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| November 2007 »
UCLA women’s basketball head Coach Kathy Olivier (pictured with forward Lindsey Pluimer) feels like a chess player who doesn’t have to settle for playing checkers any more. She finally has plenty of pieces she can move around the board.
"It’s been very competitive within," she said at today’s Pac-10 Regional Media Day in the Press Room of the Morgan Center on campus. The 2007-08 Bruins return only one senior and two juniors and have a six-member freshman class that has been rated as high as fourth in the nation. "And I think that’s a plus; we haven’t had that in a long time. In years past, it’s been very obvious who the starters would be and this year, it’s kind of up in the air right now.
"They are very coachable girls that are here. They are excited to be at UCLA. They’re extremely competitive. They have a good time together because there are six of 'em; they kind of run as a pack. We’re young, but we’re talented."
Olivier said that like men’s Coach Ben Howland, defense will be emphasized first this season. "We’re talking more about our defense than we have talked about in the past, because I felt we were more offensively minded last year. It’s whoever plays the defense is going to be on the floor and we’re going to play uptempo defense [and] mix it up a little.
"We’re focused on bringing it every game, at the same level, regardless of who we play. We really want to set the tone of how we play this year. In years past, we didn’t have as much depth. I think people know they were going to play regardless if they were having a bad night, they still knew they were going to play. With this team, what I have really enjoyed is having the depth and saying, ‘OK, it’s not your day, it’s someone else’s day.' "
One freshman who will have an immediate impact is 6-3 center Regina Rogers from Chief Sealth High in Seattle. "I’ve been calling her Lady Shaq," said Olivier. "I just think she’s a post player with a point guard’s mentality, which is very nice to have: a quick thinker, fun to play with, sees the floor well. And a banger. She banged around one of our scout guys; he hasn’t been banged in three years [and he was saying] like ‘what is going on?’ So that was entertaining and that was great."
Returning senior forward Lindsey Pluimer (15.5 points per game last season) will be co-captain with sophomore guard Erica Tukiainen (2.8 ppg). "The freshmen have come in and really stepped up everything and are at a whole different level," said Pluimer. "I think we have a great chemistry this year, which is very important. I don’t think we had that as much last year. I think our youth is going to be helpful in a lot of areas."
Tukiainen agreed: "Our team chemistry is completely different, both on and off the court. In the summertime we already started clicking when we were playing pickup and that’s really exciting. We have the chemistry and we have a lot of talent and when you put the chemistry and talent together you can do a lot of big things."
Asked about what this year’s team can achieve after last season’s senior-laden team went 14-18, Olivier was enthusiastic. "When you’re at UCLA, your goal is always to get to the NCAA Tournament. If you’re not talking like that, you shouldn’t be at a school like UCLA. We did not get to the tournament last year, we got there the year before. This year our goal is to finish in the top of the Pac-10 and the Pac-10 has three teams [Stanford, California, Arizona State] ranked in the top 15. We want to finish in the top three in the Pac-10."
Olivier wasn’t shy about crediting Howland for some of her emphasis on defense, or embracing the high profile of Bruin basketball. "I mean he’s great. He works very well with the women, he’s totally into the gender-equity deal, we share Pauley with them. I’ve learned a lot from him.
"I’ve sat in on his practices a number of times and I think the thing that he told me is transition defense, you got to get that done, these are things that I’ve taken from Ben. I think he’s a master of scheduling. The guy does a great job in his non-conference schedules and a great job with his team as far as overall team defense. We picked it up a level as far as the demanding, get it done, you’re at UCLA, it’s a high level of basketball, be proud of that and step it up. And he’s the epitome of that."
The Bruin lineup isn’t settled other than Pluimer at one forward and Tukiainen at one guard, with UCLA opening its exhibition season tomorrow night at Pauley Pavilion against Team Concept -– including former Bruins Noelle Quinn, Nikki Blue and Natalie Jarrett -– with tipoff at 7:05 p.m.
Kathy Olivier and Lindsey Pluimer photo courtesy of UCLA.
 The UCLA men’s water polo team was ranked third in the nation going into last Sunday’s showdown with No. 1 USC, but the Bruins had lost five of six matches against its toughest competition: California (0-3), Stanford (1-1) and USC (0-1). But that changed at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center as the Bruins defeated USC, 9-5.
More in our midweek update:
Hall of Fame:
>> UCLA will admit eight new members to its Hall of Fame on Thursday evening, Nov. 8, and it’s one of the best classes ever:
Amy Acuff (track & field) won five NCAA high jump titles between 1994 and 1997 and finished fourth in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She continues to be the leading American hope for a medal in the high jump in Beijing in 2008.
George Brown (track & field) won a rare triple-triple as a long jumper in 1951 and 1952: He won the Pacific Coast Conference, NCAA and AAU championships in the events both years and was acknowledged as the best long jumper in the world from 1951-53. As a sideline, he was also a scorer in the 220-yard dash in the 1951 and 1952 NCAA Championships.
Jennifer Brundage (softball) was the Honda Award winner in 1995 as the nation’s best softball player. She hit .518 and holds UCLA single-season records of 14 home runs, 60 runs batted in, 59 runs and 87 hits. She was a member of the 1992 NCAA Championship team and the 1993 second-place team. She won a gold medal as a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team.
Jim Ferguson (water polo) was a three-time All-American from 1968-70 and his teams finished second, first and second in his three years. At the end of his Bruin career, he was the UCLA career leader in goals and assists. He was also co-captain of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Troy Glaus (baseball) is best known as a member of the Angels, but at UCLA (1995-97), he set Pac-10 single-season records in 1997 for home runs (34) and total bases (227) and tied for the conference title in runs batted in (91), all in just 67 games! He helped the Bruins reach the College World Series that season for the first time since 1969.
John Moore (basketball) played for John Wooden from 1952-55 and was a consensus All-American in 1955. He was UCLA’s leading scorer in 1953 and 1955 as a starting forward on a team that won the PCC Southern Division championship.
Jeff Nygaard (volleyball) was the middle blocker and a member of two NCAA championship teams in 1993 and 1995. He was a three-time All-American from 1993-95 and National Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995. He was a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic volleyball teams and competed in the 2004 Olympics in beach volleyball.
Keri Phebus (tennis) was an All-American in all four years at UCLA, from 1993-96. He won the Honda Award as the nation’s best collegiate tennis player in 1995 after winning the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
Baseball:
>> The Bruins were ranked No. 12 in the CSTV Fall Top 25, released last Friday. UCLA is listed third in the Pac-10, with Arizona State at No. 1 and two-time defending national champion Oregon State at No. 4.
>> Two Bruins were ranked among the top 30 collegiate prospects in the nation by Baseball America. Shortstop Brandon Crawford was listed 10th and left-handed pitcher Tim Murphy was ranked 18th. UCLA was one of only six teams to have two or more players on that list.
Football:
>> UCLA set an all-time record for season tickets in 2007 with the final total (including student season tickets) finishing at 49,200.
Rowing:
>> UCLA’s varsity eight was disqualified in its race last Saturday at the Head of the American regatta, but the second eight came in seventh in its race. The varsity four also finished seventh.
Men’s Golf:
>> UCLA won the Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship yesterday in Greensboro, Ga., winning 15 of 20 matches and defeating Georgia Tech, 4-1, in the final. Senior Kevin Chappell and freshman Phillip Francis won all four of their matches and Craig Leslie and James Lee also won their matches in the final. Erik Flores won his first three matches, but lost, 1-up, against Taylor Hall of Georgia Tech.
