COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’87 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS TO WATCH THIS SEASON : UCLA Preview : Donahue’s Beef Is Not Only on His Team, but With the Pollsters

Big, big news from the UCLA football camp: The passing of an era. According to Coach Terry Donahue himself, “We are no longer the gutty little Bruins.”

With the addition of 300-pound David Richards, who transferred from Southern Methodist, at right offensive tackle, Donahue was able to move 270-pound John Kidder to right guard to play alongside 260-pound center Frank Cornish.

On the left side, he has 262-pound tackle Russ Warnick and 250-pound Lance Zeno, and he has to admit, “We are now the big, slow Bruins.” And he added, “I am proud I’ve taken the program to this zenith.”

That’s also big news. Donahue kidding around with a game coming up this week? He has even been able to smile through his amazement at how, once again, the preseason picks have his team a lot higher than he would have guessed.

UCLA has been picked No. 2 nationally by Sports Illustrated, No. 3 by the Associated Press and Football Digest, No. 4 by United Press International and Street & Smith, No. 5 by Football News, No. 6 by College and Pro Football Newsweekly and GamePlan, No. 7 by The Sporting News, Athlon and Don Heinrich; No. 9 by Sport, and No. 10 by Inside Sports.

“Our program has grown to the point that I’m used to being picked in the top 10 or picked to win the conference, year in and year out,” Donahue said. “I think it’s a nice sign of growth.”

But that doesn’t stop him from saying, “How in the world anyone could pick a team coming off an 8-3-1 season without a returning quarterback to finish second in the nation, I do not understand.”

Well, let’s try to understand. We’ll skip over UCLA’s being the only team in the country to have won five straight bowl games and we’ll get right to this current team.

For starters, there’s Gaston Green running behind that big line. The senior tailback is just 563 yards from being the Bruins’ all-time leading rusher.

“As Gaston goes, so the ’87 team will go,” Donahue said. “He’s a very versatile runner. Gaston explodes in a hole. He’s an electrifying-type runner. He has good vision. The only thing he has not done here at UCLA is play a whole season.

“He is one of the most unspoiled superstar players I’ve ever been around.”

Senior Mel Farr returns at fullback, backed up by James Primus, who has moved from tailback after starting at both positions last season.

Figure in Eric Ball, Danny Thompson and Brian Brown at tailback, and no wonder the running backs are considered the strength of the UCLA team.

And then there’s the quarterback. Although it’s true that Troy Aikman has never started a game for UCLA, he did start five games at Oklahoma in 1985 before an injury and a change of offense there sent him transferring to UCLA.

“Aikman is an outstanding thrower,” Donahue said. “He has an exceptional arm, good heat on the ball. He can throw deep, short. . . . He has a classic pro arm.”

He’s backed up by Brendan McCracken, who has been in the UCLA system for three years and who came in for the Bruins often on third-and-short last season.

“He’s a college scrambler,” Donahue said. “He has magnificent legs--and I don’t mean to look at. He’s a great option quarterback. And I don’t mean that to sound like Brendan can’t throw a pass. He can. I’m just stressing their different strengths. . . . I think we’re going to need both of these quarterbacks just as we’ve needed a couple of quarterbacks in other years.”

UCLA also has proven receivers back--Flipper Anderson at split end and Paco Craig at flanker. Craig will also switch off at split end. And there are strong backups in David Keating, Reggie Moore and Mike Farr.

Sophomore Charles Arbuckle, a highly recruited Houston prep star, has moved ahead of senior Joe Pickert at tight end but that position is still in contention, with a challenge also coming from redshirt freshman Corwin Anthony.

There are more starters back for the Bruin defense than for the Bruin offense. Nine of the players scheduled to start against San Diego State Saturday night were starters at some time last year.

Terry Tumey is back for his third year as the starting nose guard, and junior Jim Wahler is back to start at right tackle. Senior Jeff Glasser, who made 30 tackles as a reserve last season, replaced Frank Batchkoff at left tackle.

The Bruins’ defensive strength lies with the linebackers, led by Ken Norton Jr. Also returning are juniors Carnell Lake at outside linebacker and Chance Johnson at inside linebacker. Senior Melvin Jackson is listed as the starter at the outside linebacker spot vacated by Greg Bolin, but he is being challenged.

Eric Smith, a full-time starter last season at outside linebacker, is going to redshirt this season because of back problems.

The Bruin secondary has experienced players at all four starting spots, led by senior free safety James Washington. Senior Alan Dial, who started four games in relief of Washington last season, will fill a hole left by graduated strong safety Craig Rutledge.

Darryl Henley, the starter last season at right cornerback, moves to the left side to replace Chuckie Miller, and senior Dennis Price, a two-year starter who had knee troubles last season, will play right cornerback.

The secondary is not as deep as Donahue would like it to be, but he has no complaints about the starters.

All in all, the defensive unit is not big, but it has speed and lots of experience.

The kicking game hasn’t been the same since John Lee left two years ago. This time around sophomores Alfredo Velasco and Wes Denton will split the work, Velasco kicking extra points and field goals and Denton kicking off. Junior Harold Barkate is back to punt.

Donahue is not nearly as concerned about the kicking game now as he was a year ago, though.

His biggest concern going into this season is how long it will take for the new offensive talents to mesh with the old.

“I think our biggest liabilities are that we do not have an experienced quarterback and we have three new coaches on offense,” Donahue said. “You have to go through a growing period, an experience period, until everyone gets on the same piece of sheet music.”

So, overall?

“Overall, I’m optimistic,” Donahue said. “Although I’ve felt all along that Arizona State should be picked to win the conference.”

1986 UCLA RESULTS

Opponent Site Win or UCLA Opp UCLA Loss Pts Pts Rec Oklahoma Norman Loss 3 38 0-1-0 San Diego State San Diego Win 45 14 1-1-0 CS Long Beach Rose Bowl Win 41 23 2-1-0 Arizona State Rose Bowl Loss 9 16 2-2-0 Arizona Rose Bowl Win 32 25 3-2-0 California Berkeley Win 36 10 4-2-0 Washington State Rose Bowl Win 54 16 5-2-0 Oregon State Portland Win 49 0 6-2-0 Stanford Rose Bowl Loss 23 28 6-3-0 Washington Seattle Tie 17 17 6-3-1 USC Rose Bowl Win 45 25 7-3-1 BYU (Freedom Bowl) Anaheim Win 31 10 8-3-1