Friday, November 15, 1996
FOOTBALL:
Bruins must win this weekend for postseason considerationBy Rob
Kariakin
Daily Bruin Contributor
"The Thrilla’ in Manila." "The Bay Bridge Series." "The Rumble
in the Jungle." "Wrestlemania 29."
What do these past sports events have in common? Colorful names?
Well, yes. But more importantly, all involved championships of one
kind or another.
That separates them from this weekend’s "Tussle in Tucson."
UCLA (4-5, 3-3 in the Pacific 10) travels to the desert on
Saturday to take on Arizona (4-5, 2-4) and the last thing involved
will be a championship of any kind.
Both teams were already out of the Rose Bowl race long before
Arizona State clinched the conference title last weekend, and, at
third (tie) and eighth in the Pac-10 respectively, are anything but
a lock for a bowl bid at this point.
The loser will automatically be eliminated from postseason
consideration, as it will lack the NCAA’s mandated six victories.
The winner will still need help from other schools, not to mention
a victory in its final game, in order to go bowling.
Regardless, Arizona at least has reason to smile, as the
cornerstone for a bright future has likely arrived in the form of
5-foot-10-inch quarterback Keith Smith. A first-team all-state
selection at quarterback in 1994, the California State Athlete of
the Year was also taken by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round of
the 1994 baseball draft and spent a year in the minors.
While Arizona football coach Dick Tomey could likely care less
about Smith’s ability to hit the curve, his redshirt freshman’s
lively arm and quick feet finally persuaded him to give Smith the
nod at quarterback.
It didn’t take Smith long to make his mark. In his first start
in the third game of the season, Smith led the Wildcats to a 41-0
win over Illinois, despite completing only 7 passes for 31
yards.
Five games later, he set the all-time Arizona record for total
yards (502 yards) and turned in the No. 2 passing yardage
performance (418 yards) in a four-overtime loss to California.
Despite that impressive aerial display and the third-best passing
efficiency ranking in the Pac-10, Smith only averages 137 yards
passing per game. Not surprisingly, the Wildcats are next to last
in the conference in passing offense.
As a result, the deciding factor this weekend will likely be the
Bruins’ ability to silence Arizona’s running game. On the legs of
Smith and senior tailback Gary Taylor, the Wildcats rank third in
rushing in the conference at 182.9 yards per game. The duo, eighth
and ninth individually in the Pac-10, combine to average 120 yards
and 1.2 touchdowns per game, marks that are better than a handful
of schools.
However, those numbers could mean little against the Bruins.
UCLA’s run defense ranks third in the conference, surrendering an
average of only 107 yards per game, and the Bruins have held four
of their nine opponents under 60 yards.
What’s more, Smith’s impact may be limited due to a bruised
shoulder suffered in the second quarter of last Saturday’s game at
Oregon. The injury limited him to only two second-half possessions,
and the ‘Cats lost 49-31, giving Oregon its only conference win of
the season.
On the other side of the ball, Skip Hicks looks to break UCLA’s
all-time single-season touchdown record of 17, which he tied last
weekend against Washington State. The junior tailback is currently
tied for third in the nation in scoring at 11.3 points per game.
With 102 points and two games left, Hicks may break placekicker
John Lee’s single-season Bruin scoring record of 117 points. In
addition, he has an outside chance at Marcus Allen’s 23 TD Pac-10
record.
WYNN RUJIRAVIRIYAPINYO
Mike Grieb and the rest of the Bruin offense will try to
counteract Keith Smith and the Wildcats Saturday in Tucson.