Friday, October 23, 1998
Skilled secondary forgoes personal glory to aid team
Four cornerbacks bring different styles, same desire to play to
each game
By Rocky Salmon
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
"Try your best? Losers always whine about their best, but
winners go home with the prom queen."
 Sean Connery, "The Rock"
Like Marine Recon Forces from the movie "The Rock" taking over
Alcatraz, UCLA’s four cornerbacks have foregone personal glory to
achieve one team goal: Bruin victory.
Locking in opposing players like the recon troop locked in
tourists, each player has a different style which makes UCLA’s
secondary filled with deadly artillery.
For these four cornerbacks there is no try, only do. Try their
best? For Marques Anderson, Ryan Roques, Jason Bell and Eric
Whitfield, a Bruin victory is the only thing worth gunning for.
Four warriors. One common goal.
Jason Bell is the Prototype. Ryan Roques, the Gamer. Marques
Anderson is the Veteran. Eric Whitfield is the Silencer.
They are all the Hitters.
For five games, the squad has helped UCLA to an undefeated
record by stepping up and making big plays when it counts. In a
position where one mistake can make you the goat, the unit has
cracked down when needed.
None of them whine. Nobody complains. Four different styles make
up one happy contingent.
For these four players losing is not in their lexicon. Only
victory.
Junior Jason Bell is the prototype  the perfect example of
what a cornerback should be.
Bell loves playing cornerback.
In a time when most corners have been switched from other
positions, Bell’s position has always been corner. It’s what he
breathes for  it’s what pumps him up.
"I love playing cornerback," No. 12 Bell said. "It’s the hardest
spot on the field and when you play corner, you the man."
Bell has shown he is the man by breaking up nine passes and
making 14 tackles, including four unassisted against Oregon.
He is one of few corners who likes to play bump-and-run. Bell
likes the pressure of the game resting on his shoulders. He gleams
with confidence.
Says fellow cornerback Ryan Roques,"I will get hyped if I make a
big hit or interception, but Bell gets pumped if he covers a guy
real well. When he does that, you can see him taking so much pride
in his work. His work ethic is so spectacular. He is always after
practice working on his feet and doing drills."
Ryan Roques is the fastest runner in the secondary. He was
supposed to play wide receiver coming into UCLA, and later shifted
to running back. But now he resides at the corner.
Picking off four interceptions in four games, Roques has emerged
to become the starting left cornerback.
"Ryan is a competitor," Marques Anderson said. "Every time out
there he competes, and that is what we need."
For No. 33 Roques, part of the fun of being a cornerback is the
adrenaline rush which is caused by clocking an opposing player.
"Someone can hit you during the game, and you can make yourself
feel better by smacking anyone on the team," Roques said. "You can
have revenge all game."
Roques’ propensity for revenge has led him to build a reputation
for being a formidable hitter.Constantly rocking opposing
receivers, he punishes them for daring to attempt to catch the
ball.
"Big hits don’t come when I try to make them. It happens when
I’m hustling to the ball and the person is not expecting me to come
so hard," said Roques.
"He underestimates me and it feels good when I run through him
and flatten him because he gave little resistance. He didn’t
respect you as a hitter," Roques said.
Marques Anderson is a true sophomore who was named to the
Freshman All-America team last year after finishing the year with
42 tackles.
This year he is the veteran on the squad and was supposed to
have a lock on a starting corner position, but sometimes things
change. Anderson has fallen to second string on the depth
chart.
"The coaches wanted to get more out of me and play up to my
potential," Anderson said. "So now I am just getting back on track.
I’m slowly getting there through hard work."
Against Oregon last weekend, Anderson showed what he was capable
of by making eight tackles, six of those unassisted, in helping
limit the Ducks.
If Bell is the prototypical cornerback, then Anderson is not far
behind. Anderson loves playing corner, especially in the
Pac-10.
"The Pac-10 is lovely, as a corner trying to get to the (NFL),"
Anderson said. "This league is filled with athletic and accurate
quarterbacks and great wide receivers. It prepares you for the next
step."
The biggest man of the unit is Eric Whitfield.
At the beginning of the year Whitfield was starting at free
safety. Now he has been switched to cornerback. But Whitfield is
optimistic.
"I have played (the position) before and I just have to go back
to my routine," No. 6 Whitfield said.
"It’s fun because we are all family out here. We work hard. We
are the first ones out here and the last ones off."
Even though Whitfield does not start, his safety skills make him
deadly on the corners.
"Whitfield is a smart guy and understands the coverage,"
defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said.
"Corners are a little more skillful because they have to cover
guys one on one."
In the end, Whitfield remains a deadly weapon because of his
vision and hitting abilities.
So when the offense needs the ball this Saturday against Cal,
all they will have to do is, "launch green flares and wait for the
calvary." ("The Rock")
That calvary is the cornerbacks, who are always looking for a
way to achieve one goal: victory.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]