Monday, September 22, 1997 A Long Run to the Rose Bowl
FOOTBALL:
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
Question: What do you get when you do the following in the first
month of a college football season?
*Score 34 points in the season opener against an opponent that
is currently ranked.
*Hold one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses (lead by
the player that would have been selected No. 1 in last year’s NFL
draft) to only two offensive touchdowns, while your quarterback
throws for 400 yards.
*Beat a top 10 team on the road by 63 points.
Answer: An undefeated record and a top 10 ranking.
Well, that is of course, unless it is the 1997 rendition of the
UCLA football squad that is being discussed.
Instead, the Bruins stand with a 1-2 record and are teetering on
the very edge of the national rankings.
If not for a play here and a play there, the Bruins could easily
be talked about in the same breath as Washington, Nebraska, Florida
and other football powerhouses.
The main difference between UCLA and one of the aforementioned
powers, is that the Bruins haven’t made the clutch play, while the
others have and will continue to do so.
"Our team knows we are two scores from being an undefeated
team," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.
The Bruins fell short in second-half comebacks the opening weeks
of the season when they were stopped on fourth down, one yard short
of the goal line against Washington State, then lost to No. 4
Tennessee when a ball was fumbled away and a wide-open receiver was
overthrown – both in the waning moments and deep in Volunteer
territory.
And although the Bruins will enter Saturday’s contest against
Arizona as the 24th-ranked team in the country (as of Sept. 20),
due to its 66-3 domination of Texas, they are left to wonder only
what could have been.
Top 10? Top 5? Nobody knows for sure.
What people do know is that the Bruins have the potential to be
one of the best teams in the country by the end of the season.
And though the season-opening conference loss to Washington
State severely hurt the chances of a Rose Bowl berth for UCLA,
"(The Bruins) are not dead and buried," as Toledo predicted before
the upset of Texas.
After facing three upper-echelon teams in the opening month of
the season, the next five games pit the Bruins against very
beatable teams, and four of those are at the Rose Bowl.
A string of victories here and the Bruins could be well set up
for season-ending showdowns with Pac-10 favorites Stanford,
Washington and USC.
But don’t expect the Bruins to be looking ahead, they are aware
of how well Pac-10 teams have fared this season – as of press time,
the Pac-10 has a 10-3 non-conference record, with all three losses
coming at the hands of top 10 teams (Tennessee over UCLA, Florida
State over USC and North Carolina over Stanford).
"From top to bottom, this is a very tough league," Toledo said.
"It’s very competitive. That’s the problem, we spend all season
beating each other up."
And before the Bruins even start thinking about getting back
into the Rose Bowl race, they need to master one problem –
inconsistency.
First, the defense played lousy in the first-half against WSU,
burying the Bruins in a 30-14 halftime deficit. A solid performance
in the second-half wasn’t enough as UCLA lost 37-34.
The next week against Tennessee, the offense couldn’t get going
until the second half and surrendered nine points on their own (a
safety and an interception returned for a touchdown), and before
the Bruins knew it, they were down 24-0 and, in the end, fell
30-24.
Against Texas, with an 0-3 start staring them in the face,
everything finally clicked for the Bruins as they forced eight
turnovers on defense, and scored seven touchdowns on offense.
The question will remain for several weeks whether the real
Bruins are the team that has outscored its opponents 87-9 over the
past three halves, or the team that lost the first half of their
first two games by a combined score of 54-17.
The main strength of the team is considered to be the offense,
where 10 of 11 starters return from a year ago.
Led by junior quarterback Cade McNown (61-for-100, 859 yards, 2
TD, 2 INT) and senior tailback Skip Hicks (566 all-purpose yards, 9
TD), the Bruins lead the Pac-10 with a scoring average of 41.33
points per game.
The defense, on the other hand, currently ranks near the bottom
of the league.
Losing such mainstays as Travis Kirschke, Paul Guidry, Abdul
McCullough, Anthony Cobbs and Phillip Ward from a year ago, the
defense proved to have many holes in the first two games.
The squad surrendered 401 yards passing against Washington State
and another 341 against Tennessee, albeit against two quarterbacks
that rank among the nation’s elite.
They caught a break when Texas’ Heisman Trophy candidate James
Brown missed the Sept. 13 contest, and the Bruins were able to
force eight turnovers – four interceptions and four fumble
recoveries.
Undersized, the defense must rely on blitzing and stunting
schemes that are designed to confuse the opponent. However, over
the first two games the Bruins only managed one sack, before
erupting for seven in Austin.
Toledo sees improvement in the defensive unit.
"We’re getting better," Toledo said. "There are always concerns,
but we’re getting a little bit better with our schemes."
On the special teams, Chris Sailor has handled kickoff, field
goal and punting duties well, but the Bruin return squads are among
the worst in the conference (6.8 yards/punt return and 15.2
yards/kickoff return).
As a whole, the Bruins are performing pretty close to
expectations – they were expected to have the talent to be an
upper-echelon team, but also the holes and inexperience of making
key mistakes.
So far they have exhibited both and have survived, but if the
Bruins are to make a run at the Rose Bowl, or any bowl for that
matter, the holes need to be filled and the mistakes corrected.
