Donahue Puts Off a Decision on Quarterbacks : He Says Competition Between Aikman and McCracken Is Too Close to Call

Terry Donahue, never one to rush a decision on a starting quarterback, is no different this season.

The UCLA football coach keeps talking about platooning juniors Troy Aikman and Brendan McCracken, listed as co-No. 1s on the depth chart, or using one of them as “kind of a sixth man.”

“We’re going to play two or more players at every other position and yet, Aikman and McCracken are better performers at their position than many of our second-string kids at other positions,” Donahue said Friday. “So I say to myself, ‘Why shouldn’t they (both) play?’ ”

Donahue said the competition between them is too close to call and that he probably won’t name a starter until the week of the Bruins’ opening game Sept. 5 at the Rose Bowl against San Diego State.

Aikman and McCracken have rotated between the first and second units in practice this week, Donahue said, with neither emerging as a clear-cut choice.

He said he would prefer to have one of them emerge as a leader, but so far the other players can’t seem to tell the difference. “They don’t jump offside with one quarterback and stay onside with another. Those are the things you worry about (when alternating quarterbacks).”

Aikman, who red-shirted last season after transferring from Oklahoma, is considered the better passer of the two, but McCracken, who backed up Matt Stevens last season, is considered more adept at running an option offense.

McCracken, whose role last season was to run the offense in short-yardage situations, said his passing is underrated. He threw 5 passes last season, completing 4 for 98 yards and a touchdown.

“I became labeled as an option quarterback and not many people know about my passing ability,” he said. “It’s improved tremendously, but I never really had much chance last season to display it.”

Mostly, though, Aikman and McCracken espouse the company line. In a competition so tight, they must figure, it’s no use tipping the scales by saying something inflammatory in the newspapers.

“If it takes two of us to do the job in order for us to succeed, then I’m perfectly happy with that,” McCracken said. “We’re out here playing for the team.”

Donahue goes so far as to call it a “nice, friendly, enjoyable” rivalry.

Still, Aikman said: “I’d feel more comfortable, if I was the starting quarterback, if I didn’t have to worry about platooning.”

Aikman, of course, knows what can happen when a reliever is brought off the bench. Two years ago, he was the starter at Oklahoma until he broke his left leg in the Sooners’ fourth game of the season. Freshman Jamelle Hollieway replaced him and not only led the Sooners to the national championship, but also convinced Sooner coaches, who had considered a more pass-oriented offense, to retain the wishbone.

Aikman, saying, “I wanted to go somewhere where I could throw the ball and do what I do best,” announced the following spring that he was transferring to UCLA.

And now he finds himself in another battle with a running quarterback, playing for a coach who can’t seem to make up his mind.

Wavering on a starting quarterback is nothing new for Donahue, of course.

In 1983, he chose Rick Neuheisel near the end of training camp, but when the Bruins got off to an 0-2-1 start, he benched him in favor of Steve Bono, who threw for a school-record 399 yards against BYU. Bono was injured the next week, though, and Neuheisel led the Bruins to the Rose Bowl.

In 1985, the competition was so tight that Stevens and David Norrie alternated as the starter through the first three games before Norrie emerged to lead UCLA to another Rose Bowl. In that game, Stevens replaced the injured Norrie and led the Bruins to a 45-28 win over Iowa.

“The players, believe me, want to go with whoever’s hot,” Donahue said.

So does the coach.

“We understand the situation and we feel that no matter who is the starting quarterback, the other person will get his playing time,” Aikman said. “It adds a little bit of pressure, but you have to concentrate on the game as a whole.”

That could mean sharing the position, at least until the coach finally makes a decision.

Bruin Notes Terry Donahue said that senior Melvin Jackson or junior Billy Ray probably would replace Eric Smith in the starting lineup. Smith, an outside linebacker who led the Bruins in sacks the last two seasons, will undergo back surgery next month and miss the season. Of all the positions, Donahue said, “the loss of a really fine player probably can best be absorbed by our linebacking corps.” . . . Reserve defensive backs Marcus Turner and Mark McGill are still in summer school and will miss the opener Sept. 5 against San Diego State.