Oregon State Expected to Pass Against UCLA

For UCLA, today’s game against Oregon State means that the Bruins are taking another of those dangerous steps in the Pacific 10 race.

Sure it does.

After all, UCLA is expected to torch the Beavers by three touchdowns or so, which would indicate that the only way the Bruins could be tripped up is if they stumble over their own egos. Coach Terry Donahue, in his usual fashion, is trying mightily to make sure that does not happen.

“It’s going to be a hard game for us psychologically because people will say, ‘How can Oregon State be a tough game for you? Look at their record?’ ” Donahue said. “Well, I can’t educate the public, but I can educate my players. We’re going to have to be at our very best to beat Oregon State.”

Come to think of it, wasn’t playing Washington State last Saturday supposed to be like walking through a mine field? And didn’t the Bruins win that one by a mere 38 points?

But today’s game against Oregon State actually does look like something of a challenge for UCLA, which might be in line for a letdown after trouncing Washington State and before taking on Stanford next Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

Whatever problems the Beavers (2-5) have had this season, at least they have made their opponents sweat a little before the end of the game. Oregon State leads the Pac-10 in passing offense with 286.6 yards a game, which is also the fourth-best average in the nation.

Donahue said he expects the Beavers to pass as many as 50 times in their pass-happy offense, which he said looks like the twin brother of the one that BYU uses.

The Oregon State offense is the responsibility of sophomore quarterback Erik Wilhelm. It even has it own name. The Beavers call their attack the Air Express, and Wilhelm is making a lot of deliveries.

It’s taken Wilhelm only seven games to pass for 1,755 yards and break the school record for passing yardage in a season, which surpassed the old mark of 1,738 yards set by Terry Baker in his Heisman Trophy-winning season of 1962.

So far, Wilhelm leads the Pac-10 in passing, total offense, completions, completion percentage, passing yardage, yards per game and completions per game. Unfortunately for the Beavers, they do not lead the Pac-10 in games won. Instead, Oregon State is 1-3, a jump ahead of only California and Oregon.

Taking all of those factors into consideration, Donahue said he believes Oregon State to be the most improved team in the conference, besides Stanford. And what does that make UCLA?

“All we’re trying to do is stay in the Rose Bowl race on Saturday,” Donahue said. “We’re going to have to be good and lucky to do that.”

The Bruins seem to be on their usual mid-season roll. Over the last three seasons and part of this one, the Bruins are 0-3-2 in Pac-10 openers and 25-4 the rest of the conference schedule. Since losing to Arizona State in their first Pac-10 game, the Bruins are 3-0 and part of the reason is that the offense has at last caught up with the defense.

“The defense has carried us, no question,” said Donahue, who then gave two reasons for the offense coming around.

“One, we’ve regained the health of some key people, like Gaston Green, and two, Matt Stevens is improving,” he said. “That’s why the offense is generating more points and being more productive.”

Green rushed for 162 yards against Washington State, his second-best game at UCLA, and played despite a painful bunion on his left foot. The Bruins rushed for 345 yards against Washington State, their highest total in five years.

Then there is Stevens. In his last three games, counting the second half of the Arizona game, Air Matt has completed 40 of 62 passes for 583 yards and 4 touchdowns. Stevens has raised his completion percentage to .550 after a shaky start, although Donahue said his quarterback never acted as though he was flustered.

“Matt is not the type to lack in confidence,” Donahue said.

Bruin Notes

Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. today at Civic Stadium, the home of the baseball’s AAA Portland Beavers as well as Portland State University. A crowd of about 25,000 is expected in the stadium, which seats 30,152. The playing field may be a controversy, especially in view of the Bruins’ brittleness. The field is covered by an artificial surface that has no grass-like bristles. The field is also extremely hard and has no crown for drainage. Injury report: For the first time in a month, tailback Eric Ball will be in uniform, ready to play. Ball has missed five of the Bruins’ seven games this season because of injuries. He did not play in the opener at Oklahoma because of a sore knee, and a pulled hamstring kept him out of four others, but he thinks he is ready for at least limited action. . . . Defensive left tackles Frank Batchkoff and Jeff Glasser, who have sprained knees, will dress for the game, but four other players will miss it. They are free safety James Washington (knee), inside linebacker Chance Johnson (pinched nerve), left cornerback Chuckie Miller (ribs) and left guard Jim Alexander (broken hand).