UCLA Managed to Survive Some Close Calls With Cal

UCLA plays a lot of close football games. The Bruins love those big finishes probably because they win most of them.

Cal, the team that UCLA will play at 5 p.m. today at the Rose Bowl, has been victimized by those dramatic comebacks as regularly as any team on the schedule.

No wonder the word frustrating usually accompanies any mention of Cal’s not having beaten UCLA for 14 years.

Last year, at Berkeley, John Lee’s field goal with 2:58 left gave UCLA a 17-14 victory.

Two years ago, in the Rose Bowl, Cal led, 16-7, early in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins scored two late touchdowns--the final one with 2:12 to play--and won, 20-16.

Three years ago, at Berkeley, Cal scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, tying the game at 31-31, only to have UCLA come back with 16 points in the fourth quarter and win, 47-31.

Pay no attention to partial scores of UCLA games. A halftime score or a third-quarter score gives no clue to the outcome when the Bruins are playing.

Some examples:

--Last week at Washington State, UCLA trailed, 21-10, at halftime, then won, 31-30, in a game that was not decided until the final second had ticked away.

--In this season’s opener at BYU, UCLA was down, 24-19, but scored with 1:02 left, and won, 27-24.

--At Tennessee, UCLA trailed, 26-10, in the fourth period but scored two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to tie the Volunteers.

--Last season, Washington State was about to beat UCLA with a field goal when a bad snap sent the ball the other way, and Lee eventually kicked a field goal to win it for the Bruins, 27-24.

--The Fiesta Bowl game against Miami went to the Bruins, 39-37, on a field goal by Lee with 51 seconds left.

--In 1983, UCLA trailed Arizona State, 26-10, in the fourth quarter but scored two touchdowns and two two-point conversions in the last nine minutes to tie.

--That season, against Washington, UCLA trailed, 24-20, but scored the winning touchdown (27-24) with 1:55 to play.

--Also in 1983, UCLA was trailing USC at halftime, 10-6, but scored 21 points in the third period and won, 27-17.

--UCLA trailed at Michigan, 21-0, in 1982, but came back to win, 31-27.

--In 1982, Arizona went ahead of UCLA on a field goal by Max Zendejas with 33 seconds left, 24-21, but Lee, then a freshman, kicked a 36-yard field goal with two seconds left, giving UCLA a tie.

Obviously, Lee is a major factor in UCLA’s successful comebacks. Coach Terry Donahue has Lee at the top of his list of tangible factors.

But there’s something more. An attitude, perhaps.

Donahue said this week after the close call at Washington State: “Our team has a lot of fight to it. That’s why we get so many defensive penalties. I’m not saying that penalties are good--they’re going to cost us a game one of these days. But it shows what kind of aggressive, feisty type of players we have on this team.

“They will keep competing and not waver. This football team has experienced a lot of adversity in a short period of time. BYU is a tough stadium to play in. Tennessee is a tough stadium. Washington. Those are all factors. This team has been in a lot of hostile environments.

“The more you can win the close games, the more your team expects to win the close games. . . . We have built a tradition now. The players believe they’ll win. That beats the alternative. What we have to be sure of is that the players understand that winning doesn’t just happen. It has to be made to happen.

“You don’t win just because you’re used to winning.”

Lee has a deep belief in that philosophy. He is 14 for 14 on field goals this season, and 20 for 20 on extra points. Others may think that his kicks are automatic, but he has to give each one total care and concentration.

Lee said: “A couple of years ago (when UCLA started 0-3-1 and ended up in the Rose Bowl) Coach Donahue started talking to us about ‘Never, never, never give up.’ I think we all believe that. We believe in ourselves. This year’s team, especially, is just unbelievable.

“Of all the teams I’ve ever been on, going back to baseball, high school, everything, this is the best for quality and attitude. It makes a difference.

“You never want to be behind, but sometimes it’s going to happen. When it does, we just believe that we will overcome it somehow.”

Bruin Notes Starting time for this evening’s game was changed to 5 p.m. to accommodate the Turner Broadcasting System’s national telecast. The game can be seen locally on WTBS cable and on Channel 13. . . . UCLA has a 5-1-1 record overall, 3-1 in the Pac-10. Cal is 3-4 overall, 1-4 in the conference. . . . UCLA leads the series with Cal, 35-19-1 and has won the last 13 straight, but consider the scores of the games that Cal lost: to Washington State, 20-19; to Oregon State, 23-20; to Arizona, 23-17 and to Washington, 28-12.

Cal is the only Pac-10 team averaging more than 200 yards in both rushing and passing. The Golden Bears have a 202.1-yard rushing average and a 206.1-yard passing mark. . . . Senior fullback Ed Barbero leads Cal in rushing with a total of 428 yards. Right behind him is freshman Marc Hicks, with 372 yards. . . . Two weeks ago, Cal outgained Washington, 392-268, in total yardage and had 17 more first downs. Cal uses two quarterback, Kevin Brown and Brian Bedford. Kapp said: “Brown and Bedford have different strengths, but they can both run our offense.”

UCLA ranks third nationally in rushing defense. . . . UCLA safety James Washington has intercepted a pass in each of the last three games. . . . James Primus will start at tailback for UCLA. Gaston Green, coming back from a knee injury, is expected to play more than he did last Saturday. . . . Safety Craig Rutledge, who suffered a broken left thumb at Washington State, is expected to start. . . . Sophomore John Kidder has been moved up to start at right offensive tackle in place of Russ Warnick, who has torn ligaments in his toe. John Lee is now the third-most prolific kicker in college football history with 72 regular-season field goals. The record is 78 by Luis Zendejas of Arizona State. Lee has a streak of 18 straight field goals. Coincidentally, he went into the game against Cal last season with a streak of 16, which was broken when he missed a 41-yard attempt.

Burt Reynolds, who once played at Florida State, will be on the sideline with UCLA as a guest of one of the Bruin managers. Reynolds attended Bruin practice Thursday and told the team that he expected them to win, noting that he, himself, had been able to beat Kapp in the movie, “The Longest Yard.”