Men’s Soccer:
>> The Bruins (8-6-2, 4-2-1 conference) remain in first place in the six-team Pac-10 standings by 1 point with three games remaining in the regular season. UCLA lost a tight game to Washington, 1-0, last Sunday at Drake Stadium despite outshooting the Huskies, 15-4.
Men’s Water Polo:
>> Goalkeeper Chay Lapin (pictured) was the hero as UCLA took a 3-1 lead, had a 4-3 halftime edge and then outscored top-ranked USC 5-2 in the second half to give the Trojans their first loss of the year, 9-5, last Sunday. The Bruins are now 16-5 overall and stand fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 3-2.
Lapin had a career-high 15 saves in goal for the Bruins, who snapped a four-match losing streak to the Trojans. He was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mikasa co-Player of the Week.
Women’s Soccer:
>> The Bruins (12-1-2) are an unanimous No. 1 in the national polls and have not only won nine matches in a row (and are unbeaten in their last 14), but have not been scored on in 518 minutes of play! UCLA is 5-0 in Pac-10 matches and has outscored its opposition, 10-0. And, sophomore scoring machine Lauren Cheney continues to lead the nation in scoring at 1.13 goals per game.
Lexus Gauntlet:
>> After four of the 25 scheduled events, UCLA leads USC, 12 1/2-7 1/2 in the 2007-08 Lexus Gauntlet. The next matchup with Gauntlet implications is this Friday’s women’s volleyball match at USC.
Chay Lapin photo courtesy UCLA.
UCLA head football Coach Karl Dorrell spent most of Tuesday’s practice working with the offense, but was pleased with progress on both sides of the ball.
"It was a good Tuesday," he said at the close of practice. "We got a chance to put together a great game plan and get ourselves playing much improved football by the weekend.
"Tuesdays are usually the hardest day, because that’s when you’re getting most of the information on the game plan and it seemed like these guys did a nice job of attacking the information and trying to get it to be perfected on the very first rep instead of the third or fourth rep. I was really encouraged with everyone’s focus."
On quarterback Patrick Cowan, Dorrell was pleased to see him in full pads for the entire day: "He’s doing pretty good. He’s still a little sore, but he was able to practice today. He’s getting into better shape. He’s moving his feet better and I think he’s getting healthier. It’s really helpful for any player to practice during the week in preparation for a game and then play on Saturday or Sunday, even at the highest level. I’ve coached some really good players that when they didn’t practice and then played on Sunday, they weren’t quite the same. When you’re practicing well and when you’re able to go out and work on your timing and preparation, it allows you to transfer much easier to the game. It’s important that he practice today and tomorrow and Thursday and be really sharp to be ready to go on Saturday."
The Bruin head coach also was pleasantly surprised by receiver Brandon Breazell. "I didn’t think he’d be able to do much running at all today and he did some routes with me early on with the receivers. I was encouraged, more so today than what I was expecting for him to do." Dorrell believes, at this point, that Breazell will be able to play Saturday.
Asked about Arizona, Dorrell noted that their passing offense has improved significantly during the season. "They have Willie [Tuitama] primarily in the gun in most of their sets," he said. "And they spread you out." As the Wildcats haven’t had significant injuries during the season, Dorrell felt the continuity in their personnel has allowed them to play at a higher level now than in earlier games. "They have a talented group, so we have to make sure defensively that we’re doing what’s necessary for them to earn everything that they attempt to get."
The Bruins will practice in full pads tomorrow and begin tapering off Thursday. The team will fly to Tucson on Friday.
UCLA Coach Ben Howland opened Tuesday’s practice to members of the Bruin Hoopsters support group and to the media (including ESPN’s Jay Bilas and a "Total Access" crew compiling a feature on the Bruins).
They saw a carefully planned and vigorously executed practice, starting with stretching, then half-court perimeter play drills (with special low-post drills for the centers), around-the-horn catch-and-shoot drills, 5-on-0 drills to practice different kinds of plays and four periods of scrimmages of various types in which statistics are kept using varying combinations of players on offense and defense.
 Much of the scrimmaging had Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Michael Roll and Darren Collison on the Blue squad and Lorenzo Mata-Real, Alfred Aboya, Nikola Dragovic, Russell Westbrook and Chace Stanback on the Gold squad. Mata-Real replaced Love after the latter was hit in the right knee and Mustafa Abdul-Hamid joined the Gold for the remainder of the day.
Bruin coach Ben Howland said afterward that what impressed him the most over the first 14 practice sessions was that, "Our guys are playing real hard, playing unselfishly. We have a core group that knows how to work hard and so they’ve continued that tradition, that they have started."
He had praise for progress being made by forward/center Aboya as well as freshman Stanback:
>> "Alfred has really improved his shot. Alfred is a better shooter, for sure, than he was his first two years here and I have confidence when he’s open from 17 and in, that it’s going to go in."
>> "The best thing about Chace’s game right now is he’s a good rebounder. It’s tough when you’re a freshman and you’re learning a lot of stuff that you haven’t done before in a new system, in a new situation. He’s working hard to improve his shot and he’s getting bigger and stronger working in the weight room, but he’s going to be a good player. It just takes time and experience."
Asked whether the Blue squad would be the starters for Friday’s exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, Howland said, "The lineup is not set."
However, he was clear about what he expects from his team beginning Friday: "Our defense -– No. 1 -– rebounding, whether zone or man . . . transition defense, stopping the ball, getting back, not giving up anything easy in transition and trying to make teams score against us in their half-court sets, to make it as hard as possible for them to score. And taking good, smart shots at the other end, trying to get easy shots whenever we can."
Howland said the Bruins have improved their shooting over the summer. "We have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket," citing Roll, Collison, Love, Mbah A Moute and especially Shipp, who was near-flawless for long stretches of Tuesday’s session. On the rebounding side, Howland said, Love was consistently the best of the Bruins, followed by Mbah A Moute, Aboya, Stanback and Westbrook. He noted that Mata-Real has done well, but hasn’t had as much time on the court as the others due to injury.
One reporter asked if the coach might fancy himself in a new hairstyle a la Westbrook’s new "Flaming Hawk." Said Howland, "I’m lucky to have hair. I want to keep it as long as I can."
UCLA practice photo by Rich Perelman.
 Sophomore guard Russell Westbrook drew a lot of interest from reporters after Tuesday’s practice. Look at that hairstyle!
"It’s the Flaming Hawk," he said. "It was my idea. I wanted to do it. My hair was long. I did it in high school before . . . different designs. I wanted to get a new style, be different."
Although he designed the look, a Mohawk with side panels showing a basketball with flames coming off of it, a barber from Westbrook’s neighborhood named Jabari did the actual styling for him for $20 last Sunday.
On the court, Westbrook said he’s comfortable playing either at the point or at shooting guard. Bruin coach Ben Howland asked him to improve his shot over the summer, and he worked at it daily.
 "I tried to work on my shot every day," he said. "I still do now, before or after practice, off days; still trying to get better every day." During the summer, he’s shoot for two or more hours and always make 500 shots before he finished.
He also feels better after gaining some weight. "I’m bigger, faster, stronger from over the summer.," he explained. "I was 186, 188 [last year], now I’m up to 195. It helps a lot because in college, everybody’s bigger and people are stronger, so it really helps me out."
Russell Westbrook photos by Rich Perelman.
UCLA coach Ben Howland opened up a Bruin practice session for probably the last time this season and a crowd of about 200 Hoopsters (a Bruin basketball support group) and reporters watched with interest until star freshman Kevin Love crumpled to the ground during a 5-on-5 scrimmage period.
It got so quiet you could hear people breathing, as Love held his right knee in pain and then hobbled off the court. He received attention from the training staff while the scrimmage continued and re-entered the scrimmage about six minutes later. But he quickly walked off the court again and got his knee taped. More than a dozen news media descended on him immediately after practice.
