During their long two-hour bus ride from the Spokane airport to
Pullman, the UCLA football players will have plenty of time to
think about things.
Things like their No. 12 ranking, last Tuesday’s history
lecture, or even those seemingly abandoned shacks sprinkled across
the barren Palouse. What should also cross their minds is that
they’re driving into their toughest challenge until the
season finale against USC.
Sure, the curse lies at Stanford and the talent at Arizona
State. Nonetheless, Saturday’s contest at Washington State
will be the Bruins’ biggest roadblock until December.
Never mind that the Cougars are coming off an embarrassing home
loss to the Cardinal. Momentarily ignore the fact that UCLA is far
and away the better team on paper. Instead, just try to remember
the last time the Bruins emerged victorious from Martin
Stadium.
It was 1993, back when Karl Dorrell was a nomadic
receivers’ coach and people actually listened to the Spin
Doctors. Since then, UCLA has had some tremendous seasons, but has
been more futile in Pullman than the aforementioned band in the
21st century. Not even Dorrell is quite sure what makes Washington
State such a difficult environment for the Bruins.
“It’s been tough even when I played here,”
Dorrell said. “It might be the trip itself. It takes a while
to get there.”
While Pullman has always been a struggle to begin with,
it’s only going to be a bigger one this time around. Saturday
marks the first real road game for UCLA (the San Diego State
contest may as well have been played at the Rose Bowl), which means
the first time dealing with a hostile crowd, as well as frigid
temperatures and field turf. To make matters worse for the Bruins,
the forecast calls for rain, something they can’t quite
prepare for while practicing in Westwood.
“It’s not easy to throw a wet ball, but it’s
something you get used to,” quarterback Drew Olson said.
History and adverse weather aside, there’s still another
reason this game is so dangerous for UCLA. Coming off an
emotionally draining victory over Cal, the program’s biggest
in at least four years, the Bruins are a ripe target for the
dreaded letdown. They narrowly avoided succumbing to it against
Washington a few weeks ago, and the scenario this week is
practically identical.
Take an overconfident team with a tendency to play down to its
opponents’ level. Pit it against a hungry team eager to
avenge itself on its home field. Add the factors mentioned earlier
and the resulting equation just reeks of upset.
“It will put our mental fortitude to the test,”
Dorrell said. “That’s what this is about, us keeping
our focus.”
Keep the focus and the Bruins should emerge Saturday evening
with their flawless record intact. They should travel to Stanford
Stadium in a few weeks and walk away from the site of so many past
collapses unscathed. They should be primed for an offensive
shootout against Arizona State and triumph in their last home game
of the year.
If it all goes according to plan, the season finale against the
Trojans will be for the conference championship. Needless to say,
there’s a lot of time in between for the Bruins, starting
today on that long bus ride.
Tomorrow, they need to make sure the ride back doesn’t
feel even longer.
E-mail Finley at afinley@media.ucla.edu if you’ve been
waiting six years for the latest Spin Doctors’ album, or
twice as long for the Bruins to win in Pullman.