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Bruins defense looks better

Toledo says team looked young, but defense improved

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Posted: Sunday September 05, 1999 05:35 PM

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- UCLA had one of the nation's most explosive offenses last year.

And one of its most porous defenses.

It appears things will be a little more balanced this season.

Inexperienced quarterbacks Drew Bennett and Cory Paus combined to pass for 248 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bruins held Boise State scoreless for 58 minutes in a 38-7 season-opening victory on Saturday night.

In addition to holding the outmanned Broncos to one meaningless touchdown, the defense was directly responsible for 14 points -- Julius Williams returned an interception 53 yards for a TD, and the Bruins needed to move just 16 yards for another score after Joey Strycula's interception.

"I thought our defense would play better than it did a year ago," Bruins coach Bob Toledo said. It certainly did in the opener, although Boise State figures to be UCLA's weakest opponent this season.

The 17th-ranked Bruins blanked the Broncos until backup quarterback Bryan Harsin threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Shaelan McDonough with two minutes remaining.

UCLA won decisively despite the fact that 11 players -- most of them starters -- were suspended for the season's first two games for illegally obtaining handicapped parking permits. Seven of the 11 are linebackers or defensive backs, thus opening the door for players like Strycula, who was involved in nine tackles, and freshman Ricky Manning, who had seven tackles -- three for losses.

"I've said all along, he's a special freshman, beyond his years," Toledo said of Manning.

UCLA was ranked 99th in the country in total defense last season, allowing an average of 437.8 yards as well as 28.3 points per game.

With four-year starter Cade McNown playing quarterback, the offense averaged 487.3 yards and 39.6 points.

"We don't look like the offense of last year," said Paus, a redshirt freshman playing in his first game for the Bruins. "We've got some things to work on."

There's no question about that. For example, the Bruins netted only 153 yards on 41 rushing attempts, far below what they expected.

And while Bennett and Paus had their moments, both appeared shaky at times -- no surprise considering the lack of experience.

Bennett, who backed up McNown the last two years, completed 8 of 16 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown against Boise State, surpassing his previous number of attempts and completions at UCLA.

Paus was 12-for-18 for 128 yards and one TD.

"A win is a win," Toledo said. "We looked like a young football team, and we obviously were.

"We ran right at them, and didn't go anywhere. We've got to be able to run the football or we're going to have some trouble this year."

Standout wide receiver Danny Farmer also missed the game because of a sprained ankle.

The Bruins hope Farmer will be available next Saturday when they play at No. 13 Ohio State, which will obviously be a much tougher opponent.

 

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