It hasn’t quite been the house of horrors that Arizona’s stadium was two years ago for UCLA.
It hasn’t even matched the difficulty of playing at Cal’s Memorial Stadium in recent years.
But when the Bruins (5-2, 4-0 Pac-10) head to Pullman this weekend, they will be heading into what is commonly considered one of the most difficult road environments in, not only the Pac-10, but the entire country.
The Washington State fans are considered to be some of the most vocal and most hostile to opposing players. In 2003, the Cougars fans hurled racist slurs at former UCLA safety Jarrad Page, and redshirt sophomore linebacker Reggie Carter is expecting more than just words.
“I heard it’s pretty rough,” Carter said. “Coach told us it’s just another game, just another home environment, but my redshirt year they told us it’s a very hostile environment. I’ve heard they may throw food at you or all kinds of stuff. I’ve heard they say a lot of racist things, and people throwing hot dogs at you, or spitting on you. So I’m going to be prepared for anything and I’m going to try to keep my composure, but spit is like the ultimate disrespect. Hopefully it doesn’t get to that.”
And if the fans themselves were not enough, the Bruins will have to deal with a slight change in climate as well.
The football team is traveling from Los Angeles, where highs hit the low 90s earlier this week, to Pullman, where the forecast for Saturday has a high of 56 degrees and a low of 33.
But, if they can get past the rowdy crowd, the Bruins don’t think the weather will be too much of an issue.
True freshman defensive tackle Brian Price hasn’t yet experienced a cold-weather Pac-10 road trip, but he doesn’t expect the experience to be too challenging.
“In high school (I played in cold weather),” Price said. “Everything’s different in college, but I’m looking forward to it.
“I took the Oregon State trip and that was pretty bad (as far as road environments go), so we’ve just gotta execute the game plan (like we did in that game). I heard Washington State is bad, but we’re not going to let that affect us.”
The last trip to Pullman was not an easy one. Two years ago, UCLA was taken to double overtime against the Cougars in Pullman before pulling out a 44-41 victory. The Bruins were then 6-0 and the Cougars were 3-3 and winless in conference. That win was the first for the Bruins in Pullman since 1993.
And last year, when the Cougars came down to Los Angeles, they handed the Bruins their biggest loss of the season, a 37-15 drubbing in which Washington State’s quarterback Alex Brink played very well, throwing for over 400 yards and three touchdowns.
This year, the Bruins get to face Brink again in his final season.
“We know he’s a good quarterback, so we’re just going to try to go out there and execute well,” redshirt senior safety Chris Horton said. “Our defense has come a long way and we’re definitely a lot better than we showed last year.”
The Cougars have been a much better home team than an away team this year. Their two wins this year have both come at home against San Diego State and Air Force, and their other home game was a close 23-20 loss to No. 7 Arizona State that was a missed 46-yard field goal away from going to overtime.
The key for the Cougars thus far this season appears to be putting points on the board en masse. In their two victories, the Cougars have scored over 40 points, but in their losses they are averaging just over 16 points a game. This could play into UCLA’s hands, as the Bruins are finally starting to reassert their defensive prowess after a number of lapses to start the season. Over their last three games, the Bruins have held each of their opponents under 300 yards of total offense.
“We’re getting better and better each week, because we are limiting the mistakes we’ve made in the past,” Horton said. “If we get past the other mistakes, we’ll continue to be one of the best (defenses in the country).”