"I’m fine," he said. "It’s the second time I’ve been hit in that particular area and I actually already had a bruise there, so going up and hitting it again was unfortunate.
"I’ll be back 100 percent tomorrow; I’m fine. It just felt a little weak afterwards. I actually went back down and tried to start playing again, but I felt a little weak and I didn’t want to risk anything because we have a game on Friday."
Asked about the transition between high school and the start of his collegiate career on Friday, he said that one of the things he wanted to do in college was to get better defensively. And where better than at UCLA under the coaching of Howland?
Howland also thought that Love would be fine and noted the enormous difference in talent, intensity and physicality between the high school level and the highest levels of college basketball.
From UCLA Sports Information:
"The results of an MRI show that UCLA running back Kahlil Bell has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He injured the knee in the first quarter of last Saturday's game at Washington State. Surgery will be scheduled after the swelling in his knee subsides."
Translation: He is done for the season. Bell, a junior, had 142 carries for 795 yards this season (5.6 average) in eight games and scored five touchdowns. He was also UCLA's No. 4 receiver by number of receptions at 13, for 93 yards (7.2 avg.). He will be missed.
"I would like to start by assuring you of one thing about this football team, before we start our conference, we’re determined to work through some of the difficult circumstances that happened this season.
"There have been some unfortunate setbacks, but this team has a lot to play for with four games remaining, and we still have a lot of time to improve and that begins this week.
"So we’re going to continue to work hard, our coaching staff will continue to work hard and grind out and find ways to improve our team in all three of our areas. We emphasized with the team on Sunday that we need to continue to work hard and work on our execution better in practice so that can be transferred to games.
"We’re going to continue to work hard; that’s really the answer, to all of the scenarios that are floating out there."
That was the beginning of today’s news conference with UCLA head football Coach Karl Dorrell at the Morgan Center on campus. He met the questions on everyone’s mind -– and message board -– head on, before any question was asked.
"We’re not in the best of shape in terms of our health," he said, "but there are a lot of teams that are ailing. You have to continue to find ways to improve. We’re going to have some young players that are going to step up and have opportunities to play and I’m confident with getting them prepared and getting them ready to play that they can do some good things for us." He noted especially the need for receivers Ryan Graves and Terrence Austin, running back Christian Ramirez and defensive linemen Brian Price, David Carter and Jeff Miller to step up this Saturday.
Asked what caused Saturday’s breakdown in Pullman, Dorrell said: "It begins with how well you are executing on Saturdays. That’s the biggest thing. I think, secondly, it’s more of a mental thing than anything. It’s not a physical issue; we’re more than capable of playing very, very well and we need to push this team to overcome these setbacks that have happened. And that’s really what our mindset is.
"You find a way to eventually push through this. And we had some of that last year, where we had to find a way to push through and find a way to play better. We’ve got to keep our nose to the grindstone and keep working."
Asked for more specifics, he said: "You have to keep working hard and get the performance that’s needed in practice and then make it transfer to the game. That’s really all we can do, both players and coaches. So we’re just going to have to prepare hard and really be more detailed and work hard at execution and doing the things that are necessary for us to get the same results on Saturday."
On the injury front:
>> On the offense, running back Khalil Bell had an MRI examination Monday afternoon, but Dorrell implied that he probably would not play against Arizona. Receiver Brandon Breazell has a "rib contusion" but a second set of X-rays were negative and he is "day to day." He might be able to play against Arizona. Receiver Marcus Everett will be out again this week.
Quarterback Patrick Cowan "is no worse for wear," said Dorrell. "He is better than he was last week at this point." Dorrell indicated that it would be important for Cowan to get more reps in practice this week, something he did not have last week. Ben Olson is still not able to practice, but "should be able to do some drills and footwork stuff this week," Dorrell said.
Bell returned to the game after his first injury after being thoroughly checked by the Bruin training staff on the sidelines. Dorrell said on the second injury, "He just planted funny and he heard a pop and that’s why he kind of gave out and leaned forward and finished the run."
Dorrell also said there was no specific reason why Ramirez didn’t play against Washington State, but "he’s going to get a chance to play now." Chris Markey is the likely starter this week, with Chane Moline and Ramirez behind him.
>> On defense, linebacker Christian Taylor was cleared to practice. He will be held out of contact tomorrow, but should be able to play Saturday. Brigham Harwell might be able to play, but that will depend on how much he can do in practice this week. Tackles Jess Ward and Chase Moline continue to be out.
On Arizona, Dorrell said: "They’ve been able to throw the ball very well. Their offense is different in that they’re throwing the ball so much more. They throw the ball on average about 45-50 times a game. They don’t attempt to rush the ball as often as they throw it, but they can run the football." He also mentioned that their defensive front has been solid.
The starting time for the UCLA-Arizona State game will be 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 10. The game will be televised by ABC.
Chris Foster, the UCLA beat reporter for The Times, spoke briefly with Bruin Athletic Director Dan Guerrero today after football Coach Karl Dorrell’s news conference.
Asked about the current situation of the team, Guerrero said the Bruins have their fate in their own hands with four games to go. UCLA would tie for the conference championship (at 8-1) and go to the Rose Bowl if it were to win its last four games.
But he added, "I will be very interested to see how we finish the season."
DevilsDigest.com, a part of the Scout.com network, reported that Crenshaw High wide receiver Kemonte Bateman -– who had committed to attend UCLA –- made an oral commitment to attend Arizona State after a weekend visit. Bateman was one of five Crenshaw players who visited Tempe, and he and cornerback Clint Floyd both made commitments to the Sun Devils.
Bateman was one of five wide receivers who had committed to UCLA for next year. One of those is Kevin Walker, son of Bruin defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.
It’s basketball time! The highly ranked Bruin men’s basketball team will start its season this week:
Cross-country:
>> Last week: The Bruin men enjoyed a fourth-place finish in the Pac-10 Conference, UCLA’s best finish in coach Eric Peterson’s eight years. Senior Austin Ramos finished fourth overall, and every one of the 10 Bruin runners had a lifetime best over the 8,000-meter course. The Bruin women, however, finished last in the conference and even lost five points in the Lexus Gauntlet against USC, which finished eighth.
>> Next week: The Bruin men are off and will compete in the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 10 in Eugene, Ore.
Football:
>> Last week: The Bruins were humbled, 27-7, at Washington State and outgained, 546-265. Khalil Bell and Brandon Breazell were injured during the first half and did not return to the game
>> This week: UCLA (5-3, 4-1 in the Pac-10) travels to Tuscon to take on Arizona (3-6, 2-4), which enjoyed a miracle comeback to beat Washington, 48-41, on Saturday in Seattle. The last Bruin trip to Arizona, in 2005, resulted in a 52-14 loss.
Men’s basketball:
>> Last week: The Bruins continued practice and were picked No. 2 in the nation in the first ESPN coaches' poll.
>> This week: UCLA will open its exhibition season Friday with a game at Pauley Pavilion against Azusa Pacific.
Men’s soccer:
>> Last week: No. 24 UCLA (8-5-2, 4-1-1 in the Pac-10) won its fourth straight game with a 2-1 win Friday night over Oregon State at Drake Stadium. David Estrada and Maxwell Griffin scored to give UCLA a 2-0 lead at halftime.
>> This week: The Bruins will play Washington at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Drake Stadium, and then head to the Bay Area to play at Stanford on Friday night and at California next Sunday.
Men’s water polo:
>> This week: No. 3 UCLA (15-5, 2-2 conference) plays No. 1 USC (13-0, 4-0 conference) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. The Bruins will have one game this coming week, a nonconference game Saturday at UC San Diego.
