BCS madness
When Arizona and Arizona State both lost, bringing their overall
records to 5-5, UCLA was guaranteed a bowl bid. The Bruins are
already bowl eligible, and the Pac-10 is assured five bowl spots.
The two desert schools play each other in their final game, meaning
only one will get the required six wins.
Oregon, Washington and Oregon State already have the top three
spots in the conference locked up.
Trying to figure out what the BCS bowls will do can be more
confusing than a Palm Beach County election ballot, but the Bruins
might have earned themselves a little extra money with the loss at
Washington. If the Huskies and the Ducks both win their rivalry
games on Saturday, then Oregon will go to the Rose Bowl.
Washington, however, might earn a BCS bid because it will most
likely be ranked in the top five.
If the Huskies to go to a BCS bowl the payout will be about
$13.5 million, which, after travel expenses, is split equally among
the conference schools. The payout for the Pac-10’s other
bowls is less than $2 million. There are two open BCS spots, and
Notre Dame is likely to get one. Teams most likely competing for
the other spot with Washington are Nebraska, Virginia Tech and the
loser of the Big XII championship game.
If Washington does go to a BCS game, the Bruins will travel to
the Sun Bowl in El Paso on Dec. 29. If not, they will play in
Hawaii on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
“We know we’re going to a bowl game, we just
don’t know if we’re going to be wearing sombreros or
leis,” said head coach Bob Toledo.
Paus takes blame for loss to Huskies
Quarterback Cory Paus was exceptionally hard on himself after
the loss to Washington, claiming sole responsibility for the
result. “We lost because of me. The offense wasn’t
clicking because I wasn’t completing my passes. That I
know,” he said. Paus threw for 298 yards with two touchdowns
and one interception.
Toledo was less critical of the sophomore quarterback Monday
afternoon.
“He was part of the problem, not the whole problem,”
he said.
“I respect Paus for trying to take the blame, I’ve
had some quarterbacks who don’t do that. It shows he has
confidence.”
Toledo often relates Paus’s first two years with Cade
McNown’s, in which McNown was highly criticized and had
relatively poor statistics. McNown went on to have two of the best
years by a UCLA quarterback his final two seasons.
While McNown went to play in Chicago, Paus came from Chicago to
play in Los Angeles and has had similar problems. Toledo believes
that Paus is further ahead in his development than McNown was at
the same point.
Players off the pine
The injury list is no longer as long as the Panda Express line
at noon. Defensive end Kenyon Coleman has made the final decision
to take a redshirt season and will not play in the final two games
of the season.
Everybody else, who has been questionable or doubtful for the
past few weeks, will play against Southern Cal on Saturday.
“It’s the final game of the regular season,”
Toledo said. “What would you be saving yourself
for?”
Players returning include Ken Kocher, Sean Phillips, Asi Faoa,
Anthony Fletcher and Jason Stephens on defense, and Jon Dubravac on
offense.
“They’ll all play, but how much is they’ll
play is another question.”
Farewell to the seniors
Saturday is not only Senior Day, it’s Senior Day for
Toledo’s first recruiting class. “I’ll always
have a soft spot in my heart for these guys. I had a month to
recruit, and these are my guys,” said Toledo, who took over
for Terry Donahue in January of 1996, and signing day was the first
week of February.
Graduating seniors are Jason Bell, Drew Bennett, Oscar Cabrera,
Gabe Crecion, John Hall, Jermaine Lewis, Kory Lombard, Brian Polak,
Mike Vanis, Josh and Micah Webb, Tony White, Ryan Wilkins and Jason
Zdenek.
Mitchell leads nation
Freddie Mitchell is now the nation’s leader in receiving
with 1,174 yards.
He is second in yards per game and yards per game receiving with
117.4 and 18.34, respectively. The receiver is also on a pace to
finish with 1,291 yards, which would break Danny Farmer’s
single season UCLA record of 1,274.
Notes compiled by Greg Lewis, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.