FOOTBALL vs. Saturday 4 p.m. Tucson, Arizona
ABC XTRA Sports 1150 AM
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Reporter
The true test of strength comes when one is on the brink of
disaster.
That test could come Saturday for the UCLA Bruins (4-3 overall,
1-3 Pac-10) when they take on the No. 23 Arizona Wildcats (5-2,
3-1) in Tucson.
The Bruins are faced with a must win situation but have limited
ammunition with which to attack and fend off the Wildcats.
Injuries range from pre-season all-Pac-10 selection Kenyon
Coleman to backup quarterback Ryan McCann. Few have escaped the
injury bug this season, and those who have been bitten are trying
to fight on valiantly.
“We’re a little beat up and banged up,” coach
Bob Toledo said earlier this week. “We’re not the same
team that beat Alabama and Michigan right now.”
The team that beat two No. 3-ranked teams in non-conference play
is going to have to play without some key men. Defensive linemen
Ken Kocher and Sean Phillips will not play this weekend.
Additionally, linebacker Robert Thomas, a finalist for the
Butkus award, is questionable for the game. His replacement,
redshirt freshman Dennis Link, pulled a hamstring in practice and
will have trouble competing.
The list goes on and on, with most of the damage occurring on
the defensive side of the ball. That could present a problem when
the Bruins face a versatile quarterback like Arizona’s Ortege
Jenkins.
“He’s a good runner,” Toledo said.
“He’s from Long Beach, so we know a bit about him.
He’s a big, strong athlete.”
The Bruins had trouble with Cal quarterback Kyle Boller running
for call. Jenkins is considered one of the better running
quarterbacks in the nation and is much tougher to corral.
“He’s a great QB,” linebacker Ryan Nece said.
“He’s very athletic. He’s probably the best
we’ll face.”
All this comes at a time when the Bruins have more closely
resembled a leaky faucet than the watertight unit that stopped up
Michigan and Alabama.
Last week, the team gave up 604 yards of total offense to the
Oregon State Beavers in a game played in Pasadena.
Despite Jenkins, the Wildcats are not as offensively potent as
the Beavers. But what Arizona might lack in scoring power it makes
up on defense.
Last Saturday the Wildcats held the University of Oregon to a
season low of 260 total yards. The Arizona defense leads the
conference against the rush, allowing a mere 80 yards a game on the
ground. So far the unit has given up just two rushing
touchdowns.
Thankfully for the Bruins, DeShaun Foster will be back in the
starting lineup this week. He will play with a protective brace on
his wrist, making it tough for him to carry the ball in his left
hand.
But the Bruins desperately need the DeShaun Foster who ran for
187 yards against Alabama to kick off the season. Unfortunately,
the Wildcats are a bit more stingy on defense than the Crimson
tide.
“They are really tough to run against,” Toledo said.
“We have got to run the ball efficiently. That will help us
avoid the long yardage.”
As a whole the team is looking to do whatever it can to avoid
another loss. Despite injuries, things look bright for the Bruins,
at least offensively. Cory Paus is throwing the ball better than
ever while the Bruins have two solid receivers in Freddie Mitchell
and Brian Poli-Dixon, who have caught for a combined total of 1,200
yards on offense.
One part of the team that has managed to avoid injury is the
offensive line. Tackle Mike Saffer is from Tucson, and he is
looking forward to returning to the desert.
“I’m pretty excited,” Saffer said.
“We’re 0-2 the last couple of weeks, so we need to
treat this like a whole new season. We just have to go in there, be
physical, and move people around.”
The Wildcats are looking to avenge an embarrassing home loss to
the Bruins two years ago in Tucson. In that game UCLA came back to
score three touchdowns on three straight plays to defeat its fellow
top ten team.
While both teams may be far from the top ten, they are still in
contention for a bowl bid. The Wildcats have put themselves in a
good position, with their only Pac-10 loss coming last week.
The Bruins, on the other hand, find themselves in a tough place.
With three losses already, and a tough game in Washington Nov. 11,
UCLA cannot afford too many mistakes in this test if it hopes to
pass with flying colors.