Women’s basketball:
>> This week: UCLA will open its 2007-08 season with an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Thursday against Team Concept at Pauley Pavilion. Senior forward Lindsey Pluimer will return along with two other starters and the No. 4-ranked recruiting class in the nation.
Women’s soccer:
>> Last week: The top-ranked Bruins (12-1-2) dispatched ninth-ranked USC, 2-0, on Friday night at Drake Stadium. The game drew a strong crowd of 3,345 for a doubleheader with the men’s and women’s teams, and Lauren Cheney and Kara Lang scored second-half goals to run UCLA’s unbeaten streak to 35 matches at home.
>> This week: The Bruins face Arizona State on Friday night and Arizona on Sunday afternoon, both at Drake Stadium.
Women’s volleyball:
>> Last week: No. 7 UCLA (16-6, 6-5 Pac-10) had a rough weekend, losing to No. 3-ranked Stanford in four games Friday night at Pauley Pavilion, and to No. 9 California in five games Saturday night.
>> This week: The Bruins will play USC on Friday at Galen Center. The Bruins defeated USC, 3-1, at Pauley Pavilion on Oct. 5.
The Bruins are the ultimate holiday party guest: No one gives gifts like UCLA. The Bruins have provided first victories of the season to Utah and Notre Dame, and the first conference win of the season (and first in six weeks) to Washington State today.
Because the Bruins lost, 27-7, to the last-place team in the conference, they have their postseason fate — unbelievably — still in their own hands. If they win out, they would be conference co-champions (8-1) and to go to the Rose Bowl. But:
>> The offense, even with what appeared to be a slowed Pat Cowan at quarterback, did nothing after the three-play, 62-yard, first-series touchdown drive. Down only 10-7 at halftime, UCLA’s second-half possessions resulted in five straight punts, losing the ball on downs at the WSU 14 and then two plays to end the game. In the second half, UCLA ran 32 plays for 90 net yards, a pathetic 2.8 yards a play.
>> Credit Washington State for keeping the pressure on and believing it could win. It’s the third time the Cougars have ended a four-game losing streak by beating UCLA. WSU is now 4-1 against Karl Dorrell. The Cougars exhausted the Bruin defense, piled up 98 plays for 546 yards and held the ball for 37:55 to 22:05. It’s the second-most offensive plays ever run by a Washington State team in the school's history . Another shock: WSU had been outscored 48-17 in the fourth quarter this season, but beat up the Bruins, 14-0, in the final frame.
>> The Bruin defense, although heroic, was beaten up by the Cougar offensive line. Tackles Brigham Harwell and Jess Ward and middle linebacker Christian Taylor were obviously missed. WSU gained 275 yards rushing; the previous high against the Bruins this season was 124. The previous high in total offense allowed was 435 to BYU.
>> Bruin defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker has said many times in many forums that in order for a defense to be effective throughout a game, it needs to get the opposition off the field on third down, but also needs rest. The Bruin defense held WSU to 8-18 on third downs, but, In the second half, the Bruin offense had "drives" of 6-3-4-3-3 plays before a 10-play drive that came with the score 7-20 late in the fourth quarter.
>> Leading individual rushers: WSU — Tardy, 36-212 (career high); McCall 12-54. UCLA — Bell, 4-67; Markey, 15-41.
>> Leading individual passers: WSU — Brink, 28-46, 271 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception; UCLA — P. Cowan, 18-37, 169 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
>> Leading individual receivers: WSU — Gibson, 7-55; Collins, 6-71. UCLA — J. Cowan, 5-56; Austin, 5-45.
Can it get worse? You bet. Arizona suddenly woke up and scored 22 straight points on the road to beat Washington, 48-41, in Seattle. Karl Dorrell-coached UCLA teams are 3-1 against Arizona, but 1-1 in Tucson, winning, 24-21, in 2003 and losing, 14-52, in 2005.
With the defense on the field almost continuously in the second half, Washington State’s 20-7 lead with half of the fourth quarter to play just about puts the game out of reach. The Bruins seem to have no offense whatsoever. If the score holds, Bruin Coach Karl Dorrell will be 1-4 against the Cougars.
>> UCLA came into the game giving up 79.6 yards a game. Dwight Tardy had 211 yards and his 51-yard touchdown run was the final insult . . . not to the Bruin defense, which was on the field for a sick 98 plays, but to the Bruin offense, which didn’t show up for its last 64 plays.
>> Yards in the quarter: Washington State 192, UCLA 67, with the final tally: WSU 546, UCLA 265.
Final score: Washington State 27, UCLA 7
Washington State has 12 plays to UCLA’s six to start the quarter before WSU’s timeout with 7:53 to go. How long can the defense hold on?
>> The stop of WSU at the Bruin 1 on three downs and Kevin Brown's field-goal block were nothing short of heroic. But will the offense ever score again?
>> Yards in the quarter: Washington State 100, UCLA 23! Plays in the game are 72-46 and TOP is 27:26 to 17:34. Terrible.
End of the quarter: Washington State 13, UCLA 7
The Bruins have run only 16 plays to 36 for Washington State, and although the defense stopped the Cougars on fourth down at the UCLA 33, the defense needs a rest. Where’s the run game?
>> UCLA’s drive after the stop of Washington State on downs is just what the doctor ordered for the defense: 13 plays, 41 yards and 3:34 on the clock, but a missed field goal by Kai Forbath.
>> The defense, well-rested, played well during the remainder of the quarter. Now, can the Bruins find any offense? This looks like the Oregon State game again, against a team that’s not as good as the Beavers, but is playing very well.
>> Yards in the quarter: WSU 119, UCLA 79; so for the half, WSU had 254 yards (!) to 175 for the Bruins. Washington State had 22 plays in the second quarter to UCLA’s 20. But take out Bell’s 50-yard scamper to open the game, the Bruins have 34 plays for 125 yards, a 3.7 average. WSU is averaging 5.3.
End of the half: Washington State 10, UCLA 7
Nice start with Khalil Bell’s 50-yard touchdown run on the first series. That’s news because in the last three games in Pullman, Wash., the Bruins trailed after one quarter by 21-0 (2005), 14-0 (2003) and 10-0 (2001).
But it didn’t last long.
>> Just as always: WSU kicker Romeen Abdollmahammadi has a seasonal best against the Bruins. His previous best was 38 yards; now, a 41-yarder to give the Cougars the lead.
>> Yards in the quarter: WSU 135, UCLA 96; and the Cougars ran 26 plays to UCLA’s 15.
End of the quarter: WSU 10, UCLA 7
If UCLA Coach Ben Howland ever decides to give up basketball, he’d have a promising future as a play-by-play announcer. "In the last five minutes of practice," he said to open a call with reporters tonight, "Kevin Love looks like he was kicked in the [left] shin and it had an immediate bruising, so it’s a pretty serious contusion. He’s getting a precautionary X-ray; the doctor looked at it and didn’t think it was anything, but just to be sure, we X-ray everything.
"Every time one of these guys goes down, my heart ends up in my throat. You just never know. But I’m pretty confident he’s going to be fine. He walked out on his own, he walked up the stairs to the training room, so I think he’s going to be fine."
Howland pointed out that fully half of today’s practice was noncontact, but "it’s a physical game, you see it everywhere around the country."
Asked about whether he’s solidified a plan as to who the starters will be, Howland said "nope."
"I can tell you that Darren Collison will start," he said, laughing. "I think Luc [Richard Mbah A Moute] will start. I think there’s a solid chance that Josh Shipp will start.
