COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’86 : Pacific 10 Preview : UCLA Is Team to Beat--and Maybe There Are Some That Can

It was inevitable that UCLA would be picked to successfully defend its Pacific 10 football championship.

Terry Donahue knew it. The UCLA coach said that you ride with the champion unless it has lost an inordinate number of players, or has an unrealistic schedule.

Neither stipulation applies to the Bruins, nor are there any guarantees that they will justify their role as favorites.

Donahue said he’s informing his team as to the inexact science of forecasting football races, adding: “We’ve been picked to win and haven’t won and we have been picked not to win and won. It’s a guessing game.”

The UCLA coach has good reason to be wary. If the Pac-10 Skywriters poll of recent years is any indicator, it’s a curse to be labeled the favorite.

UCLA was the clear choice to win the Pac-10 in the latest poll, collecting nine first-place votes and 141 points. Four contenders are bunched behind the Bruins--Washington (3, 122), Arizona (1, 116), Arizona State (1, 107) and USC (1, 103).

However, the skywriters haven’t correctly tabbed the conference champion since 1979, when USC won. It was easy in the ‘70s. Just pick the Trojans and you were usually right.

But the crystal ball has fogged up since then. Not only have the skywriters failed to correctly identify a champion, they haven’t come close. Their choice for the title hasn’t finished higher than third in the past six seasons.

There is one enduring truth, though. Pick a winner from among UCLA, USC and Washington and the odds are diminished. No other school has represented the conference in the Rose Bowl since Stanford won the championship in 1971. The Arizona schools joined the conference in 1978 and have surfaced as contenders, but only that. Arizona State, in particular, has faltered while controlling its own destiny.

Last year, for example, ASU only had to tie Arizona to get to the Rose Bowl after USC had upset UCLA earlier in the day. But the Sun Devils blew a chance for a first-ever Pac-10 title by fumbling deep in their territory in the closing minutes, setting up Arizona’s winning field goal, 16-13.

“Would I go for a tie this time? Yes, sir, I’m smarter now,” ASU Coach John Cooper said recently. “It was a good ballgame, and we played pretty well. But people around here say you’ve got to do two things--beat the U of A and go to the Rose Bowl. We haven’t done either one of them yet.”

Although UCLA was clearly the conference’s best team last year, underscored by its 45-28 rout of Iowa in the Rose Bowl, it barely won a closely contested conference race with a 6-2 record.

Arizona and Arizona State were only a half-game behind at 5-2, while USC and Washington were only a game back at 5-3.

It figures to be close again. USC Coach Ted Tollner says that his team, UCLA, Washington and the Arizona schools have comparable talent, and intangible factors will determine the ultimate champion.

If the schedule has a bearing, UCLA’s prospects are enhanced. The Bruins have only one tough conference game on the road, Washington in November, and are at home for games with ASU, Arizona and USC.

Arizona also has a Rose Bowl schedule, not meeting Washington, getting USC at home while warming up with ordinary nonconference opponents.

As for the rest of the pack, California could be a surprise team, Stanford is apparently improved, while Oregon, Washington State and Oregon State will bring up the rear.

A look at the Pac-10 teams, excluding UCLA and USC:

ARIZONA 1985 RECORDS--8-3-1 overall, 5-2 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Second

Coach Larry Smith has brought in a former coaching colleague, Chuck Stobart, to add some zest to an offense that was ninth-ranked in the Pac-10 and scored only 20 touchdowns in 1985. Otherwise, the Wildcats, returning 17 starters, are generally solid. Arizona led the conference in scoring defense last year, allowing only 12.1 points a game. The secondary, with the exception of free safety Chuck Cecil, must be rebuilt but there are enough big-play people elsewhere on the unit--namely linebackers Bryon Evans and Danny Lockett. Evans led the league in tackles last year, while Lockett recorded the most sacks. Smith has an experienced quarterback in senior Alfred Jenkins, a mobile athlete who will be throwing more deep passes this season. He has a home run receiver in Jon Horton, who was less productive (43 catches, 16-yard average) than he was in 1984 because of dropped passes. An injury-free season for 5-6, 170-pound tailback David Adams would add another dimension to the Arizona offense. Smith has, perhaps, a future star in freshman tailback Art Greathouse (a dream name for publicists) along with Chuck Knox, son of the Seattle Seahawk coach of the same name. Arizona may not be able to compensate, though, for the loss of placekicker Max Zendejas, who kicked 77 field goals in four years, many of them game winners.

