CATHERINE JUN Defensive ends and twin brothers
Mat (back) and Dave Ball are
known for being some of the most outgoing guys on the football
team.
By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
So how do you tell them apart? Without their jerseys, it’s
basically impossible.
Identical twins Mat and Dave Ball look the same, play the same
and have the same attitude.
“We’re very different, yet similar,” Mat
said.
“Were just like each other, except different,” Dave
added.
They do not like the clichés normally associated with twins
and say playing the expected tricks on people by saying that one is
the other is boring.
Last year, as freshmen, they decided not to live together in an
effort to meet new people. They quickly made a name for themselves
as some of the most easy-going, fun-loving guys on the football
team.
“They’re fun with a capital “˜F,'”
linebacker Asi Faoa said. “They’re the funnest guys you
could possibly hang out with.”
Bruin punter Nate Fikse agreed.
“They used to call up the Bruin Radio show and do
impressions. They both called up as Ronald Reagan. They do the
impressions perfect,” he said.
The two are also known for taking a lot of their material from
the ’80s.
On more than one occasion, they have been known to belt out the
popular ’80s hit “Send Me an Angel” and they
sometimes do their own versions of a techno beat box in the
shower.
Practical jokes are also in the brothers’ repertoire,
including a specialization in messing with people’s food.
Anybody dining with the pair had better check their drink for a
splash of ketchup at the bottom if they leave the table.
On the field, though, they have become terrors. When the
football gods made Mat and Dave, they definitely had defensive end
in mind.
They’re fast, big ““ 6-foot-5 and almost 300 pounds
““ and “they’re ornery enough,” according to
UCLA defensive coordinator Bob Field.
Mat plays the more end spot, and Dave plays the
“liz” position on the other side of the line, but they
both have the aggressiveness and propensity for wreaking havoc.
At the beginning of the season, the brothers didn’t figure
on getting much playing time at the defensive end spot. Preseason
All-American Kenyon Coleman, reliable sophomore Rusty Williams and
budding sophomore Sean Phillips were all ahead of them on the depth
chart.
When Coleman went down in the third game of the season, they
knew their playing time would increase significantly. When Phillips
was lost to an ankle injury, they knew one of them would start.
Against Oregon State, Mat got the call and immediately made an
impact. On the first play of the second half, linebacker Tony White
tipped a pass right to Mat, who raced 15 yards into the end zone.
Unfortunately, he broke a bone in his hand later in that game.
Last week against Arizona, Dave switched over to the end spot,
becoming the fourth Bruin to start there this season. With UCLA up
27-24 and Arizona driving down the field with 10 seconds left, Dave
tipped quarterback Ortege Jenkins’ pass in the air, allowing
UCLA tackle Rodney Leisle to grab the interception and seal the win
for the Bruins.
Field expects a lot of big plays from the brothers in the next
three years. Every year, UCLA likes to recruit a few players who,
“play like they have their hair on fire,” Field
said.
Except for the fact that both have shaved heads, the Ball
brothers fit the mold.
Looking ahead to next year, Field said the defensive line will
be as strong and as deep as it has been in recent memory. If Kenyon
Coleman returns next season, the Bruins will make the rest of the
conference jealous with their depth along the line.
And the Ball brothers figure to be a key factor in this
depth.
Their first year, Mat and Dave redshirted to get stronger and
learn their position better. It did not take long for the pair to
get antsy for action.
“Redshirting is a drag; you feel like a sorry little
sap,” Dave said, laughing.
“Sometimes last season we would put on our pads and just
slam into each other,” Mat said.
An affinity for physicality is something the Balls do not lack.
“When we were kids, we used to wrestle all the time; we were
real competitive,” Dave said.
The furniture in the Ball household often paid the price.
“We broke a lot of valuables when our parents were out.
We’ve broken a couch and a lot of other things,” Mat
said.
As for the two most asked questions to the twins, there is only
one “t” in Mat because “the rumor is that they
ran out of ink at the hospital,” Mat said.
And as for the other, just how can you tell them apart?
Mat has a mole on his right ear and Dave has a slightly deeper
voice.