"We’re going to have the ability to play a lot of different ways. I am going to play Luc at the 3 [small forward] this year, whether or not he starts there or we start Lorenzo [Mata-Real] or we start Alfred [Aboya], or start Luc at the 4 [power forward] or [Michael] Roll or Russell [Westbrook], all those are options.
"I’ve got to figure this out; we’ve got two weeks. That doesn’t mean it won’t change this year. I’ve got to figure out what team blends best well, what team is going to get us off to good starts. There’s one team that might be the best team offensively, there’s one that might be the best team defensively, but the bottom line is Collison, Shipp, Luc and Lorenzo, along with Roll, Russell, Alfred and Kevin, those guys are all going to get a lot of minutes."
The practices have been a bust, even with so many returning players. "We’re putting in new sets. We’ve got a lot of things to learn, but we still have to get back to our basics on how we play defense and get back in transition. We’ve got a lot to do in terms of press offenses, getting ready for any kind of junk defense early in the season. I mean you never know, we have to be ready for a box-and-one or a triangle-and-two and all the different kinds of things that can be thrown at you in the early part of the season.
"It’s so hard. Today was our 13th practice; we don’t have an out-of-bounds play in yet. We don’t have a zone play in yet. So we’ve got a lot of things to do between now and two weeks from today."
Howland also thought the Bruins would be much improved against zone defenses. "We’re going to be a good team against a zone; we’ve got very good passers. Today, Luc and Kevin were playing together at the 4 and 5 spot, and it was really fun to watch because they’re two very good passers and guys who can really catch and pass. So we’re going to be a good passing team and a very unselfish team, and a team that’s going to have very good balance in scoring. I’m hoping that we could have as many as five guys average in double figures."
Howland said that Mata-Real didn’t practice today and was ready to give the entire team some rest. "We’re going to have one more practice tomorrow and then take two days off and get healed up a little bit, and then start up again on Tuesday."
The Bruin coach was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs' Hall of Fame last night at a gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. "I was really, really touched by that. It was quite an honor for me and was really special because the Boys Club was where I learned how to play basketball and fell in love with the game of basketball there in Goleta. There were 850 people and we raised $1.4 million for the Boys Clubs and Girls Clubs, and they are so important for the communities. We had about 15 people from Santa Barbara who came down, from Goleta, and they were all really, really touched and excited about what a wonderful evening it was."
Howland’s social calendar is still quite crowded. On Saturday, about 40 former players will watch practice and both the alumni and current team will gather in the afternoon at Howland’s home for a barbecue. It will be Howland's third annual alumni barbecue.
The UCLA football team is 5-2 overall, has a 4-0 mark in Pac-10 play and a seven-game conference win streak heading into Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game at 2-5 Washington State. The Cougars are 0–4 in conference play and have lost four games overall.
A walk-over, right?
No.
Remember Utah? Notre Dame? How about last year’s game at the Rose Bowl, when the Cougars thrashed the Bruins, 37-15? Or that UCLA has lost five of its last six to Washington State and four of five in Pullman. Or that the last two times that WSU has had a four-game losing streak going into a game with the Bruins, the Cougars won, in 1997 and 2004. And:
>> WSU is 2-5, but 2-1 at home, beating San Diego State, 45-17, and Idaho, 45-28, and then losing a close game to Arizona State, 23-20, on Oct. 6. The Cougars have been pasted on the road, losing all four of its away games by at least 21 points.
>> The Bruins need to keep quarterback Patrick Cowan upright, but the Cougars have 10 sacks in their last two games against Oregon and Arizona State and 23 tackles for loss.
>> In three career games against the Bruins, Washington State quarterback Alex Brink has completed 65.3% of his passes for 759 yards and six touchdowns.
In addition, Pullman is in a rural area of eastern Washington that isn’t easy to get to (the Bruins fly into and stay in Moscow, Idaho) and the bus ride to Martin Stadium is a long one.
Should the Bruins even show up? They will and they should win. The key matchups:
(1) WSU’s defense has not been confused with the Great Wall of China. The Cougars give up an average of 161 yards a game rushing and 287 yards a game passing, as well as 36.9 points per game. Opponents have had 86 drives from scrimmage against the Cougars this season and have scored 41 times (47.7%). The Bruins should be able to move the ball.
(2) Cougar quarterback Brink has been great, completing 62.5% of his passes, but he’s usually been playing from behind. He has 18 touchdowns, but also seven interceptions and has been sacked 15 times. If the Bruins can pressure him, they could cause turnovers.
(3) WSU has been outscored in every quarter: 79-45 in the first, 74-54 in the second, just 57-56 in the third, but has fallen apart in the fourth, scoring just 17 points to 48 for its opponents.
That last note makes Saturday’s game look a bit like the Oregon State game, in which it was tight into the fourth quarter and then the Bruins exploded for a 40-14 win. Oddsmakers have the Bruins as a six-point favorite.
The game will kick off about 3:30 p.m. and will be televised live on Fox Sports West in Los Angeles with Brian Davis on the play-by-play, former WSU and NFL quarterback Mark Rypien as analyst and Michael Eaves on the sidelines. On the radio, Chris Roberts and Matt Stevens will call the game on KLAC-AM (570) and the Bruin Radio Network with Wayne Cook on the sidelines. As with all Bruin road games, we’ll have continuous in-game commentary on this blog.
 Because of the fire situation in San Diego, the men’s soccer match between San Diego State (tied for second in the Pac-10, one point behind UCLA) and Oregon State has been moved to the North Athletic Field at UCLA and will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The UCLA-Washington match will still be held Sunday at Drake Stadium, but will start at 2:30 p.m.
More soccer news:
>> Bruin midfielder Jason Leopoldo (pictured) was named the Pac-10 Men’s Soccer Player of the Week. He’s the third Bruin to be honored this season, along with goalkeeper Brian Perk and forward Maxwell Griffin.
>> UCLA will honor its three-man senior class before Sunday’s match with Washington. Defenders Greg Folk, Brandon Owens and Mike Zaher will be saluted.
Jason Leopoldo photo courtesy of UCLA
 UCLA junior forward Luc Richard Mbah A Moute had barely been told that he was on the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list when he spoke to reporters by telephone this afternoon.
"If it’s true, it’s an honor," he said. "It’s a reward for all your hard work and for how good your team is, because all that stuff is based on how good your team is. It doesn’t matter right now . . . the only thing that matters is our team and what we do. If we do the right thing, all the little awards that come should not only be for me, but for everyone on the team."
Mbah A Moute said his knees feel fine, but won’t know if he is over last season’s troubles until he’s back to playing in actual games again. He’s also aware that with the addition of Kevin Love, the Bruins could play at a faster tempo this season, but he knows where that will start: defense.
"We definitely want to get out and run," he said, "but all that is created by our defense. We want to establish our defense so we can create turnovers and get out and run."
Reflecting on a comment by Bruin Coach Ben Howland that Mbah A Moute could defend all five positions on the court, he was asked if he could defend a point guard: "I played point guard in high school, so I could definitely guard a point guard. That’s something I’m really proud of is my defense. Winning is all about defense. Most of the coaches I’ve had have put a big emphasis on defense. When you play defense, it creates your offense. I just like doing that.
"I can play point guard, if Coach Howland is willing to do that. I have no problem doing that." That would be something to see.
Sophomore forward James Keefe is continuing his recovery from shoulder surgery, and is making good progress.
"I met with the doctor," he said, "and she says I’m on course. Now I’ve got my full range [of motion], and now I’m getting in shape — running, shooting and getting the strength back in the shoulder so I don’t tweak it again. It’s hard, but I know when I come back, it’ll be fine. One day at a time.
"Right now, in practice, I go through warmups before practice. I’ll meet with the strength and conditioning coach. He’ll put me through a workout with running, sliding, some plyometrics, and then during practice I just work on my rehab, strengthening of the shoulder. I can shoot some; I do shooting drills after practice.
