagan caught a 46-yard pass from freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter, getting down to the UCLA 16. But UCLA senior cornerback Marcus Cassel poked the ball out from behind, and senior safety Jarrad Page recovered it for the Bruins.
Then, after a UCLA touchdown made it 35-28, Hagan again had the ball knocked from his hands by Cassel, giving UCLA the ball at ASU's 35-yard line.
The Bruins pulled ahead 42-28 five plays later.
However, freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter never lost confidence in his star receiver and passed to Hagan six times during a key fourth-quarter drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hagan.
"After I fumbled the ball twice, I told Rudy, 'Just keep getting me the ball no matter what,'" Hagan said.
With his touchdown catch, Hagan became the Pac-10's all-time career leader in receptions with 249, surpassing Stanford's Troy Walters.
"Records are records, but when we don't win the game I really can't say too much about the record now," Hagan said.
Hagan, who has had at least one reception in 39 consecutive games, finished with seven catches for 97 yards, tying him for the team lead with sophomore running back Rudy Burgess, who also had seven receptions for 97 yards in the game.
Reach the reporter at thomas.j.kelley@asu.edu.
