UCLA’s Noel Mazzone is well-acquainted with Houston coaches

UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone won’t have to look far to find old friends Saturday. He can just glance across the Rose Bowl field to the Houston coaching staff.

Cougars Coach Tony Levine was a graduate assistant under Mazzone at Auburn. Running back coach Ken McClintock was a running back at Minnesota when Mazzone was a Gophers’ assistant. Wide receiver and special teams coach Jamie Christian was on staff with Mazzone at Arizona State.

“I learned everything from them,” Mazzone said. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

“Every one of those guys is great people,” he added. “We’d be great friends if we were all car salesmen.”

But they’re not. And the Bruins could have some inside dope on Levine’s philosophy on offense.

Though there are differences in the two offenses — “They throw a lot more,” Mazzone said — UCLA defensive coordinator Lou Spanos said of Houston, “You do see signs of Noel’s offense.”

Spanos said the similarities would help with preparation. “Through reps in spring ball and fall camp, we saw so much the same type of tempo,” he said.

Houston just plays with a little more tempo. And, as far as throwing more, Cougars quarterback David Piland passed 77 times in a 56-49 loss to Louisiana Tech last week.

Heisman politics

Johnathan Franklin still isn’t getting much Heisman Trophy love.

A straw poll of voters taken by heismanpundit.com has Franklin — the nation’s leading rusher — eighth. USC quarterback Matt Barkley tops the list. Georgia linebacker Javis Jones is sixth. No linebacker has ever won the trophy.

Even Chris Huston, who runs heismanpundit.com, seemed skeptical about Franklin’s legitimacy as a candidate.

His post Tuesday said, “I stick by my contention that voters will not be that impressed if Franklin goes off against Houston on Saturday.”

Franklin’s 217 rushing yards — the sixth-best run total ever against the Nebraska defense — and 59 receiving yards apparently were not enough.

A Huston post Tuesday said, “Given UCLA’s recent history, perhaps I can be forgiven for being a bit slow to jump on the Franklin-for-Heisman bandwagon.”

USC quarterback Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy in 2002. The Trojans had a 37-35 record the six previous seasons.

Huston, formerly of the USC sports information department, ran the Palmer-for-Heisman campaign.

All’s well … maybe

Triage with UCLA Coach Jim Mora:

UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley suffered an injured right ankle during the Bruins’ 36-30 victory over 16th-ranked Nebraska on Saturday. He left the game briefly, then returned. He was limping noticeably at the end.

Hundley’s status update Sunday: “He’s good,” Mora said.

Hundley’s status update Monday: “He’s fine,” Mora said.

Was that an upgrade? “He’s good,” Mora said.

A downgrade? “He’s good and fine,” Mora said.

UCLA does not allow injury reports from practice.

chris.foster@latimes.com

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