He said that building up his strength "will be the hard part, since I still can’t lift with the upper body. It will take some time to rebuild all my upper-body strength. Once that happens, I’ll be fine."
Howland said that "Lorenzo Mata did not practice today. He sprained his ankle yesterday; the same foot as before, but not the same sprain. It was X-rayed and X-rays were negative; he’ll probably not practice tomorrow and will either be back on Saturday or when we practice again on Monday. We’ll just have to wait and see.
"It’s more the ankle and less of the foot. He actually stepped on Alfred [Aboya]’s foot, and so he tweaked it. It happens, especially around the basket."
With the first exhibition game coming up a week from Friday, Howland’s front court is thin, with Love, Mbah A Moute, Aboya and Josh Shipp available, but possibly also an opening for sophomore Nikola Dragovic and freshman Chace Stanback to get some extra minutes to show what they can do.
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute photo courtesy of UCLA
As with the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, the Pac-10 Conference dominated the preseason list for the Naismith Trophy, awarded by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club.
UCLA’s Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and Josh Shipp are on the list, along with nine other Pac-10 players: Chase Budinger (Arizona), Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin (Cal), Lawrence Hill and Brook Lopez (Stanford), Taj Gibson (USC), Jon Brockman (Washington) and Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver (Washington State). The Atlantic Coast Conference had the second-most selections with seven.
UCLA and North Carolina (Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson) each had three selections on the list, the most of any school.
The list of players will be narrowed to 30 in January, and the final ballot will be distributed in March.
 A No. 1-ranked Bruin team is being challenged by USC this week while a No. 1-ranked USC squad will face off against the No. 3 Bruins. The details of a busy week:
Cross-country:
>> UCLA’s men’s team is ranked No. 19 in the country and will compete Saturday against national powerhouses Oregon and Stanford at the Pac-10 Conference championships in Corvallis, Ore. The Bruin women do not figure in the Pac-10 team race, but will try to qualify individuals for the NCAA West Regionals.
Football:
>> The Bruins are 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-10, and travel to Pullman, Wash., to face Washington State (2-5, 0-4) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net West in Los Angeles and broadcast on KLAC-AM (570) and the Bruin Radio Network.
Rowing:
>> The Bruin women will be in Rancho Cordova on Saturday for the Head of the American regatta.
Men’s golf:
>> Fresh from winning the Pac-10/Big Ten Challenge, the No. 3-ranked men’s golf team will be in Greensboro, Ga., for the three-day Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play tourney.
Men’s soccer:
>> After a very slow start, the No. 24-ranked Bruin men (7-5-2 overall, 3-1-1 in the Pac-10) are suddenly in first place in the Pac-10 at the halfway mark. They will play host to Oregon State (5-8-0, 2-3-0) on Friday in a doubleheader with the women’s team, with the men’s game beginning at 5 p.m. On Sunday, the Bruins will play Washington (6-6-2, 1-3-1) at 1 p.m. Both games will be at Drake Stadium and webcast live at uclabruins.com.
Men’s water polo:
>> The Bruins (15-5) are ranked No. 3 in the nation, but face No. 1 USC at 1 p.m. Sunday at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. Admission is free. The Bruins lost to USC in their only previous meeting this season, 7-6, at the SoCal Tournament semifinals two weeks ago.
Women’s soccer:
>> UCLA is a unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the nation, with an 11-1-2 record and four straight shutouts. Sophomore Lauren Cheney (pictured) leads the nation in scoring at 1.154 goals per game. USC (also 11-1-2) is ranked anywhere from No. 2 to No. 9 in the polls, and comes to Drake Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 students; Bruin Card holders are admitted free. The game will be webcast at uclabruins.com.
Women’s swimming:
>> Because of the fires in the San Diego area, UCLA’s meet against the University of San Diego, scheduled for Saturday at UCLA, has been canceled. USD athletes instead will be spending time at home and with their families.
Women’s volleyball:
>> If the seventh-ranked Bruins (16-4 overall, 6-3 in the Pac-10) plan to stake a claim as one of America’s best teams, this would be a good weekend to do it. No. 2-ranked Stanford (19-1, 8-1) comes in for a match at Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by No. 9 California (16-4, 6-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday. Both matches will be webcast at uclabruins.com, and the Stanford match will be televised on a one-day-delay basis on Fox Sports Prime Ticket at 8 p.m. Saturday.
>> Both matches will be part of Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend. The first 400 fans attending the Stanford match will receive Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirts, and the first 2,000 fans at Saturday’s match against Cal will receive Breast Cancer Awareness wristbands.
Lauren Cheney photo courtesy of UCLA
The smoky haze that has covered Los Angeles because of the various fires in the area was easy to see Wednesday over Spaulding Field on the UCLA campus. "We really took our time through practice," said Coach Karl Dorrell, noting that the team "took a lot more water breaks because the air quality is not really good right now."
Bruin players whose families have been or may be affected by the fires include freshman tight end Nate Chandler and junior guard Nathaniel Skaggs, both of whom are from San Diego, as well as injured tackle Jess Ward, who is from Running Springs. Dorrell’s parents live in Oak Park near San Diego and Dorrell’s own home was threatened. "The Magic fire was close, and then it went west," he said, adding thanks for the efforts of all area firefighters. "We all probably take them for granted, but they do tremendous work for all of us."
On the field, quarterback Patrick Cowan will play Saturday, but was held out of practice today.
"We’re trying to get some other quarterbacks ready to play just in case," Dorrell said. "I did not want to practice him [Cowan] today [to] give him more rest time. He could have practiced, but I chose not to have that happen. He did a lot of reps yesterday; we pulled him back at the end of practice when it started getting a little bit tight on him. So we decided to give him another day of rest, and he’ll come out and do some stuff tomorrow. He’s probably physically not in great conditioning shape right now, so we need to be sure we’re being smart and not doing the wrong thing for him."
Dorrell said UCLA would travel to Washington State with four quarterbacks — Cowan, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Chris Forcier and Osaar Rashaan.
On the defensive line, Dorrell said he was giving rest time to end Tom Blake and tackle Jerzy Siewierski "so that they have a chance to get ready to play on Saturday."
He praised the efforts of redshirt freshman tackles David Carter and Jeff Miller, both of whom will make the trip to Pullman, Wash. "They’re going to do a great job," Dorrell said. "I watched them today in our pass rush drills and in our periods here at the end going against the [offense]; they’re excited to get a chance to play. Let’s see what you can do when you get an opening. They’re ready to play."
Middle linebacker Christian Taylor has not been cleared by the team doctors since his concussion Saturday. Asked about how he would be replaced, Dorrell said, "That’s [John] Hale and that’s Boz [Kyle Bosworth], that’s Reggie [Carter]; there are going to be a rotation of different guys in there with the packages that we do."
The Bruins will practice Thursday and travel to Pullman on Friday.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club’s Wooden Award Committee has released its list of 50 players who are candidates for the award.
Two Bruins made the list: junior guard Darren Collison and junior forward Josh Shipp. Other candidates include two Wooden All-American selections from last season: North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and Brandon Rush of Kansas.
The Wooden Award selection will be made from a final ballot, and players do not have to be on the preseason list to be placed on the ballot. A midseason list of 30 players will be announced in January, and the final ballot will be distributed to more than 1,000 voters in March.
Another measure of how tough the Pac-10 will be this season: 10 of the 50 players on the preseason list are from conference teams: Chase Budinger (Arizona), Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State), Ryan Anderson (Cal), Malik Hairston (Oregon), Taj Gibson (USC), Jon Brockman (Washington) and Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver of Washington State, in addition to the two Bruins.
