Sunday syllabus: the week that was and the week ahead

The Bruin football team overcame a bad start for a big win in Corvallis, but most of the other UCLA teams had mixed results or a rough week:

Cross Country:

>> Last week: The Bruin men finished a creditable fifth against some of the best teams in the country in the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore. All-American Austin Ramos was the top Bruin finisher in fifth and the Bruins had four finishers in the top 40. The Bruin women didn’t do as well, finishing 11th out of 15 teams, led by freshman Shannon Murakami in 44th.

>> This week: The level of competition will be quite a bit lower this week at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational Saturday morning.

Football:

>> Last week: After trailing 14-0 in the first quarter, the Bruin footballers (4-1) clawed back to 14-12 after three quarters and then exploded in the fourth quarter for a 40-14 win at Oregon State (2-3). The Beavers helped with five turnovers, including two fourth-quarter fumbles on consecutive UCLA kickoffs that turned into touchdowns.

>> This week: The Bruins will face winless Notre Dame (0-5), which lost at Purdue, 33-19, on Saturday. The Irish showed some signs of life in the second half, however, outscoring the Boilermakers 19-10 after trailing 23-0 at half.

>> Of note: While the UCLA-Notre Dame game will be shown "nationally" on ABC, it’s likely that only Southern California and some of Indiana will get the game. Almost all of the country will see undefeateds Ohio State and Purdue (both 5-0) play at West Lafayette, Ind.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: Senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real suffered a right foot sprain during a pickup game and is wearing a boot. He’ll be out for a few days, but should be ready for the start of practice on Oct. 12.

>> This week: Add the Sporting News to those who think UCLA will be the No. 1 team in the nation in its college basketball preview due out soon.

>> Of note: Watch for the announcement Wednesday of a "Holiday Pack" ticket offer for four games in November and December when student attendance is low. The tickets are in the upper level along the sidelines and are priced at $92 for the four games.

Men’s Soccer:

>> Last week: Maddeningly inconsistent UCLA, a consensus No. 1 pick to start the season, fell to 3-4-1 with its first-ever loss to Cal State Northridge, 3-0, on Saturday in Northridge. The Bruins managed only four shots, and the Matadors (4-2-1) scored three times in 10 minutes in the second half.

>> This week: UCLA will try to win the championship of San Diego this week with games against the University of San Diego on Tuesday at Drake Stadium (7 p.m.) and at San Diego State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Men’s Tennis:

>> Last week: Former Bruin All-American Kris Kwinta was named as assistant coach to Billy Martin, replacing Jason Sher, who left to become the head coach at Loyola Marymount.

>> This week: The season starts with the seven-day All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

Men’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: The third-ranked Bruins opened their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season with a loss to No. 4 Stanford, 7-6, after leading 5-4 at halftime. UCLA is now 8-2 on the season; the Cardinal is 5-2.

>> This week: UCLA plays two matches today in Santa Cruz, against Santa Clara and UC Santa Cruz, and will travel to Irvine for a match with a very good Anteater squad Friday night.

Women’s Golf:

>> Last week: The No. 1-ranked Bruins played pretty well but finished third in the All-American Invitational in Albuquerque, behind Duke and USC.

>> The Bruins are off until Oct. 19 and the Stanford/Pepsi Invitational in Palo Alto.

Women’s Soccer:

>> Last week: The Bruins (5-1-2) were ranked eighth in the nation going into Friday night’s match against second-ranked Portland (7-2) at Drake Stadium, but UCLA extended its home unbeaten streak to 31 games with a 2-1 win in overtime. Both goals were scored by returning star Kara Lang, who just finished her stint with the Canadian team at the Women’s World Cup in China.

>> This week: The Bruins will play San Diego State in San Diego on Friday night, then return to campus for a Sunday match with No. 1-ranked Santa Clara at Drake Stadium at 1 p.m.

Women’s Swimming:

>> This week: The season starts with a dual meet against Idaho on Friday afternoon in the Men’s Gym Pool at UCLA.

Women’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: The fifth-ranked Bruin women overcame a two sets-to-none start to No. 10 California on Thursday night to win a five-set thriller, 28-30, 24-30, 30-28, 31-29, 15-9. UCLA wasn’t as lucky on Friday night, getting swept aside by No. 2 Stanford at Maples Pavilion, 30-20, 30-23, 31-29. The Bruins are now 13-2 on the season; the Cardinal is 14-0.

>> This week: A key battle in the Lexus Gauntlet is on tap with the Bruins facing No. 4 USC at Pauley Pavilion on Friday night at 7 p.m.

Comments

[Steve M.]

It is UCLA's own fault that student attendance is low at basketball games during Xmas break.

The only way you can get into a basketball game as a student is to have season tickets. Beginning last year, season tickets were attached to student IDs. So your ID is scanned, there is no paper ticket. This is all fine, except you can't transfer tickets to other students!

This is a huge mistake. There are many students who go home for the winter break, to places like northern CA, and miss Pac-10 games at Pauley! Their seats at games are empty and are not refilled by other students!