Cal Hardly Endorses UCLA as New No. 1

Another protest movement was launched here Saturday in the birthplace of college protests.

On the campus where People’s Park became famous, UCLA fell short of being the people’s choice in the locker room.

With Miami a loser at South Bend, is UCLA the nation’s new No. 1 team?

UCLA may not even be the best team in California, some of the Cal players said after they lost, 38-21, on a sunny and warm afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

“San Jose is more physical than they are,” said Cal linebacker Steve Hendrickson. “If UCLA is No. 1, then we should be ranked.”

Imagine what the opinion in the Golden Bears’ locker room would have been if they had gotten closer than 17 points.

The football polls come out Monday, and it is certain that there will be a new No. 1 team. Will it be Notre Dame? Possibly. But should it be UCLA?

Ask Majett Whiteside, the Cal nose guard.

“Honestly?” he said.

We wouldn’t have it any other way.

“OK, then--no,” Whiteside said. “All it means is that they were good enough to beat us today. But if that’s a No. 1 team, well, they’re no No. 1 team.

“A No. 1 team, I feel, should have an offensive line that is relentless and devastating. They’re good, but devastating they’re not.”

How about relentless then?

“They’re not that either,” he said.

Cal is winless in three Pacific 10 games, including a 44-13 loss last week at Washington State.

So is UCLA better than Washington State?

“No, they’re pretty equal, I think,” cornerback Doug Parrish said.

This is not what the UCLA fans in the stands at Memorial Stadium had in mind when they cheered as Miami’s 31-30 loss to Notre Dame became final.

Some history is in order. The last time UCLA was 7-0 was in 1966. The Bruins are 6-0. The last time UCLA was No. 1 was in November, 1967, just before a 21-20 USC victory on O. J. Simpson’s 64-yard touchdown run, in which he broke tackles and forever fractured a bit of Bruin psyche.

And the last time Cal beat UCLA? It was 1971. Whiteside was 6 years old. Whiteside, who went 0 for 4 against the Bruins in his career, isn’t particularly happy about that 17-year losing streak.

“It’s very disappointing to lose to a team four times, especially when you don’t think the guys lining up against you are athletically better.”

Maybe not, but in recent times they’ve been better on the scoreboard. On Saturday, the Bruins faced third down 15 times and got first downs 11 times. Quarterback Troy Aikman passed for 322 yards, a season-high, behind an offensive line that did not allow him to be sacked.

The Bruins rushed for 169 yards, 3 fewer than Cal, but Whiteside was still not impressed.

“They beat us, 38-21, but like I say, they weren’t relentless,” he said. “A relentless team would try to run the ball down our throat.”

Critics such as Whiteside have been in short supply this year in the Pac-10, where it has been the season of the censor.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue got the ball rolling when he suspended nose guard Jim Wahler after Wahler criticized some coaching decisions. Then Washington Coach Don James banned two reporters from practice the rest of the year after they reported they had seen his quarterback get injured.

“I’ll probably get hate mail tomorrow and the coaching staff will be upset, but it’s the truth,” Whiteside said.

“I don’t hate anybody, but I don’t like UCLA,” he said. “I don’t know any of their players. Honestly, I don’t know anyone on the team, their last names or first names or anything.”

Bruce Snyder, the Cal coach, knows one thing. He’s going to be diplomatic.

“Maybe UCLA is the No. 1 team, maybe Notre Dame,” he said. “When you get to that level, either one could beat the other. Is UCLA’s offense better than Washington State? I don’t want to say. I don’t know how that would benefit anybody.”

Tyrone Bland is a tailback, not a diplomat, but he struggled to sound like one when he was asked whether UCLA should be ranked No. 1.

“Well, they’re definitely a tough team,” he said. “Based on what I saw today, UCLA could be No. 1. But I’m not going to go out and say they deserve it.”

And from Troy Taylor, the Cal quarterback, comes this penetrating analysis: “Apparently they were No. 2 and Miami lost, so I guess they deserve to be No. 1.”

In any event, both Cal and UCLA have a long ways to go this season, starting with next week’s games. UCLA travels to Arizona. And Cal?

“We’re looking forward to Temple,” Whiteside said.

UCLA is looking forward to Monday when the wire service polls are announced. The ones that Cal can’t vote in.