 UCLA suddenly has three teams at the top of the Pac-10 standings:
Men’s Basketball:
>> UCLA Coach Ben Howland will be inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame at a Thursday night gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. "American Idol" star Ruben Studdard is the featured performer.
Men’s Golf:
>> In its opening tournament of the season, the Bruins won the Pac-10/Big Ten Challenge played near Seattle over the weekend (and Monday). UCLA won by six strokes with senior Kevin Chappell finishing second and senior Craig Leslie tying for third place.
Men’s Soccer:
>> UCLA is back in the national rankings at No. 24 and is in first place in the Pac-10 after a 3-2 victory at Washington on Sunday. The Bruins are now 7-5-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the conference (10 points) at the halfway mark.
Men’s Tennis:
>> UCLA’s Mathieu Dehaine made it to the finals of the ITA Men’s Tennis Regionals today, but lost to top-seed Andre Begemann of Pepperdine, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3). Although unseeded, he won five straight matches to get to the final. Dehaine beat fellow Bruin Harel Srugo in the semifinals while Begemann defeated UCLA’s Haythem Abid in the other semi.
Men’s Water Polo:
>> After an 8-7 loss to California on Saturday, the fourth-ranked Bruins (15-5, 2-2 conference) defeated 13th-ranked Pacific, 13-3, at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. Scott Davidson (pictured) and Kyle Healy each scored three goals.
Women’s Basketball:
>> Kathy Olivier’s Bruins were picked for fifth in the Pac-10 Conference in the annual pre-season poll of coaches with Stanford, Arizona State, Cal and USC picked for the top four spots. UCLA returns Lindsey Plumer (15.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) from among three starters on last season’s team and adds the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation.
Women’s Golf:
>> The top-ranked Bruins finished third in the Stanford Intercollegiate last weekend, behind Arizona State and Duke. UCLA’s top finisher was sophomore Sydnee Michaels, who tied for 11th place overall.
Women’s Soccer:
>> No. 1-ranked UCLA didn’t let up after defeating No. 2 Stanford on Friday night and breezed past No. 19 California, 2-0, in Berkeley on Sunday. Sophomore Lauren Cheney scored both goals and has 16 for the season; she leads the Pac-10 in scoring with 38 points. The Bruins are now 11-1-2 and have four straight shutouts to their credit.
Scott Davidson photo courtesy of UCLA
UCLA’s 30-21 win over Cal got a lot of folks riled up about the Bruins:
>> Sophomore defensive back Alterraun Verner and freshman placekicker Kai Forbath were named U.S. Bank Pacific-10 Players of the Week for defense and special teams, respectively. Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart won for offense.
Verner and Forbath join quarterback Ben Olson, cornerback Trey Brown and special team players Aaron Perez and Matthew Slater as Bruin "player of the week" award winners.
>> Verner is one of four candidates for the AT&T National Player of the Week along with running back Jonathan Stewart of Oregon, Alabama receiver D.J. Hall and Tulane running back Matt Forte. Fans vote for the winner by sending the text message VOTE to 87654 on a wireless phone; you’ll receive a message with an opportunity to vote for any of the four candidates. Voting continues through 8:59 p.m. Pacific time Wednesday and the winner will be announced during Thursday night’s ESPN broadcast of the Boston College-Virginia Tech game.
>> Verner’s touchdown return is also a candidate for the "Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the Week." Fans can vote at Pontiac.com/ncaa until at least 9 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday; the winner will be announced on ESPN at halftime of Thursday night’s game.
>> UCLA is favored over Washington State this Saturday in Pullman, but oddsmakers are a little shy about the Bruins playing in the Northwest, given their lack of success against the Cougars in recent years. Las Vegas lines show the Bruins as a 6-point choice, but the Sagarin Ratings have UCLA at No. 15 in the country with a rating of 82.64 while WSU is No. 105 at 61.11. Throw in three points for home-field advantage and Sagarin’s numbers indicate UCLA will win by 18 or 19.
The weekly bowl projections from CollegeFootballNews.com show UCLA in the Sun Bowl against Texas Tech, with Arizona State going to the Rose Bowl to play Boise State (what?), Oregon playing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, USC in the Holiday against Texas and California in the Emerald Bowl to play Miami. The site has Ohio State playing West Virginia in the BCS title game.
As usual, Ben Howland is worried. His UCLA men's basketball team has an exhibition game against Azusa Pacific on November 2 and he’s got a lot to go over.
"Every aspect," he said. "Fortunately, we have a lot of veterans on this team. But you still have to go over everything again. We basically are laying down our foundation defensively these first 10 practices and also in our motion [offense]. Now we’ll start putting in sets and plays on Wednesday and start putting in a lot of our different sets that we’ll run in the half court, some of our plays against zone.
"You saw us do our press offense, five-on-zero today, we’re going to see some presses early in the year, we’ve got to attack presses aggressively, just so many things to put in: late-game situations, how you attack a box-and-one, a triangle-and-two, junk defenses, all sorts of stuff.
"Our big thing is health."
Howland noted that Saturday morning’s practice went on without Kevin Love and Lorenzo Mata-Real due to injuries and then "Luc [Richard Mbah A Moute] woke up and his back had a knot in it and he couldn’t go," so the Bruins were down to seven scholarship players. He praised Josh Shipp and Darren Collison for their consistency . . . and good health.
Today’s bruises came errors of commission in working too hard. Alfred Aboya injured a knee while weightlifting and Kevin Love hurt his back slightly while doing squats, but still participated in practice.
Of his two freshmen, Howland noted that while Love is learning the defensive aspects of college ball, UCLA style, he’s very far advanced of other frontcourt freshmen in his offensive skills: shooting, rebounding, outlet passing and so on. Chace Stanback has impressed Howland with his effort and rebounding, but "he hasn’t shot it well yet from three [-point range], which isn’t a surprise. He’s still learning what a good shot and a bad shot is. Part of it is strength; when you’re a freshman, you come in and all of a sudden you’re going into a high-intensity practice. The thing is, he’s a freshman going against all veterans on the perimeter. He’s learning quick; he’s getting better.
He also noted considerable improvement from Nikola Dragovic, still hampered somewhat from summer hernia surgery, but shooting very well in practice. "He’s getting better and that’s what he can do best. He’s expected to shoot, against zones in particular; he causes real problems for a team trying to zone because of his ability in space. He’s doing a pretty good job defensively, by far better than a year ago."
Howland plans to have one other practice open to the press before November 2, but that will likely be it for the rest of the season.
UCLA men's basketball Coach Ben Howland usually keeps his practices closed tighter than a drum. But he decided to open today’s program to reporters, which provides an opportunity to speak with the players.
Fairfax High’s Chace Stanback will hardly get the notoreity or the playing time of fellow freshman Kevin Love. But he’s getting acclimated to college life — and basketball — in a hurry.
"Players are smart here," he said. "I used to get backdoor lobs every game, at least two or three times a game. Not here." When it was pointed out that this happens to the Lakers quite a bit, Stanback deadpanned, "Well, that’s not college."
He noted the stark differences between his senior year at Fairfax and playing during the summer and in current practices against college players. "Everybody is at 20 pounds heavier than they were in high school," he said. "I think if I get stronger, I’ll be able to play a lot better." He’s already gained 15 pounds thanks to an aggressive weightlifting program. "We really didn’t follow through that much during the season," he said about lifting in high school, but he knows he will be continuing with it at UCLA. Far from worrying about gaining weight, he explained that the lifting program will help to keep his weight up during the season, when the exertions of practices, games and classes tend to make players lose weight.
