KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Brian
Poli-Dixon catches a touchdown pass from fellow receiver
Freddie Mitchell in a 35-24 win over Alabama.
By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
There’s no real theme for this week’s game against
Cal. The Bruins know they can win if they just stick to their game
plan and execute on both sides of the ball.
Last year Cal shut out the Bruins 17″“0 at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA was held to an embarrassingly low 12 first downs and only 168
total yards.
The loss was particularly painful for quarterback Cory Paus.
“It left a terrible taste, not just for me but all the
offense,” Paus said. “We didn’t play particularly
well last year as a whole. But that game was the worst.”
The thirteenth-ranked Bruins have won four out of five games
this year, while the Bears are the inverse, losing four of
five.
FOOTBALL vs. Saturday 12:30 p.m. Memorial
Stadium. Berkeley XTRA 1150 AM Tape delayed on Fox Sports Net
Sunday, 5 p.m. UCLA head coach Bob Toledo is not thinking about
Cal’s record, though, but about how tough they play.
“They’ve got some great football players on their
team, especially on defense. (Defensive end Andre) Carter and (nose
tackle Jacob) Waasdorp are excellent football players.
“They’ve also given up some big plays,” Toledo
said.
What UCLA must do to win:
“¢bull;Don’t try to do everything at once. Cal’s
offense has sputtered the entire season; anything over 20 points
should be good enough for the win.
“¢bull;Do not turn the ball over. Against Arizona State, the
Bruins scored almost every time they had the ball ““ almost
every time they had the ball and did not turn it over, that is.
“¢bull;Stop the pass rush. Carter is one of the premiere ends in
the country and will be coming hard. With DeShaun Foster out, the
Bruins lose not only their best runner, but also their best
blocker.
“We’re going to stay conscious of their pass rush.
We might keep an extra blocker in the backfield, and we’ll
make sure the running backs give an extra chip on the defenders
before they go out on their routes,” Toledo said.
Last week against ASU, Cal’s secondary gave up about 420
passing yards on only 12 completions. If Paus has time to throw the
ball, the receivers will be open.
Freddie Mitchell is third in the nation in receiving yards at
113 per game.
“¢bull;Cover all kicks. The UCLA kick coverage has been a weak
spot for the team this season. They were saved against Fresno State
when Charles Smith tripped over himself at the seven-yard line, and
the Bruin defense held. But the team cannot expect such luck to
repeat itself.
What Cal must do to win:
“¢bull;Hope that the Bruin team bus gets caught in some strange
Friday the 13th time warp. Barring that, the Bears must run the
ball. UCLA will undoubtedly stack at least eight men in the box in
an attempt to stop Cal’s pair of Joes, Igber and Echema.
Cal quarterback Kyle Boller, once dubbed “Jesus in
Cleats” by the Daily Cal, has been demoted to “Sub-par
quarterback in Cleats.” He cannot win the game through the
air for the Bears, so it will have to be done on the ground.
“¢bull;Have success on special teams. In a conventional game
with few turnovers and no big plays the Bears will lose. Nothing
changes the momentum and inspires confidence like a blocked punt or
punt return for a touchdown.
“¢bull;Get their paws on Paus. This is mainly Carter’s
job. This will be a tough order, however, as UCLA has already
proved it can run the ball effectively, even without Foster.
“Their running backs have great speed, both outside and
inside, and their receivers are very tall,” Carter said at a
press conference. “They’ll be coming to our house all
pumped up after we went down there last year and shut them out.
They’ll be ready for a fight.”
Paus has earned a reputation for getting injured, which causes
defenses to key on him even more. This week will be no exception,
as backup quarterback Ryan McCann is suffering from tendonitis in
his throwing shoulder and will be third-string behind Scott
McEwan.
Something else you might need to know about UCLA:
UCLA got a pregame speech from coach Ed Kezirian. Why is this
important? UCLA is 21-2 when it receives pep talks before the Cal
game.
Legendary UCLA track coach Elvin C. “Ducky” Drake
started the tradition in 1972 by reminding the players that Cal
treated UCLA like its “little brother.” The Bruins, who
lost the previous year, went on to trounce their upstate rivals
49-13.
Drake continued his pre-game speech for 16 years, and the Bruins
won all 16 times.
UCLA lost four in a row after Drake passed away. In 1994
Kezirian decided to rekindle the tradition and the Bruins promptly
broke the losing streak.
Something else you might need to know about Cal: Cal’s
punter Nick Harris is frequently referred to as their most
dangerous offensive weapon. Proof of the Bear’s ineptitude on
offense lies in Harris’ records.
Last week he became the Pac-10 career leader in punts and
punting yardage with 285 punts for 12,407 yards.