Bruins' season slipping from their grasp
■ Since UCLA lost to the
Ducks, the Bruins haven’t
played like the champions
they thought they were
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
UCLA entered Autzen Stadium
Sept. 23 with a certain swagger for
its showdown against the Ducks
that afternoon.
The Bruins were feeling mighty
good about themselves after beat
ing then-No. 3 Alabama, Fresno
State and then-No. 3 Michigan.
For its 3-0 start, UCLA was
awarded a No. 6 ranking and talk
ing not only Rose Bowl, but also
thinking about the national cham
pionship.
The Ducks ended such talk by
dominating the nationally tele
vised game 29-10, and exposing
the Bruins’ weaknesses. A week
later, UCLA barely held off Ari
zona State at home, 38-31, and
headed into the bye week with the
intent of picking up its game and
making a run for the roses.
The Bruins had two weeks to
prepare for a struggling California
team, who were coming off a 30-10
thumping at the hands of Arizona
State.
“It’s kind of like we’re starting
the second season right now and
that’s kind of how I’m looking at
it,’’ said UCLA head coach Bob
Toledo before the Cal game. “You
look at Cal, they’re 1-4 and 0-2 in
the conference, but they have
some good football players.”
Good enough, it turned out, to
beat the Bruins and knock them
down to No. 23 in the Associated
Press poll. UCLA was playing
without junior tailback DeShaun
Foster, who broke his hand against
the Sun Devils.
witnout roster, the Bruins could
only muster a measly 45 total rush
ing yards in its 46-38 triple-over
time loss to the Golden Bears.
“Yeah it’s frustrating,” Bruin
quarterback Cory Paus told the As
sociated Press. “It’s as frustrated as
I’ve ever been in my life.”
The loss came on the same day
that Los Angeles’ other team, the
USC Trojans, fell to the Ducks for
their third straight Pacific-10 Con
ference loss.
“Okay, first of all, the Cal game,”
said Toledo at the start of his week
ly conference call. “Well there’s no
question in my mind that it was a
big disappointment. We have to
look at our team and our coaches
and adjust a little bit.”
The Bruins will have to do their
adjusting against the surprise team
of the league in the No. 19 Oregon
State Beavers. The good news,
however, is that the game will be
played in Pasadena, Calif., where
the Bruins are 4-0 this year.
“[Oregon State is] ranked 19th in
the nation and I’ll tell you what,
for those that don’t realize it, this is
a talented football team with a lot
of speed and a lot of athleticism,”
Toledo said.
Think about this food for
thought: Who would have thought
that at this point in the year the
league records of the Oregon
schools would be 5-1 as opposed
to the 1-5 mark put up by the L.A.
schools?
A Titan-like performance
Maybe the reason that UCLA
lost to Cal wasn’t its weak running
game or its lack of quarterback pro
tection. Perhaps what clinched the
game took place off the field the
night before the game.
The Golden Bears were strug
gling and in need of a pick-me-up
after losing four straight games. So
Cal head coach Tom Holmoe de
cided to break out the films on Fri
m_mm
m
.... .. . ..... , .. , , . ErinSwanson-DaviesEmerald
UCLA s Brandon Chillar (41), tight end Mike Seidman (18) and the rest of the Bruins have hit a serious snag ever since they battled the Oregon Ducks at Autzen and lost, 29-10.
day night to prepare for the then
No. 13 Bruins.
But it wasn’t exactly a notebook
and pencil film session, as Holmoe
took his players to the passionate
football movie, “Remember the Ti
tans.” The movie stars Denzel
Washington and is about a high
school football team in the early
1970s that must come together as
one despite its racial differences.
The ploy obviously worked as
the Golden Bears came out in
spired and held on for the triple
overtime win.
“It seemed everybody got some
thing from [the movie],” wide re
ceiver Derek Swafford told the San
Francisco Chronicle. “We had
some extra energy before the game,
at halftime and it was still there in
the overtimes.”
“It was about commitment,
pride and spirit within the team,”
defensive tackle Jacob Waasdorp
said. “That was the whole movie
and that’s what it took today.”
Coincidentally, Oregon State
coach Dennis Erickson took his
Beavers to see the same movie on
the day of his team’s game with the
Washington Huskies Oct. 7. Ore
gon State also cited the positive ef
fects of the movie on its game, but
wound up losing a hard-fought 33
30 battle.
Pac-10 honors
The Pac-10 players of the week
were Cal safety Nnamdi Aso
mugha on defense, Arizona’s Gary
Love on special teams and Oregon
quarterback Joey Harrington for the
offense. Oregon senior linebacker
Matt Smith was nominated for de
fensive player of the week.
Five Pac-10 teams are ranked in
the AP top-25 in No. 7 Oregon, No.
9 Washington, No. 19 Oregon
State, No. 21 Arizona and No. 23
UCLA. ■ • ' .
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