Donahue Has His Feet on Ground : Coach of No. 1 UCLA Says It’s Too Early to Do Victory Dance

The last time UCLA was ranked No. 1, a former Bruin defensive tackle named Terry Donahue, who was only a few months out of his alma mater, was coaching at the University of Kansas.

It was 1967, and the Bruins were 7-0-1.

“I was shocked in ‘67,” Donahue said Monday, “because I didn’t think they could do it without me.”

Donahue’s deadpan statement broke up a roomful of reporters. The 6-foot 1-inch, 197-pound Donahue, a walk-on and junior-college transfer, was hardly considered a star, although he was a 2-year starter.

His legacy at UCLA, of course, will be as a coach. And Monday, for the first time in his 13 seasons, the Bruins (6-0) ascended to the top of the wire-service polls.

“It’s a new experience for me,” Donahue said. “I’m excited about it. There’s a certain euphoria in being No. 1. Getting a team to the top of the polls for the first time in my tenure is exciting.

“To have UCLA ranked No. 1 for the first time in 21 years--I’m proud of that.”

But . . .

“On the other side of the street,” Donahue said, “football brings back the realities of life. And the reality is, in a few short hours, we’ll be down in Tucson teeing it up on national TV. So you don’t get too excited.

“Now, if this were week 11, or after a bowl game, I might get up on this table and show you guys my dance.

“But it’s not, so I’m not that into it.”

Donahue is wary of playing in Tucson, where Arizona upset the No. 2-ranked Bruins, 23-17, in 1980, ending UCLA’s hopes of a national championship. UCLA had a chance to move to the top of the polls that day when No. 1-ranked Alabama was upset by Mississippi State, 6-3. The Bruins squandered a 17-14 halftime lead however.

Donahue said he didn’t foresee much difference in being No. 1 or No. 2, as the Bruins had been before top-ranked Miami lost at Notre Dame.

“As long as you’re in the top 10, whoever is playing you is going to be cranked,” he said. “Anytime you’re near the top, people are going to be excited to play you.

“If they throw three more logs on the bonfire Friday night because we’re No. 1 instead of No. 2 . . . will they be more cranked? I don’t know.”

He’ll find out soon enough.

One thing seems certain, though: The national championship, which has eluded UCLA since 1954, is the Bruins’ to win or lose.

“I think, in a sense, that gives you a feeling of security,” Donahue said. “It’s up to us now. So many times in your life, you say, ‘I never had a chance. Nobody gave me the chance.’ We’ve got our chance. It’s time to put up or shut up.”

Only last week, Donahue described UCLA as a “good little team.”

The Bruins are much improved this week, Donahue said, and not just because the pollsters say so.

“Unquestionably, Brian Brown’s return makes us a better team,” Donahue said.

Brown, playing for the first time this season, carried 5 times for 31 yards and a touchdown and caught 4 passes for 30 yards Saturday in UCLA’s 38-21 victory over California.

It was a belated debut for the sophomore tailback, who was in a spirited battle with Eric Ball for the starting position before pulling a hamstring 2 months ago in preseason drills.

Last season, Brown was UCLA’s No. 2 rusher and averaged 5.3 yards a carry, equaling the average of former Bruin tailback Gaston Green.

Ball and freshman Shawn Wills have been outstanding for UCLA, but Brown is faster than either of them and is a better receiver, too.

“He adds a dimension of speed that we missed without him,” Donahue said. “I don’t know if he’s our fastest back, but I would think he’s the quickest. And he very well may be the fastest.

“He puts a step of speed on the field. It’s important to have him back.”

UCLA Notes

Quarterback Troy Aikman, a transfer from Oklahoma, on the difference between being ranked No. 1 at Oklahoma and being ranked No. 1 at UCLA: “When I was at Oklahoma, it came to be expected. This is something that’s relatively new to UCLA, and there’s probably a lot more excitement. The guys are more anxious. And I think that’s good.” . . . The starting time for UCLA’s game against Washington State Oct. 29 at the Rose Bowl has been changed from 3:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate ABC-TV, which will televise the game.

Henry Thomas, who placed third in the 200 meters and anchored UCLA’s collegiate record-setting 1,600-meter relay team last June in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. track and field championships, is practicing with the football team as a wide receiver. But Coach Terry Donahue doesn’t hold out hope that Bruins Steve Lewis and Danny Everett, who finished first and third in the 400 meters in the Seoul Olympics, will join their track teammate on the football field. “Those guys are franchise (track) guys,” Donahue said. The 6-2, 170-pound Thomas reportedly is considering redshirting next track season so he could participate in spring football practice. He did not play varsity football at Hawthorne High, where he was one of the most acclaimed sprinters in state history.

The last time UCLA was ranked No. 1 was in 1967, the week before it lost to USC, 21-20, in a game that decided the national championship. . . . Twice before in Donahue’s tenure, the Bruins had reached No. 2--in 1976, when they were 9-0-1 before losing to USC, 24-14, and in 1980. . . . UCLA has never been 7-0 under Donahue, who played on the last Bruin team that opened the season with seven consecutive victories. That was in 1966. UCLA then lost to Washington, 16-3.