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 Not what it could be Depleted Bruins, humbled Bucks to lock horns
Posted: Tuesday September 07, 1999 02:16 PM
Call it the Rebuilding Bowl. Though UCLA's showdown Saturday at Ohio State looks like a Rose Bowl preview, it really presents two teams with more questions than answers, both of whom are unaccustomed to spending time outside of the nation's top 10. For one, this game would be a bit more interesting if 11 UCLA starters and key reserves hadn't falsely obtained handicapped parking permits and therefore earned two-game suspensions. That alone appears to doom the Bruins, who started 14 new position players and a new kicker and punter Saturday against Boise State. "When I looked out there, I didn't even know who some of the guys were," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said. Also: What's up with these quarterbacks? UCLA freshman Corey Paus relieved ineffective junior starter Drew Bennett on the Bruins' fourth possession Saturday and completed 8-of-16 for 120 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. When he was on the field, the Bruins' lead over Boise State jumped from 3-0 to 24-0. Bennett, who admitted afterwards he suffered from pre-game jitters, played better when he returned in the second half. He completed 8-16 for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Toledo said he will rotate Bennett and Paus against OSU. "We went three series for one guy and three for the other ... and that's what we'll do again," Toledo said. The Bruin quarterbacks will benefit from the return of All-American receiver Danny Farmer, who missed the opener because of a sprained ankle. UCLA only outgained Boise State, a fourth-year Division I-A program, 401 yards to 360. With three of five offensive line starters from last year gone and a fourth, All-Pac-10 performer Oscar Cabrera, among the suspended, it's not that surprising the Bruins managed just 153 yards on the ground, including an unimpressive 55 yards on 17 carries by super sophomore DeShaun Foster. OSU sent a bevy of stars to the NFL after finishing ranked No. 2 in the nation for the second time in three years. But now the Buckeyes are 0-1 for the first time since 1986. Against Miami, they surrendered four plays of 40 or more yards and were whipped on both sides of the line. Cooper and his staff have watched all of UCLA's game films from last year. But that won't reveal much. "They've got a new defensive coordinator and new, inexperienced quarterbacks," Cooper said. "And obviously they have several players that will not play against us."
Arizona to the rescueThe Pac-10's national embarrassment reversed course in an unlikely place this holiday weekend: Arizona -- the very place it got started. First, the Wildcats came back from a 25-7 second-half deficit to beat host TCU 35-31 -- and perhaps save its season. Then Arizona State, last year's disappointment, buried Texas Tech 31-13 Monday night, looking dominant in the process despite quarterback Ryan Kealy spraining his knee in the first quarter. J.R. Redmond outplayed Texas Tech's Ricky Williams in the Heisman Trophy matchup, running for 157 yards and two scores to just 33 yards for Williams. Williams left the game in the second half with a knee injury. The Pac-10 is now 6-4 on the year in non-conference games. Of course, UW is at BYU on Thursday and UCLA (Ohio State), Cal (Nebraska) and Oregon State (Fresno State) all face tough matchups Saturday.
UW tailsWashington will use a three-tailback rotation in its belated season-opener against BYU. Sophomore Willie Hurst, who missed most of preseason camp with a sprained ankle, will start, while sophomore Braxton Cleman and freshman Paul Arnold will come off the bench.Also, two-year starting inside linebacker Marques Hairston will back up junior Derrell Daniels, who passed Hairston this spring and held onto his first-team slot. News motivationTwo Pac-10 schools used newspaper stories as motivation while on the road this weekend.Oregon State head coach Dennis Erickson pointed out to his team that a Nevada paper gave its school's running back Chris Lemon the edge over the Beavers' Ken Simonton. Simonton responded by rushing for 199 yards in Oregon State's 28-13 victory. Lemon had 97 yards on 21 carries. Though motivations hardly seemed necessary for USC's visit to lowly Hawaii, a story Saturday on page one of the Honolulu Advertiser contained a prediction from Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano that the Rainbow Warriors would upset the Trojans. USC scored on its first six possessions and won 62-7.
Worth notingJosh Bidwell, the former Oregon punter and fourth-round draft selection of the Green Bay Packers, will miss his rookie season while undergoing treatment for testicular cancer. He is expected to fully recover ... Proving you need to throw the baby out with the bath water, Stanford's 10 returning defensive starters and new defensive coordinator gave up 558 yards and 69 points to Texas ... After snagging 10 receptions for 257 yards and three touchdowns, Arizona receiver Dennis Northcutt needs just one catch receptions to break Theopolis Lee's 24-year-old school record of 153 career receptions ... Seven freshmen played for USC against Hawaii, including three receivers (Kareem Kelly, Marcel Allmond and Steve Stevenson). Ted Miller covers the Pac-10 for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Check back each Tuesday for his latest CNN/SI Insider.
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By Ted Miller, Special to CNN/SI