ARIZONA STATE 1985 RECORDS--8-4 overall, 5-2 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Second

Even though the Sun Devils have made habit of shooting themselves in the foot when a Rose Bowl bid is nearly in their grasp, they’ll crank up and try again with a team that has some obvious strengths and question marks. On the positive side, Coach John Cooper returns quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst, who threw for 2,220 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. Van Raaphorst is one of 17 returning starters, but that’s a misleading figure considering that All-American safety David Fulcher and tailback Darryl Clack passed up their final year of eligibility to join the NFL. Cooper has also lost three starting linebackers and is concerned about his special teams. “We did not win a ballgame last year with our special teams and that was probably the difference between us going to the Holiday Bowl and not going to the Rose Bowl.” Van Raaphorst will be throwing to junior split end Aaron Cox, who caught 40 passes for 788 yards and 5 touchdowns in 1985. Tailback Mike Crawford, the team’s leading rusher last year, is gone, and former reserve Darryl Harris will try to take up the slack for Crawford’s 684 yards and team-leading 11 touchdowns. Cooper believes he has adequate linebacking replacements, and the offensive and defensive lines are experienced. The kicking game is solid with punter Mike Schuh, who had a 41.7-yard average last year, and placekicker Kent Bostrum, who was successful on 15 of 21 field goal tries. Cooper, in his first season at ASU, turned a 5-6 team into an 8-4 winner, but he won’t be satisfied until the Sun Devils can find the right turnoff to the Rose Bowl.

CALIFORNIA 1985 RECORDS--4-7 overall, 2-7 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Tenth

Coach Joe Kapp is fond of saying that “the Bear will never die,” nor does his optimism. Kapp, now in his fifth season at his alma mater, has had only one winning season, his first, but there is reason to believe that Kapp isn’t just cheerleading when he says the Bears are an improving team. For one thing, Cal has a class act running back in Marc Hicks, who beat USC, 14-6, last year with his pass catching and running and gained 538 rushing and an additional 311 on 19 receptions with limited playing time as a freshman. “We’ve got the potential to go to a bowl game this year,” Hicks said. “One difference this year is that I’ll be getting the ball a lot more. They’ll be coming after me, but I’m ready for it.” Cal will once again utilize two quarterbacks--Brian Bedford, a running threat, and Kevin Brown, a dropback passing type. Kapp says that past recruiting emphasis on defensive speed will begin to show this year. For sure, he has one of the country’s best linebackers in Hardy Nickerson. Kapp has seemingly upgraded the Bears, but he may not have a enough depth to climb into the upper echelon of the Pac-10.

OREGON 1985 RECORDS--5-6 overall, 3-4 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Sixth

Rich Brooks is now in his 10th season at Oregon and his Ducks have just treaded water during this period, never quite being able to to emerge from the middle of the Pac-10. It would seem to be more of the same this year considering that Brooks has lost two talented offensive weapons, tailback Tony Cherry and wide receiver Lew Barnes, to the pros. Moreover, he still has some concerns about a defense that was the worst in the league last year. But Brooks does have one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the country in senior Chris Miller, who is on the verge of breaking Dan Fouts’ total offense and passing records at the school. What bothers Brooks is that Miller has been virtually ignored by national publications. “That frustrates you,” Brooks said, “but I think being at the University of Oregon has a lot to do with it because we haven’t gotten a lot of attention as far as football goes.” Miller said he patterns his game after that of Joe Montana. He is a scrambler who is at his best throwing on the run. Last year, he passed for 2,237 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 55% of his passes.

OREGON STATE 1985 RECORDS--3-8 overall, 2-6 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Ninth

The Beavers don’t ask for much, just an upset now and then, such as the shocking 21-20 win over Washington last year and just a glimmer of improvement. And so it’s another year and Coach Dave Kragthorpe says that his team will have better football players this season than it did in 1985, based on the addition of 15 junior college transfers. He also noted that the schedule is tougher, which should cancel out any improvement factor at a school that hasn’t had a winning season in 16 years. Lo, the poor Beavers. Oregon State opens against PCAA powerhouse Fresno State, then is offered to Michigan at Ann Arbor. Later on, OSU encounters UCLA, Washington and BYU in a murderous three-game stretch. In any event, five of those JC transfers are offensive linemen and they are expected to provide better protection for quarterbacks Erik Wilhelm and his replacement Dave McLaughlin, a transfer from Tulane, in Kragthorpe’s BYU-styled passing game. Rich Gonzales, who started seven games last season as a freshman, dropped out of the program after he had been demoted to third-team status.

