Aikman Is Making Himself Right at Home in UCLA’s I-Formation

Quarterback Troy Aikman has figured right along that he belongs with an I-formation team.

When he went to Oklahoma, Coach Barry Switzer was telling him that the Sooners would be playing out of the I. And when that changed, and Aikman went to Switzer to say that he thought he ought to transfer out of that Wishbone-prone place, Switzer had to agree. Although Aikman had started four games as a sophomore, when he broke his leg and Jamelle Holieway took over, it was obvious that Aikman was not in Oklahoma’s future.

Switzer knew, too, that Aikman belonged with an I-formation team. So he made a few calls on Aikman’s behalf--to UCLA, Miami, Arizona State, Iowa, Stanford, USC . . .

Now Aikman is UCLA’s starting quarterback, taking his rightful place in the I-formation.

Last Saturday, in leading UCLA to its first Pacific 10 opening victory in six years, Aikman completed 19 of 25 passes against Arizona for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns. And he didn’t throw one interception. He hasn’t thrown one all year, in fact, and he has started all four games.

UCLA is averaging 403.5 yards in total offense--192 on the ground, 211.5 passing--and 32.2 points a game.

Aikman has completed 48 of 71 passes for 776 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. He is ranked No. 1 in the nation in passing efficiency.

All of which is good. But the consensus among the Bruins is that it could be better.

Coach Terry Donahue said: “I think our offense is making good progress. We’re ahead of last year in terms of points, in terms of yards gained, in terms of victories. . . . But I think that we have more potential in our offense and we will eventually get it out. We’ll get more out of it than we have to date, and that’s encouraging.

“We have a new quarterback and new offensive coaches, and there is a transition we’re going through.”

For one thing, Donahue would like to see Aikman throwing to the backs more often.

Aikman completed passes to seven receivers last Saturday, including two to fullback Mel Farr and one to tailback Gaston Green, but he leans most heavily on split end Flipper Anderson and tight end Charles Arbuckle.

“I admit that I haven’t had the experience of playing with a lot of receivers, but I believe that the receivers here have to be some of the best in the country,” Aikman said. “They catch every ball that it’s possible to catch and they do it in traffic. . . . What’s nice for the quarterback is that they can come up with some catches that normally you wouldn’t think could be made.”

Anderson said of Aikman after the game: “He’s the prototype pro quarterback that everybody said he was.”

Donahue has been saying all along that Aikman has loads of potential.

“Troy has a tremendous amount of talent,” he said. “He has good height (he’s 6-4), a tremendous arm, and the rare ability to put the ball on target. I’m delighted that in four football games he has not thrown an interception.

“He’s well on his way to being a very good-looking quarterback.”

What’s surprising, considering recent history, is that Aikman is a junior.

UCLA hasn’t had a junior quarterback since Tom Ramsey in 1981. The Bruins have since gone with a string of fifth-year seniors--Rick Neuheisel, Steve Bono, David Norrie and Matt Stevens.

Donahue said that Aikman still has a few things to learn about the Bruin offense and Aikman agrees.

“It really is, as everybody says, a very sophisticated system,” Aikman said. “There are so many things going on at all times that it puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback.

“It was great that I got to work with Rick Neuheisel (a volunteer assistant coach) last spring. He taught me a lot of football. He is such a good quarterback, and he knows so much about the game. He really worked with me on this offense. He’s a good teacher. I think he’s got a great career as a coach if he ever wants to get into coaching.

“With his help, I think things have come along more quickly than I thought they would.”

Donahue would like to see Aikman be a little more forceful at the line of scrimmage, a little more authoritative.

“He needs to work on just running the team,” Donahue said. “He needs to work on things like voice inflection at the line of scrimmage. That might have something to do with his personality a little bit.”

Aikman is not a real forceful personality. He certainly is not flamboyant.

He said that in making the switch from Oklahoma to UCLA, the biggest adjustment was caused by the change in environment.

Even though he was born in West Covina and lived in Whittier, El Monte and Cerritos before moving to Oklahoma when he was 12, he was used to living in Henryetta, Okla.

“There were only about 100 people in my graduating class there,” he said. “And going to Norman (site of the university) wasn’t exactly going to the big city, either.”

Even so, Aikman isn’t doing this in wide-eyed awe.

“I feel pretty comfortable now, more so every day,” he said. “The guys here have been great. I felt like I fit in right away. They’ve made it easy.”

Bruin Notes

Tailback Eric Ball, who left the game against Arizona with a dislocated shoulder, is expected to miss Saturday’s game at Stanford but should be ready to play Oregon, Oct. 17, after a bye Oct. 10. . . . Terry Donahue said that safety James Washington, out with a knee injury, is expected back about that time, too. . . . On running the ball on fourth down twice in a drive late in the game last Saturday, Donahue said: “Seven out of 10 times you should kick that ball, but because we hadn’t won a conference opener in so long, I had kind of a cavalier attitude--what’s the difference, let’s go for it. I really felt it was crucial for our team to know we could make it on fourth and one. Also, our fans were really helping us keep in the game, and when the fans are being so uplifting to the players, you want to give them something to get excited about.”