Bruins Will Simply Turn From Green to Brown : UCLA Won’t Be at a Loss for Tailbacks When It Meets Oregon State Saturday

UCLA tailback Gaston Green, who until he hit the mud at Sun Devil Stadium last Saturday was making a pretty good bid for the Heisman Trophy, is not expected to be ready to play in the Bruins’ game this week at Oregon State.

With just three regular-season games left to play in his senior season, that’s bad news for Green.

But the Bruins are seldom at a loss for tailbacks.

The loss of Green simply means an opportunity for someone else, either Eric Ball, who has been known to make the best of this situation in the past, or Brian Brown, who certainly made the most of his opportunity last Saturday, when he ran for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns in relief of Green.

No matter which tailback starts, though, both will play.

Ball would seem the most likely heir to the starting position, as the junior and a previous starter. But Ball has been out with a shoulder injury and Brown--who is either a sophomore or a red-shirt freshman, depending upon how his petition to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. comes out--has been looking very good in a backup role this season.

In fact, Brown is second only to Green on the Bruins’ rushing list, with 308 yards in 53 carries, an average of 5.8 yards a carry.

“He has lit up the fans a couple of times this season,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “He kind of lit up the whole field a couple of times. With the things he has shown us, I’m not surprised that he got into a big game and played well.

“We knew what he could do. I thought he would be one of the few who would play as a freshman last year, but he was injured early. That’s the only reason he didn’t get any acclaim or notoriety last year. He came up with tendinitis.

“But he’s good. He’s fast. Not as fast as Gaston, but he’s fast.”

Not too many are as fast as Green, but the comparison always has to be made. Brown is used to it. He followed in Green’s footsteps at Gardena High School, and he chose UCLA purposely to follow in Green’s footsteps there.

“When I was being recruited, a lot of people were trying to tell me not to come here because of Gaston and the other great tailbacks who were here,” Brown said. “But I thought, ‘If that’s where the best tailbacks are, that’s where I want to be.’ ”

Besides, when he visited Nebraska, a school he had always been fascinated by, it was December and it was just too darned cold in Nebraska.

When he visited UCLA, one of his hosts was his old buddy, Green. Brown said Green encouraged him to sign with UCLA because it was a good school and because the coaches “give everybody a chance.”

The only other real challenger for Brown was baseball. A couple of scouts tried to convince him that he could make it as a shortstop. But Brown, who says academics have always come easy for him, followed his parents’ wishes and went for the sport that was also offering him a college education.

He’s studying economics at UCLA.

“I worked it out, and I figured that if I red-shirted, I would only play a year with Gaston and another year with Eric,” Brown said. “By then I ought to be able to compete for the position.”

But he didn’t red-shirt last year. Not by design, anyway. He played in two games. And although he carried the ball only twice, that still counts as two games. UCLA is petitioning the NCAA to get that year back for him.

Donahue would much rather think of Brown as a freshman, adding: “I’ve always thought he was a very good-looking running back.”

Brown might get a chance to prove that over the next few games.

Green, whose Heisman bid took a giant step backward when he was dropped for minus 5 yards in 6 carries before he went out in the first quarter last Saturday, re-injured a pinched nerve in his neck when he was tackled and landed on his right shoulder. He suffered the same injury the previous Tuesday when he tripped over a lineman’s foot and fell into the end zone during practice.

Donahue said: “I would think he’ll miss the Oregon State game. He probably has about a 50-50 chance to play against Washington. That’s a preliminary diagnosis. The doctors have not totally ruled him out for this week.”

In paying tribute to the “firepower” of the Bruins, Donahue said:

“It’s hard when you’ve lost your starting tailback, fullback and tight end . . . but we’ve been blessed in that we’ve been able to go to our backups at certain times and they have come through for us. Eric Ball did that for us in a Rose Bowl game (in 1986 when he had 227 yards and 4 touchdowns) when Gaston Green popped a hamstring.

“Brian Brown was thrust into the game and told to go run it, see what he could do.

“It gives our team hope to know that we’re not just totally relying on one star player. As great as Gaston is, as valuable as Mel Farr is . . . we could still mush around and win. It shows the players the true meaning of the team concept.”

Bruin Notes

Three offensive starters were lost to injuries during the first half of UCLA’s game at Arizona State last Saturday. Besides tailback Gaston Green, who has a pinched nerve in his neck, fullback Mel Farr is still out with a sore muscle behind his knee and is listed as doubtful for this week, and tight end Joe Pickert underwent arthroscopic surgery on ligaments in his left knee Sunday and is out for the rest of the regular season. Also, backup receiver Mike Farr, who had a career-high 7 catches for 69 yards Saturday, is recovering from a sprained knee but may be able to play against Oregon State.

If Mel Farr is able to play, it will most likely be at tight end, where the Bruins are down to just one healthy player--red-shirt freshman Corwin Anthony. Starter Charles Arbuckle, who injured his knee, may be ready to play in the Washington game in two weeks. And Randy Austin, who was moved from linebacker, is still struggling with a shoulder injury. Terry Donahue said that he may try offensive lineman Tom Whitenight at that position.

ABC will televise UCLA’s game against Washington at the Rose Bowl Nov. 14 live, at 12:30 p.m. . . . UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman continues to lead the nation in passing efficiency. Against Arizona State he completed 22 of 31 passes for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns, and gave up his second interception of the season. His eight-game totals: 116 of 168 (69%) for 1,657 yards (207 yards a game) and 13 touchdowns. . . . Flipper Anderson, who caught a career-high 7 passes for 130 yards last Saturday, is the team’s leading receiver and is rated by Aikman as “very much underrated; he’s a great receiver.” . . . UCLA’s NCAA record for scoring in consecutive games is 189. UCLA has scored at least 31 points in its last five games.