Tuesday, November 3, 1998
Football notebook
Bruins suffer in rankings despite win
The 28-24 victory over Stanford this Saturday may have kept the
Bruins undefeated, but UCLA (7-0 overall, 5-0 in the Pac-10)
dropped from first to third in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
rankings.
The unimpressive victory against the lowly Cardinal was also
excuse enough for sportswriters to drop UCLA from two to three in
the Associated Press poll. The coaches went a step further,
demoting the Bruins from two to four as both Tennessee and Kansas
State bypassed UCLA in the ESPN/Coaches poll.
These are the current rankings in the BCS:
1) Ohio State  3.71
2) Tennessee  5.70
3) UCLA Â 6.62
4) Kansas St. Â 8.05
5) Florida  11.99
Toledo calls for improvement
In his Monday press conference following the game, UCLA head
coach Bob Toledo mentioned several mistakes which need to be dealt
with.
Toledo specifically mentioned quarterback Cade McNown’s two red
zone picks (interceptions thrown inside the Bruins’ own
20-yard-line), calling them inexcusable.
Place kicker Chris Sailer’s two blocked field goals mean the
special teams must practice getting more height on their field goal
attempts.
Finally, the third down efficiency was horrible both offensively
and defensively, according to Toledo. This change in efficiency is
in direct contrast to the performance of the team so far this
season.
"We need to take a good, long, hard look at ourselves in
practice," Toledo said. "Pay more attention to detail."
Toledo followed the criticism by adding how the team made the
big plays when they were needed.
UCLA is still 7-0, and their 17 consecutive wins are best in the
nation.
Better wins equal better rankings
Las Vegas had set a 28-1/2 point spread on Saturday’s UCLA
football game. That means people expected the Bruins to dominate
the game. Therefore, a four-point margin of victory was a big
disappointment to the team.
"The thing that is most upsetting is that we didn’t win
convincingly," Toledo said. "That’s a concern."
The two teams that passed UCLA in the AP and ESPN/USA Today poll
did win convincingly. Tennessee defeated South Carolina 49-14,
while Kansas St. upended Kansas, 54-6.
Toledo did make one thing known: under no circumstance will he
embarrass the opponent by running up the score. And although on
Saturday UCLA was just fighting to win, don’t expect the Bruins to
keep attacking through the air if they have a safe lead in the
fourth quarter.
"I would’ve liked to have won by more points, but I’m not going
to run up the score just to please someone in the polls," Toledo
said.
Injury puts tailback Lewis in limbo
Sophomore tailback Jermaine Lewis suffered a bruised calf in the
game against Stanford.
Lewis will be held out of practice on Monday until X-rays of his
calf come in. Toledo doesn’t expect the injury to be serious, but
Lewis will nevertheless get the day off.
Peak performers play perfectly
Offensively, senior tight end Mike Grieb gets the nod as player
of the game.
"He’s so steady, he’s so consistent and he’s so reliable,"
Toledo said.
Defensively, senior free safety and team captain Larry Atkins
made the difference for the Bruins.
Atkins was in the right spot at the right time, forcing one
fumble while recovering two.
Special teams-wise, senior back-up free safety Tod McBride is
the player of the game. He blocked a punt in the first half that
set up UCLA tailback Keith Brown’s long touchdown run.
Crowd gets the game ball
"The game ball, in my opinion and a lot of people’s opinion on
our football team, goes to the fans," Toledo said. "That was an
unbelievable atmosphere. They definitely contributed to our
victory."
Toledo said that Stanford was forced to blow all three of their
time-outs early in the second half, thanks to the loud, boisterous
crowd support.
With no timeouts left, Stanford couldn’t get anything going on
their last drive of the game because the clock ran out on them.
Compiled by Vytas Mazeika, Daily Bruin Senior Staff
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