Stanback said he’s been surprised – as are many freshmen – at how time-consuming the schoolwork is in college, even though the amount of class time each week is less than in high school: "So many essays, the reading. In high school, you probably read 100 pages a year, and here you read, what, 20,000 a year?"
That last comment will tell you that, yes, he has a history course – World History – in addition to English and Education courses this quarter.
His classmate Love already has a high profile on campus. "I can’t go under the radar, I am 6-9," he noted. "Darren Collison is 6-1 or 6-2, so he can under the radar a little bit. People will wave at me and say, ‘Kevin Love, how you doing and all that kind of stuff.’ I enjoy walking around campus, people don’t bug me or anything like that; if they stop me, I am gracious to them and treat them how I wanted to be treated."
What about the academic environment? "It’s a lot different because everyone is so competitive. And that’s the biggest thing, because I’m a competitive person, so I think I’ve even turned it up a notch coming to college. I don’t want people think I’m just a dumb jock, so I’m being as competitive as I can in my classes. I’m trying to get a four-point [average] this quarter.
"I’m trying to be a Comm major, so I’m taking Comm 1, then the WAC [World Arts & Culture] class we’re going to right now and then I have Art & Architecture . . . and that’s a fun class that I chose."
On the basketball floor, Love said his offense is ahead of his defense so far, "because on defense I have to learn a lot more. I can adjust the speed, the physicality and things like that, but other than that, it’s the little things." He’s also fitting in well with his veteran teammates, noting "All of these guys are very team and family oriented and I think we’re going to go far with that."
He’s already circled a few games on the Bruins’ non-conference calendar that he‘s looking forward to: "Chris Dudley coached me in my high school team and he went to Yale, so he’ll be at that game, so I am looking forward to that. Also, George Washington will be a good game, the 28th of November and then December second we play Texas just four days later. Those are the games I’m looking forward to and that’s just going to make us better in the long run."
He also credited part of his decision to come to UCLA to being able to sit and talk with former Bruin coach John Wooden last June, prior to his commitment to come to UCLA. "I got to sit down with Coach Wooden for an hour, an hour and a half," he said. "That was huge." And he noted that when he was at North Carolina for a visit, he met former Tar Heels coach Dean Smith but noted, "Who in the coaching world compares to Coach Wooden? No one."
 UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell knows all too well that 2-5 Washington State (0-4 in the Pac-10) has beaten UCLA in five of the last six meetings, even though the Bruins opened as favorites this week.
"We’ve talked about this type of game and what we’ve done in previous parts of our season [in games where UCLA was favored]," he said. "I don’t think anything is a "gimme" and you can ask almost anyone in college football this year whether there’s any "gimme" games out there. We’re just going to worry about improving ourselves week in and week out.
"Football is still a game of execution, regardless of having a very experienced team. Everything on paper lines up for it to be a great year and this still can be a great year and that’s what we’re anticipating for this to be as we move forward.
"Our challenge is keeping ourselves focused and improving on what we need to get done. It doesn’t matter what it sounds like on paper, that’s something that can make you fall into a trap. We have to continue to build on ourselves playing better and playing to our potential."
Dorrell emphasized the importance of the bye week in Saturday’s win over Cal, allowing the Bruins to get healthier. "That bye week has allowed our quarterback to get back; he wasn’t 100%, but he was close to 100% and he played well in the game.
"It was the first game, I felt, that the team played a complete, team-effort football game. The defense player very, very well as you know; that’s a very prolific offense. Our defense did a very nice job of controlling the rushing yardage in the game; they made a few plays on us in the passing game, but we limited most of their big-play ability and we put pressure on the quarterback.
"Our offense had the first four-quarters-of-a-game of some consistency and some production. We may not have scored a lot of points . . . but we were able to have some consistent drives. We had four or five drives in that game with 10-plus plays, we put some points in the board, both with field goals and touchdowns and that gave our defense a chance to rest and also play as well as they needed to play against [Cal’s] offense.
"Special teams played very, very well. There were a couple of mistakes we did late in the game on some kickoff coverage where we missed the tackle on a couple of those kickoff returns." He also noted that the punting unit kept Cal’s dangerous DeSean Jackson from returning any kicks.
Dorrell was questioned closely about his decision not to try for the first down on a fourth-one-one situation at Cal’s 38-yard-line late in the third quarter with UCLA trailing, 14-13: "I didn’t go for it because, given their offense, and given the opportunity we had – we were one point down – we didn’t need to make a mistake or have an issue of making a mistake at that time. If we had angle-kicked like we were designing to do, we would have had a chance to get it inside the ten-yard line and it was unfortunate that we did not execute that. I do not regret that call one iota.
"[Going for a first down] wasn’t the right call at this given time in this given game. I didn’t feel comfortable with that."
Asked if he changed his mind on the play during the time-out called after the third-down scramble by quarterback Pat Cowan resulted in no gain, Dorrell said no. "We actually had a ‘no-play’ play called to try to draw them offsides. With the result of the penalty and backing us up five yards, it gave us even a better chance of pinning them deep if we corner-kicked it between the goal line and the 10-yard line."
The Bruin head coach praised the play of the UCLA offensive line, which received "players of the game" honors from the coaching staff. "It was their best collective effort as a group and Shannon [Tevaga] was a big part of that," said Dorrell. "Micah Reed, who we moved to guard, also played very, very well and gave us some stoutness and our tackles played well and Chris Joseph played pretty well for us as our center. We protected Pat [Cowan] pretty well and we had a good run game."
Dorrell also praised Cowan: "He played very well; he managed our offense very well and got us to the right run-checks and when he sensed pressure, he got us into some good protection and he threw the ball very well."
Asked about the touchdown pass from receiver Brandon Breazell to Dominique Johnson in the third quarter, Dorrell said "It was a great play orchestrated with two very good athletes. It’s funny, because our fullback [Trevor Theriot] was the wide open player down the sideline, but Brandon went to his first choice and only his first choice in his mind, which was the receiver and the second choice, the fullback, but he didn’t want to give that a chance. It was a great play for both guys to finish a drive."
On the injury front, things could be looking up:
>> Dorrell said running back "Chris Markey is getting better. He played a few snaps in the game and felt gimpy on that [right] toe, so we didn’t want to utilize him too much. We hope to utilize him more this week. He feels pretty good [in] talking with him earlier this morning."
>> On defensive tackle Jess Ward, Dorrell said "we don’t know if it’s a major injury right now. He had a noontime MRI with his sprained knee. We don’t think it’s major, but we still have to worry about the results."
>> Defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski "is fine; he was able to get himself back going yesterday and he felt good. He’s a little sore, but he should be fine for the game."
>> On middle linebacker Christian Taylor, who had a concussion, Dorrell noted that "we spoke with earlier today and yesterday; he feels much, much better. He was released from the hospital about an hour after they has taken him to the hospital on Saturday. His symptoms are starting to wane away; he had a slight headache yesterday. He desires to play very badly this week, but we want to monitor him and make sure the doctors and everyone do all the precautionary measures to do what’s right in his case, so we’ll just list him as day to day."
>> On defensive end Nikola Dragovic, Dorrell said he "is re-habbing and trying to get himself back on the field. We’ll just see how he’s able to do any work on the field. That’s the one thing he hasn’t been able to do."
>> The news could be better for defensive tackle Brigham Harwell, who Dorrell said "is on the field, he’s working in the individual drills and a team work a little bit this week, so we’ll see how well he has progressed from last week. He was not ready to play last week vs. Cal."
 UCLA senior safety Dennis Keyes enjoyed the victory over Cal on Saturday, but is already wary of Washington State.
"We definitely don’t want any slip-ups," he said during Monday’s news conference, "but I do | |
