UCLA head coach Bob Toledo spent his Sunday watching footage of
the USC football team, and he’ll spend every day from now
until Nov. 23 thinking about it. But he would rather his players
did not.
“Number one, we won’t have anything in the locker
room about ‘SC until next week,” Toledo said.
“From a practice standpoint, we’ll shorten it and work
on some fundamentals. (We’re) not going to put in a big game
plan this week because (it will) get stale if you do.”
But it won’t be easy.
“You think about that game almost the whole year. Even
though you’re not supposed to, you do,” sophomore
corner Matt Ware said.
Toledo will have plenty on his plate the next three weeks with a
No. 8 ranked USC followed by No. 3 Washington State, but he has the
appetite for it.
“There is not a lot of pressure on us right now,”
Toledo said. “Not many people are giving us a chance to win
the last two games from what I’m hearing.”
Toledo will spend the weekend tailgating in his own backyard
since it is illegal for him to attend this weekend’s USC-ASU
matchup.
“Needless to say I am very impressed,” Toledo said.
“They are the best ‘SC team I’ve seen since
I’ve been a coach here.”
Meanwhile, his coaches will be on the road recruiting while his
players are recuperating.
“I really think the bye week is going to help us out a
lot. It will give us some physical rest and get our bodies
right,” redshirt freshman quarterback John Sciarra said.
This week junior defensive tackle Rodney Leisle, who missed the
last month due to a fractured foot, should return. By the rivalry
game, Toledo expects to get senior wide receiver Ryan Smith (ankle)
and sophomore safety Jibril Raymo (shoulder) back. Sophomore
tailback Manuel White, who returned at Arizona, could also use the
time to fully heal from his pulled hamstring.
“We’ll focus on ourselves more than ‘SC this
week,” Toledo said.
The unranked Bruins will be the only ones focusing on themselves
this week. They are unranked although they have won their last
three games.
“We lost two league games by a total of five points. I
would hope maybe we are one of the top 25 teams in the
country,” Toledo said.
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This week and next, true freshmen quarterbacks Drew Olson and
Matt Moore will get equal reps as they have for the last two weeks.
Overall, Moore posts a 132.55 quarterback efficiency rating and
Olson a 122.66.
“I think I know what I got and I’m pleased with what
I have,” Toledo said.
Both played at Arizona where Olson finished 7-of-12 for 111
yards and Moore finished 6-of-8 for 90 yards.
“It was kind of fun to see who was going to do
better,” junior wide receiver Tab Perry said. “I saw a
competition between friends. I would hate to see them getting mad
about getting taken out. But there was nothing like
that.”
Toledo expects Olson to start against USC, although both
freshman will play.
“They are probably both playing more than they thought
they would anyway. Why can’t two guys play if you treat them
right?” Toledo said. “There is not a big difference
between the two right now.”
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UCLA’s defense ranks third in the conference currently
allowing 336 yards per game.
“We almost had a shutout and we got everybody in,”
redshirt freshman linebacker Spencer Havner said of the 37-7
victory over Arizona.
In Tucson the team gave up 11 yards rushing and 249 overall
yards ““ a week after allowing over 300 passing yards.
“Unfortunately we have given up some big pass plays. With
the exception of Colorado, we’ve played the run well,”
Toledo said.
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At Arizona, senior punter Nate Fikse made all three of his field
goals, including a 51-yarder, to bring his streak to 10.
Ironically, he lost all the kicking contests in practices with
senior placekicker Chris Griffith going into the year.
“Until this year he wasn’t very accurate,”
Toledo said.
Most importantly at Arizona, Fikse kept the ball away from the
Pac-10’s leading return man, Bobby Wade. Wade had only one
return ““ a kickoff return for 12 yards.
“Nate gets the ball off so quick. It just explodes,”
Toledo said. “He’s really a student of the game of
kicking. He understands kicking better than most coaches
do.”