OFFENSE Quarterback STARTERS Cade McNown (JR) KEY RESERVES Drew
Bennett (FR) Ed Stansbury (FR) No longer is McNown considered a
youngster who is trying to learn the position. Rather, the junior
stands only about 1,000 yards shy of becoming UCLA’s all-time
leading passer after two years as the team’s starter. He has the
talent to make extraordinary plays, but has been victimized by his
inconsistency. Beyond McNown, there is little experience, as
neither Bennett nor Stansbury have taken a single collegiate snap.
Running Back STARTERS TB: Skip Hicks (SR) FB: Cheyane Caldwell (JR)
KEY RESERVES TB: Keith Brown (SO) TB: Jermaine Lewis (FR) FB: Craig
Walendy (JR) FB: Durrell Price (SO) The offensive backfield is one
of the deepest positions on the club. Hicks has shown why he is an
All-America candidate early in the season by of scoring nine
touchdowns in the first three games and averaging nearly 200
all-purpose yards per contest. Brown, Price and Lewis are all
capable back-ups at running back, though Price has been moved to
fullback for now. Caldwell and Walendy are mainly blocking backs.
Receivers STARTERS FL: Jim McElroy (SR) SE: Dan Farmer (SO) JR:
Mike Grieb (JR) KEY RESERVES FL: Rodney Lee (SR) SE: Eric Scott
(SR) FR: Brian Poli-Dixon (FR) TE: Gabe Crecion (SO) A big question
mark a year ago, the receiving corps has been very consistent so
far this season. McElroy has been McNown’s favorite target, with
100 yards receiving in each of the Bruins’ two losses, and two
touchdowns against Texas. But McNown has spread the wealth, with
passes to eight different receivers. Three of those receivers are
tight ends, who have played a bigger part in the Bruin offensive
attack this year. Offensive Line STARTERS LT: Kris Farris (SO) LG:
Chad Sauter (SR) C: Shawn Stuart (SO) RG: Andy Meyers (JR) RT: Chad
Overhauser (SR) KEY RESERVES RG: Sean Gully (SR) LG/LT: Dan Cotti
(SR) The entire line returns from a year ago and is expected to be
one of the team’s strengths. They have been inconsistent this year,
opening huge holes for the Hicks and Co. at times, but missing key
blocks in key moments of the first two games. Overhauser is a
fourth-year starter, earning All-Pac-10 honors last season. The
reserves are very short on experience, with only Gully and Cotti
making significant contributions.
DEFENSE Linebacker STARTERS Brendon Ayanbadejo (JR) Brian
Willmer (SR) Danjuan Magee (SR) KEY RESERVES Jason Nevadomsky (SR)
Tony White (FR) Ramogi Huma (SO) What has trickled through the line
so far this season has seldom gotten past UCLA’s linebacking corps,
probably the best unit on the defense. Willmer led UCLA in tackles
last year with 102, while Magee had 56 in a starting role.
Ayanbadejo, meanwhile, surpassed his 1996 season total in tackles
(six) with seven in the season-opener this year. The reserves at
this position are mostly untested. Defensive Line STARTERS Weldon
Forde (SR) Damon Smith (SR) Darren Cline (SR) KEY RESERVES Kenyon
Coleman (FR) Pete Holland (SO) Jeff Ruckman (SR) A line that was
vulnerable against the run in 1996 saw its biggest lineman, Travis
Kirschke, leave for the NFL. And of UCLA’s eight sacks thus far,
only two-and-a-half are by defensive lineman (seven of the Bruins’
sacks came against Texas). But while lacking gaudy statistics, the
line has stiþed the well-respected running games of top-10
teams Tennessee and Texas. Opponents average 2.7 yards per rush
against UCLA. Secondary STARTERS CB: Javelin Guidry (SR) CB: Aaron
Rocques (SR) FS: Shaun Williams (SR) SS: Larry Atkins (JR) R:
Wasswa Serwanga (SR) KEY RESERVES CB: Damien Allen (FR) R: Eric
Whitfield (SO) CB: Marques Anderson (FR) FS: Glenn Thompkins (SR)
Some of the best players on the 1996 UCLA squad were senior members
of the secondary. Now, UCLA’s secondary is young. While Toledo
lauds Williams as his team’s best player, Guidry is the only other
veteran in the secondary, and that inexperience showed against
Washington State, when it surrendered 401 yards passing. But as
overwhelmed as it was against WSU, the secondary was equally
impressive against Tennessee and Texas. Larry Atkins and Eric
Whitfield have emerged as UCLA’s top two tacklers. SPECIAL TEAMS
STARTERS P/PK: Chris Sailer (JR) KR: Jim McElroy (SR) KR: Damien
Allen (FR) PR: Jermaine Lewis (FR) Sailer, the Bruins’ punter last
season, is the FIrst Bruin since 1978 to handle both the kicking
and punting duties. His punting has been consistent, while the jury
is still out on his field-goal-kicking ability. He has been
excellent on kickoffs, but just as opponents have been unable to
return Sailer’s kicks, UCLA has had no outstanding returns of its
own. COACHING HEAD COACH Bob Toledo COORDINATORS Al Borges
(OFFENSE) Rocky Long (DEFENSE) The Bruin coaching staff is in its
second year working together. Toledo has brought new enthusiasm to
the program, but with it only a 5-8 record, and he has been
criticized lately for his play-calling. Borges has developed a
creative and varied offense, and Long has made do with an
undersized defense by using a playbook that consistently calls for
blitzes and stunts.