STANFORD 1985 RECORDS--4-7 overall, 3-5 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Seventh

If ever a school was trapped by its own identity, it’s Stanford. The Cardinal is known for its pro-type quarterbacks, slick wide receivers, not much of a running game and a shaky defense. Yet, every year some Stanford coach says that he anticipates a more balanced offense and an improved defense. Jack Elway, the latest Stanford coach, is saying these things now and, who knows, he might be right, but he’s flying in the face of history. Stanford, as usual, has a skilled passing quarterback in John Paye, who could break almost every school record this season, most of them held by Jack’s son, John, now with the Denver Broncos. The only concern is that Paye is coming off minor shoulder surgery on his right arm and has been held out of some drills as a protective measure. Paye, of course, is the key to how Stanford fares this season. Brad Muster, a 6-3, 226-pound fullback, is also expected to supply much of the offense this season. Muster rushed for 521 yards and caught 78 passes for 654 yards last year, leading his team in both categories. A young team last year, Stanford has 20 returning starters, the most in the Pac-10. The defense will get a boost by the return of linebacker Dave Wyman, an All-American prospect, who was inactive in 1985 with a knee injury. Elway said that his team’s Achilles’ heel last year was allowing 13 scoring plays longer than 13 yards and an inability to make open field tackles. “We’re more conscious of that now,” he said. Recognition is, at least, a first step.

WASHINGTON 1985 RECORDS--7-5 overall, 5-3 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Fourth

The Huskies have a string of seven straight bowl appearances, just one short of the Pac-10 record of eight held by USC from 1972 through 1979. Washington will most likely make it eight, and don’t be surprised if Don James’ team winds up in the Rose Bowl. There is every indication that Washington will rebound from an uncharacteristic 7-5 record in 1985 to regain its eminent standing in the conference. For one thing, James has a quarterback in Chris Chandler, who should be even better than he was last year when, as a late season starter, he orchestrated a 98-yard touchdown drive in the final four minutes to beat USC, 20-17. James also has a massive offensive line, young but talented. How about tackles Kevin Gogan, 290 pounds, and Kelly John-Lewis, at 296, for starters? If 242-pound fullback Rick Fenney can stay healthy, the running game should be in good shape. It isn’t coincidental that the Huskies were 0-5 when Fenney missed or made only a token appearance in those games. When he was healthy, Washington was 7-0. Except for the secondary, the defense is apparently strong led by tackle Reggie Rogers. Joining Rogers on the defensive line is 6-4, 304-pound Dennis Brown, a mere freshman from Long Beach Jordan High. Then there’s placekicker Jeff Jaeger, who needs only 17 more field goals to break the NCAA career record of 79 set by UCLA’s John Lee last year. Yes, it’s a good bet we’ll hear from the Huskies.

WASHINGTON STATE 1985 RECORDS--4-7 overall, 3-5 in Pac-10

1985 CONFERENCE FINISH--Seventh

The Cougars led the Pac-10 in total offense in 1985, averaging 441 yards a game. Still, that wasn’t enough to get the job done even with the RPM backfield of Mark Rypien, Kerry Porter and Reuben Mayes. Now only Porter remains on a team that has the fewest returning starters in the Pac-10, six on each side of the ball. Coach Jim Walden’s teams are usually entertaining and high-scoring, but now he has to take a new tack because with Rypien gone, all he has left is an option-type quarterback, Ed Blount. That means the Cougars probably will run more than they pass if they can keep their backs healthy. Porter was a 1,000-yard rusher in 1983 before suffering shoulder injuries the past two seasons. A senior now, Walden is counting on him to carry the ball 30-to-32 times a game. Defense, or lack of depth on the unit, has always been a problem at WSU and Walden concedes that he has another one. But he’s a resourceful coach and usually comes up with a gimmick to make his teams exciting. He’ll be put to the test this year.