It’s not what the Bruins do in the red zone that UCLA
offensive coordiantor Tom Cable is concerned about. The Bruins are
among the best teams in the country punching it in for touchdowns
when they get the chance. It’s getting to the red zone, or
inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, that Cable wants to see
UCLA (5-0, 2-0 Pac-10) improve on, starting with this
Saturday’s game at Washington State (3-2, 0-2) in Pullman,
Wash. “We’re having lulls where we’re missing
chances to go to the red zone and score points,” Cable said.
“I still think we can be a lot better.” Such a
statement might seem surprising when considering UCLA lays claim to
the country’s sixth-most prolific scoring offense and put up
47 points against the Pac-10’s best scoring defense in
California last Saturday. But in that game, the Bruins also had a
season-high five possessions in which they went three-and-out,
failing to record a first down. And in two of those short-winded
drives, UCLA actually lost yardage. “I look at last week and
what bothers me is a two-series lull in the first half and a
two-series lull in the second half,” Cable said. “Those
were 12 really ugly plays. Dropping the football, misreading
something, probably bad play calling on my part. If we eliminate
the lulls, we’ll be pretty good.” Once they find
themselves inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, however, the
Bruins are concluding their drives with touchdowns at a staggering
rate. In UCLA’s 23 trips to the red zone this season, the
Bruins have scored touchdowns in 21 of them and kicked a field goal
in another. The only time UCLA has not scored in the red zone was
when they kneeled to end the game against Washington. “I
never heard the number. But that’s pretty damn good,”
senior offensive tackle Ed Blanton said. “Our feeling is that
if we’re going down there on a drive and taking up all that
energy, we don’t want just three points.” “When
we get in the red zone our eyes light up and we go and get ready to
make plays,” senior tight end Marcedes Lewis said.
MORE ACCLAIM: Running back Maurice Drew won the
Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week Award with his
299 all-purpose-yard, five-touchdown performance last Saturday
against California. Drew is the first Bruin to win the award, which
is exclusively determined by fan voting, since its inception. He
edged USC running back LenDale White by 2 percent for the award.
White rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s
victory over Arizona.
EXTRA POINTS: UCLA and Texas have agreed to
play a two-game series beginning in 2010 at Royal-Texas Stadium in
Austin, Texas, and with the Longhorns coming to Pasadena in 2011.
The overall series between the Texas and UCLA is tied 2-2, with the
Bruins taking the two most recent meetings by scores of 49-31 and
66-3 in 1997 and 1998 respectively. … UCLA is outscoring its
opponents 71-17 in the fourth quarter. … The frigid forecast in
Pullman, Wash., calls for temperatures in the mid-50s and a steady
rainfall. … Tight end Matt Raney has taken the place of
linebacker Kyle Bosworth, who fractured a bone in his left hand
last week, on the Bruins’ traveling roster.