Bruins Will Be Trying to Get Back on Their Feet : Running Attack Has Been Slowed by Injuries to Ball, Greenwood and Primus

The way it worked before, until the Oklahoma Sooners knocked the helmets down over their eyes, UCLA offensive linemen could always resort to a foolproof method for identifying which Bruin was carrying the football.

All the blockers had to be able to do was see, as in: Do UCLA? Yes, ICLA.

“The first time we know for sure is when we see the back of their jerseys running past us,” tackle Russ Warnick said.

Of course. But in the Oklahoma game, this method was out of sight, literally.

When it’s working right, though, the idea requires only patience, confidence and, of course, runners. Unfortunately, all of those things seem to be in short supply for the Bruins these days.

Now, while Bruin psyches continue to mend more than a week after getting considerably jangled in Oklahoma, there is even greater hope that the bodies of Bruin running backs will mend quickly.

If that happens, other good things may follow. Warnick’s eyes may not have to work so hard, for instance, and Coach Terry Donahue’s nerves, which are looking a little frayed at the moment, may return to normal.

Donahue was asked at his weekly breakfast with the media about the Bruins’ problems. He interrupted one question and immediately covered his head with a blue napkin.

“I’m worried about everything, “ Donahue said. He removed the napkin.

“Shoot, we got two first downs running in our only game.”

The napkin went back onto his head.

“I hope I’m worried, unless I’m dead,” he said.

Donahue does not normally lean toward vaudeville, but for Bruin fans looking for good news, it might be encouraging that even in trying times, Donahue has lost neither his humor nor his manners. He had, after all, used his napkin at the table.

No, the only things Donahue has lost are a game, his running attack and about half of his backs.

“We’re sitting there 0-1 and 38-3,” he said. “From there, it looks like you’re climbing Mount Everest.”

It may be a long trek if Eric Ball isn’t somewhere along the trail. Ball, a tailback, is one of three ailing Bruin runners whose discomfort may be matched only by Donahue’s.

“It was funny when everybody was asking Coach Donahue how he was going to rotate all the tailbacks and who he was going to play,” Ball said.

“His simple answer was ‘Whoever’s healthy,’ and that’s what it’s come down to.”

Against Oklahoma, the Bruins managed a total of 34 yards rushing. Tailback Gaston Green got 40, and everybody else got minus 6. What’s more, or actually, what’s less, the Bruins had only two first downs on the ground.

Injuries provided part of the explanation for the Bruins’ trouble running the ball. Even after a week off to get better, the Bruins are not all healed.

Ball didn’t play at Oklahoma because of a sore left knee, and he may not be able to play Saturday night at San Diego State either. He is given nothing more than a 50-50 chance of playing, according to Donahue, who gave the same percentage to fullback Marcus Greenwood, slowed by a sprained ankle.

Then add James Primus’ shin splints, which have kept him out of some recent practices, and it is not hard to imagine that next time Donahue will switch from a napkin to a handkerchief.

This is the dilemma the Bruins are contending with: If they cannot run, then they must pass. And if Matt Stevens’ cannot pass any better than he did against Oklahoma, there isn’t much to the Bruin offense.

“If you go into any game and cannot run and put the complete burden of the game on your quarterback, then you’re going to have a very, very difficult time,” Donahue said. “You’ve got to take some pressure off your quarterback so he doesn’t have to do it all himself.

“So what I’m saying is that we have to run and pass, and right now, we haven’t done either one.”

Of course, the Bruin running game could right itself with a good showing Saturday night in San Diego against the Aztecs, who have never beaten UCLA.

Last season, the score was 34-16 at the Rose Bowl, and Ball was the hero. He scored four touchdowns in the first half, finishing the game with 94 yards rushing.

Ball said he would do just about anything to see that San Diego State defense again.

“I’d come out there on crutches, if I have to get myself out there,” he said. “I’d use a wheelchair. I just can’t afford to lose any more games, in my mind.”

The problem is somewhere else. Or, as Donahue described his feeling about Ball’s injury: “It’s a pain in the knee.”

Actually, it is. Fatty tissue swells up behind the front ligament in Ball’s left knee, causing sharp, brief pain.

Ball practiced all last week, but he was forced out of a workout Saturday when pain flared up again. Donahue believes that Ball’s knee injury is chronic and that Ball must learn “to play through it.”

Ball said that Donahue might be right. “Now, when I twist it up, the pain doesn’t last as long as it used to. It’s just at that moment. But I still feel it. It’s a little voice saying ‘Eric, I’m still here.’ ”

Mel Farr, Jr. is still here, too. With Greenwood out, Farr played fullback for nearly the entire game at Oklahoma. Although he rushed only twice, gaining 1 yard, he caught 3 passes for 25 more to lead nine other Bruin receivers.

It is Farr’s opinion that UCLA needs to establish more than just a running game against San Diego State.

“We’ve got to get our pride back,” he said. “I think we were psyched out. Maybe we were in awe or something. But we’ve got to do whatever it takes to get our respect back.”

Bruin Notes The Bruins will find out Friday whether tight end Derek Tennell has regained his scholastic eligibility in summer school. Tennell missed the Oklahoma game, but he could play Saturday night against San Diego State if his grades are improved, Coach Terry Donahue said. Since Tennell is a senior, he must make his grades to play this year. “If he doesn’t make it, he’s gone,” Donahue said. . . . The Bruins have not started a season 0-2 since 1971, when they began 0-4 on their way to a 2-7-1 year under Pepper Rodgers. . . . San Diego State, under first-year Coach Denny Stolz, is 2-0. The Aztecs defeated Cal State Long Beach, 27-24, then upset Utah, 37-30.