Monday, January 12, 1998
Football Briefs
So Long, Rocky
UCLA defensive coordinator Rocky Long announced over winter
break that he will leave UCLA to become the head coach at New
Mexico, his alma mater.
On Dec. 28, former St. Louis Ram assistant coach Nick Aliotti,
who worked with UCLA head coach Bob Toledo at Oregon, was named as
Long’s replacement.
"We are going to continue the same type of things, we are going
to blitz, we are going to get after people," Toledo said. "We’ll
play man-to-man and some zone. It will be an aggressive style of
attacking defense like we are doing now.
"(Long) had my blessing to leave – it’s a chance to elevate
himself."
Let the Heisman hype begin
The 1998 Heisman Trophy campaign began on the first day of the
year. After Cade McNown’s 16-29, 239-yard passing day, Toledo left
no doubts who his Heisman front-runner is.
"Let’s put it this way," he said. "He was the top-rated passer
in the nation coming in, and he had an awful lot to do with winning
the football game today. So if he’s not the leading candidate, I’d
like to see who is."
McNown ended the season with 3,116 yards passing – the highest
single-season total ever by a Bruin.
High five
The Bruins finished fifth in both The Associated Press and the
ESPN/USA Today coaches’ polls.
It is UCLA’s highest finish since 1982 (when they were also
fifth), and haven’t finished any higher since 1955 when the school
was ranked fourth.
Finishing in the top five isn’t too common in Westwood – it’s
only been done eight other times – four times the Bruins have
finished fifth (1953, 1966, 1975 and 1982), three times in fourth
(1946, 1955 and 1965), and once in second (1954). In 1954, UCLA won
the national title in the coaches’ poll.
This year’s results:
AP – 1. Michigan 2. Nebraska 3. Florida State 4. Florida 5.
UCLA
ESPN/USA Today – 1. Nebraska 2. Michigan 3. FSU 4. North
Carolina 5. UCLA.
Besides the Bruins, three other Pac-10 teams appeared in the
polls – Washington State (9th), Arizona State (14th) and Washington
(18th). Arizona and Oregon were 26th and 27th in the AP poll.
For the record
Several Bruins will make appearances in the upcoming Cotton Bowl
record books.
McNown’s 76-yard punt was the fourth-longest in Bowl history and
his 239 yards passing was the fifth best.
Hicks tied the Cotton Bowl record with 31 carries and set the
record with a combined 34 carries and catches.
UCLA’s comeback from a 16-point deficit is the second-largest
ever in the Bowl game.
Notes compiled by Brent Boyd, Daily Bruin Staff.