Last year, Oregon stole a victory from the Bruins. UCLA
responded with a theft of their own.
After spending only one season in Eugene, Alan Borges was
convinced to leave the Pacific Northwest in search of Southern
California, and the Ducks are not happy about it.
"I asked for a two- to three-year commitment from both of my
coordinators when I hired them, so he didn’t live up to his end of
the bargain," Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said before the
season had started. "He told me that Oregon was the only place he
had wanted to coach, and it was his life-long career goal to be
there and then to move on to the NFL."
But, according to Borges, he committed to nothing longer than
one season.
"It may have been assumed that it was a two-, three-year
agreement, but there was no written commitment there," Borges said.
"I think one of the things that was completely misconstrued was
that I took the UCLA job because it was a better job.
"It’s not a better job – it’s a better job for me. I just go
where my heart leads me and it led me to UCLA."
The Ducks are angry not only about the prospect of replacing
their offensive coordinator, but also because they lost quite a
successful one.
Under Borges, the Ducks led the conference in passing offense,
ranked second in both total offense and scoring, and won nine games
for only the fifth time in school history.
Bob Toledo didn’t see any problem in raiding his rivals to the
north.
"I always said that if I was going to get a job, I would try to
hire Al, regardless of what school he was at," Toledo said.
"(Hiring coaches away from schools) happens all of the time."
In fact, Toledo was hired away from Oregon himself in 1988 (by
Texas A&M) after serving the Ducks for six years.
"I think the big difference between my situation and Al’s was
the fact that Al was there for one and I was there for six," he
said.
Losing Borges to a conference foe made the loss even tougher for
the Ducks to swallow.
"I was hoping he would have stayed at Oregon longer to work
through some of his problems that occurred during the season,"
Bellotti said. "But he’s a fine coach and I think he’ll do a great
job at UCLA."
With so much past experience working within the Oregon offensive
scheme, the Bruins should possess quite an advantage in UCLA’s
conference opener.
"Al was privy to everything that we did here, and that remains
pretty consistent from year to year," Bellotti said.
But Borges downplays the advantage that the Bruins possess, he
maintains the advantage lies with Bruin defensive coordinator Rocky
Long, formerly of Oregon State.
"He’s defended Oregon for a number of years so he doesn’t really
need a lot of help," Borges said. "We’ve talked a little bit about
it, but how much it really helps I don’t know – the kids are the
ones that really win the games."
After losing seven starters from last year’s defensive squad to
graduation, Oregon has suffered through a mind-blowing number of
injuries this season. Twelve Ducks had to leave the game last week
against Arizona State, eight of them starters who are doubtful to
play against UCLA. Among the list of casualties are quarterback
Tony Graziani and tailback Saladin McCullough. Nevertheless, the
Bruins know they aren’t in for an easy game.
"I know when I was there, they were always most dangerous when
their backs were against the wall," Borges said. "And we’ve got to
take that approach; they tend to play really good when they’re in
this type of situation."
Replacing Graziani will be Ryan Perry-Smith, who has already set
a four game passing record of 1,287 yards. However, Perry-Smith has
been struggling to put the Ducks in the win column in the
conference standings.
After winning three consecutive nonconference games to start the
season, the Ducks have been reeling.
In their conference opener against Washington State, Oregon fell
behind by 30 points before recovering and making the defeat
respectable, 55-44. The following week they were dominated by
then-No. 6 Arizona State 48-27, as the defense gave up 591 total
yards to the Sun Devils.
"We have not played well," Bellotti said. "We need to get
better, and we’ve not tackled well – we’re working on it and we
have to get better."
And with the Bruin offense struggling, UCLA may have caught
Oregon at the perfect time.
The UCLA offense failed to score a touchdown against Michigan,
and managed only one against Tennessee – their only two true tests
of the season.
If the Bruins are to have any chance at defeating Oregon on
Saturday and, in the larger picture, be in contention for the Rose
Bowl berth, the offense has to come through tomorrow.
"It’d be nice to get back on track," Borges said. "We’re going
out with the attitude that they have a great defense and we’re
going to play our butts off because we haven’t exactly lit the
world on fire."
Despite suffering through the humiliating defeat in Michigan,
the Bruins are not looking back. Instead, they are focusing on what
is the most important game of the season to date.
"We’re anxious to get out there," senior safety Abdul McCullough
said. "We are 0-0 now and need to get our conference season off to
a good start."
"This is a big football game for both teams and we’re going to
play it that way," Borges said. "This is going to be a battle of
two heavyweights."
Lurking in the distance is a matchup with Arizona State next
weekend, followed by a road trip to Husky Stadium Oct. 19. If the
Bruins don’t come up with a victory tomorrow, they could easily be
looking at an 0-3 conference start and be on the brink of
elimination from bowl consideration.
"If we have any bowl aspirations or Rose Bowl ambitions, we have
to win this thing," Toledo said. "It’s a huge game."