BOWLS ‘85-86 : ROSE : UCLA Likes Home-Field Advantage on Bowl Day

An NBC producer was calling the shots, of course, as the UCLA football players lined up on risers in front of the famous red rose symbol outside the Rose Bowl to pose for a team picture and to tape a one-take, one-line shout of “Happy New Year!” for the national television audience.

The Bruin players are getting good at this kind of thing. Ask defensive tackle Mark Walen if he has a minute to talk and he can tell you: “Well, we haven’t done freeze-frames yet, but I have a break now.”

When UCLA plays Iowa in the Rose Bowl game New Year’s Day, it will be the fourth straight bowl appearance for the Bruins.

UCLA beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl after the 1982 season; UCLA beat Illinois in the Rose Bowl after the 1983 season; UCLA beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl after the 1984 season, and UCLA is back in the Rose Bowl after the 1985 season.

All since leaving the Coliseum and making the Rose Bowl the home field for the Bruins in time for the 1982 season.

Could that be a coincidence?

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said: “As I have said so many times, in my opinion, the move of the UCLA football team to the Rose Bowl was the single most dynamic and dramatic move in the history of UCLA football.

“That might seem like an overstatement to some people, but it was the move to this place that gave us our own identity, gave us a home, gave our fans a beautiful place to picnic.

“It was just a positive move, all the way around.

“We also have had very good success since we made the move. I suppose that could be a coincidence. You can’t say for sure whether or not the two went hand-in-hand, but I think there has to be some connection.”

Imagine the position that puts UCLA Athletic Director Pete Dalis in as he works, over the next few weeks, to come to an agreement with Rose Bowl officials for a new contract.

UCLA signed a five-year contract to play in the Rose Bowl starting with the 1982 season.

There have been reports that the folks in Pasadena are asking for a rent increase of 300%. Dalis says it’s not that bad, but that UCLA will be paying more.

“That refers to some very preliminary figures,” Dalis said. “That was just to get started. They came back off of that very quickly. We expect to pay more, but we also will be getting some more services. We’re still working it out.”

The truth is that UCLA doesn’t have a whole lot of bargaining power. What are the alternatives? Go back to the Coliseum? Build a stadium?

“We really don’t have much of an alternative,” Dalis said. “But I don’t anticipate any real problem with reaching an agreement.”

The city of Pasadena needs to keep the revenues that UCLA brings in.

Dalis expects to reach an agreement--and it could be an agreement for anywhere from five years to 10 years--by the end of January.

UCLA quarterback David Norrie, who missed two days of practice before the Christmas break because of a recurring problem with a pulled quadriceps muscle in his leg, was expected to be ready to go Thursday evening but was held out of practice Thursday and Friday.

Donahue said Friday that he might be held out of a few more practices. “It’s something that has been bothering him for several weeks, but we thought last Saturday that it was doing real well,” Donahue said. “He told me it felt ‘fantastic’ after Saturday’s practice. That’s the word he used--’fantastic.’ And then it ballooned up on him.

“I’m not sure when he’ll be back. In the meantime, we’ll prepare (junior) Matt Stevens and (freshman) Brendan McCracken. When David gets back, he’ll be the starting quarterback.”

Donahue was not overly enthusiastic about assuring that Norrie would be able to play on New Year’s Day. He said he would assume so. But Norrie said: “There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll play.”

Although the Rose Bowl is home to the Bruins for their regular-season games and although they’ve been there a lot lately on New Year’s Day, officially, the Bruins are the visiting team this time around.

The Big Ten representative and the Pac-10 representative takes turns being the “home” team. The Rose Bowl game jerseys that the Bruins modeled Friday are white--with the usual red roses embroidered on the shoulders.

UCLA (8-2-1) is being cast in the role of underdog to Iowa (10-1), which is not too surprising. Asked if he agreed with the popular opinion that maybe UCLA is being underestimated, Donahue took a long pause to consider his answer and said: “Well, I don’t know. I would say this--we are being underrated to the point that people are saying we backed into the Rose Bowl, but I don’t think people have looked at the UCLA team and said that this is not a good football team. . . .

“(Iowa Coach) Hayden Fry is saying that we’re a great football team. He is heaping all kinds of praise on UCLA. It’s hard to a team that’s 10-1 to heap praise on a team that’s 8-2-1, but Hayden Fry is doing it in a very skilled fashion. I have to admire it. . . .

“We have won the Rose Bowl when we were the underdog, but we have also won when we were not being the ‘gutty little Bruins.’ We beat Michigan when we were two- or three-point favorites.

“For us to beat Iowa, we will have to play a great game. We’ll have to be on all cylinders.”

UCLA split end Mike Sherrard, on UCLA’s role as underdog: “I like it. Maybe Iowa will believe it and get overconfident.” Breaking into a wide smile, he added: “I doubt it. I think they’re too smart for that.”

Iowa quarterback Chuck Long is pretty smart, for one. All the Bruins agree to that. Donahue is impressed with the freedom that Long has to make adjustments in games, and Walen is impressed with Long’s ability to read defenses. Walen is also impressed with Iowa’s combination of a balanced offensive attack with very talented players who can execute that attack. “They would present problems for any defense. We’ll have to show some multiple fronts and do some different things,” Walen said. “Chuck Long is a smart quarterback, but we’re a pretty smart defense, too. Both of us have had a lot of time to prepare for this one game, and for that reason I would expect to see a very sophisticated game. . . .

“I think that kind of preparation will make it a very close game. Somebody is going to have to go out and take control and win this game. Nobody is going to make mistakes and lose it.”

There were photographers of all types taking picture of the Bruins Friday, and one Bruin was taking pictures of the photographers taking pictures. John Lee had his automatic camera with him, even as he posed for the group shot. When he was teased about it, Lee was happy to show off his new camera--and the inscription that came with it for being a member of the Kodak All-America team.