Washington State, UCLA Shoot It Out

All right, it’s football quiz time.

What Pacific 10 team squashes motorcycles for fun, then picks its teeth with the spokes?

Why, it’s UCLA.

“Those guys just crush mopeds,” Washington State Coach Jim Walden said. “Those guys ride those big Harleys.”

Now, try this. What is the best-coached team in the Pac-10?

Say, it’s none other than Washington State.

“I think Washington State is the best-coached and the most difficult offensive team to prepare for in the conference,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said.

Back to the motorized questions. Who has the fastest team in the Pac-10?

UCLA, you say. Did you peek?

“Even those CHiPs guys on their Harleys couldn’t catch UCLA’s guys,” Walden said.

OK, let’s make a note of that. One last question. What is the Pac-10’s most unsung team?

Could it be Washington State? But of course.

“The Cougars are legit,” Donahue said. “You can’t tie Arizona State and beat USC and not be legitimate.”

So here’s the dream matchup today at the Rose Bowl. The motorcycle-mashing, quick-as-lightning UCLA Bruins vs. the wondrously coached yet unappreciated Washington State Cougars.

Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. Rose Bowl game to follow?

Maybe so, although there will have to be one very large sand storm in Tempe, Ariz., that swallows up Arizona State, for it to happen. But at the moment, the Bruins and the Cougars each have a shot at winning the Pac-10. By tonight, only one of them will.

This is where the numbers become a problem. In a conference where two losses almost always mean you’re out of it, five Pac-10 teams are halfway gone, and four others have already exceeded their limit and are thus presumed to have busted.

That leaves only Arizona State (3-0-1) still unbeaten in conference play. It is also going to stay that way for at least a week. The Sun Devils will play Utah in a nonconference game tonight at Tempe.

Right now, though, to handicap the Rose Bowl race, the best thing to do is pay attention to the five teams with one loss: Stanford, Washington, Arizona, UCLA and Washington State.

All five of the one-loss teams play today. But of the five, only two play one another--Washington State and UCLA.

Washington State’s Pac-10 defeat was by Cal, of all teams, the same group UCLA dispatched with ease last weekend, 36-10.

“I don’t blame Terry for being excited,” Walden said. “He got Cal last week and a team that Cal beat this week.”

But the Cougars are hardly the same team that lost to Cal in their conference opener, 31-21. Since then, the Cougars put the only blemish on Arizona State’s Pac-10 record with a 21-21 tie and followed that game by beating Oregon by 10 points and USC by 20 points.

Let the record show that Donahue is not excited about playing Washington State. There are two reasons: the Cougar offense and the Cougar defense.

Senior quarterback Ed Blount leads an attack that averages 390 yards a game in total offense. Blount, who has thrown nine touchdown passes and run for three other scores, has completed 54% of his passes. In the Cougars’ 34-14 rout of USC, Blount exceeded 1,000 yards passing for the season.

Blount’s favorite target is Kitrick Taylor, who has a streak going. Taylor, with six touchdown catches this season, has caught a scoring pass in each of his last four games.

When the Cougars stay on the ground, they often give the ball to fullback Kerry Porter. The 6-2, 214-pound senior is the Pac-10’s second-leading rusher with 550 yards and averages 91.7 yards a game.

What makes Washington State so difficult to stop is that it has two different looks, Donahue said. The Cougars not only run the option with the fullback, they also use something of a run-and-shoot offense, in which a rolling pocket is created for the quarterback, who often throws to his backs.

“What happens is a defense explodes after a while,” Donahue said. “It’s just too much to get ahold of. You’ve got the defense lined up to play the option, and all of a sudden, they’re throwing the ball like crazy.”

The Bruins have not been throwing the ball like crazy lately, but at least they have been winning. After an extremely slow start, the offense is showing signs of strength, which should last as long as the offensive line improves, the backs stay healthy and Matt Stevens keeps throwing to the right team.

Walden doesn’t think this is the best time to be playing UCLA. Perhaps unfortunately for him, it’s the only time he has.

“I wish we could have gotten them sooner,” said Walden, who first began the whole moped cycle after the Cal game when he compared the Bears’ offense to the two-wheeled vehicle.

UCLA’s offense, whatever it can be compared with, is still missing an important ingredient. Gaston Green may not start at tailback because of a sore toe, which leaves supersub James Primus in his place. However, the line gets a boost with the return of left tackle Russ Warnick, who has been out for three games because of a sprained big toe.

And the UCLA defense is going without one and possibly two starters in the secondary. Left cornerback Chuckie Miller is out with torn rib cartilage, and free safety James Washington is doubtful because of strained ligaments in his left knee. Marcus Turner replaces Miller, and Alan Dial moves ahead of Washington, if he cannot play.

Bruin Notes A crowd of 50,000 is expected today at the Rose Bowl. . . . Right cornerback Dennis Price is back for the Bruins after missing three games with a sprained left knee. However, inside linebacker Chance Johnson is definitely out with a pinched nerve in his neck. And here is the latest on tailback Eric Ball: He is still out indefinitely with a pulled right hamstring. Ball, who has carried 13 times this season, will miss his fourth consecutive game and fifth of seven. . . . UCLA is 27-8-1 against Washington State and has a four-game winning streak.