THE BOWL GAMES : COTTON BOWL : Bowl Record Provides Incentive for UCLA

Unable to beat Washington State to maintain its No. 1 ranking, or to beat USC to earn a trip to the Rose Bowl, UCLA can still make 1988 a noteworthy season by beating Arkansas today in the Cotton Bowl.

Outscoring the eighth-ranked Razorbacks, who were 10-0 before losing their regular-season finale to Miami, would give the Bruins bowl victories in seven consecutive seasons, a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record.

Coach Terry Donahue has dangled the record as incentive for his ninth-ranked Bruins, who were No. 1 for 2 weeks in October before staggering through the final month of the season, losing 2 of 4 games to finish 9-2.

“In my eyes now, the fact that the national championship slipped away, the fact that we aren’t the conference champion, the season is nowhere near as successful as I had hoped it would be, based on my expectations as they built throughout the season,” Donahue said. “The emotions of the moment tell me that we’ve got to win this game or the season’s a failure.”

And beating Arkansas, Donahue said, will not be easy, in spite of the opinions of the oddsmakers, who favor UCLA.

“We’ve got a lot of obstacles to overcome,” he said.

According to Donahue, the Razorbacks have several psychological advantages. Donahue seems to say that about every opponent, of course, but in this case he seems to harbor legitimate concerns.

Among them:

--Arkansas has worked toward this day since 1976, when it beat Georgia in its last Cotton Bowl appearance, whereas UCLA accepted a bid as the first team from the West Coast to appear in the Cotton Bowl since 1949 only as a consolation prize after losing a Rose Bowl showdown to USC, 31-22.

--Arkansas might be inspired by a natural resentment toward UCLA’s All-American quarterback, Troy Aikman, who has received most of the attention from fans and the local media because the Dallas Cowboys are expected to make him the No. 1 pick next April in the National Football League draft.

--A majority of the fans in the sold-out, 72,032-seat Cotton Bowl stadium will wear funny red hats shaped like hogs’ heads. Whereas about 35,000 tickets to the game were sold in Arkansas, fewer than 3,000 were sold at UCLA.

--Arkansas might simply be better than advertised. The Razorbacks, some believe, were underrated, never rising above eighth in the national rankings. The Southwest Conference champions, in fact, earned more respect from their loss to Miami than they did from their 10 victories. And they might have beaten the second-ranked Hurricanes if safety Steve Atwater hadn’t dropped a potential interception in the Arkansas end zone with fewer than 6 minutes to play. Miami’s Carlos Huerta then kicked a 20-yard field goal with 5:38 left to give the Hurricanes an 18-16 victory.

“We have a great opportunity here,” Donahue said. “I think the obstacles and the barriers for this game are a great deal different and more challenging than some we’ve had in past (bowl) games.”

UCLA, though, isn’t the only one facing hurdles.

Even before Arkansas arrived in Dallas last week, Coach Ken Hatfield had suspended, for unspecified reasons, All-Southwest Conference offensive guard Freddie Childress and defensive tackle Wayne Martin, an All-American and the defensive player of the year in the Southwest Conference.

Neither will play today.

Also, the Razorbacks have had to deal with speculation about Hatfield, who reportedly is among the candidates to replace Vince Dooley at Georgia.

“After the game, we’ll decide about the future,” said Hatfield, who has sidestepped all questions about his plans.

And the Razorbacks, despite their record, were hardly a dominant team, winning 6 games by 8 points or less, including a 21-14 victory over 0-11 Rice.

“We were just about one step better than everybody we played and then we got to Miami and were about one step behind,” Hatfield said.

Directed by quarterback Quinn Grovey, who led the Southwest Conference in passing efficiency but passed for only 966 yards and 4 touchdowns, the Razorbacks’ flexbone attack ranked third in the SWC in total offense.

The Razorbacks also ranked third in total defense.

UCLA, meanwhile, caught the nation’s attention with its 41-28 dismantling of Nebraska in September, moved to No. 1 after Notre Dame knocked off Miami in October and rolled to a 7-0 start, its best in 22 years, before squandering a 27-6 third-quarter lead in a 34-30 loss to Washington State.

That was followed by less-than-impressive victories over Oregon and Stanford, in which Aikman endured his least productive games, and the loss to USC, in which Aikman was brilliant, throwing for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Still, Hatfield said that UCLA was more balanced offensively than Miami and called the Bruins “as good a team as there is in the country.”

Unless they beat Arkansas, though, their season will be looked upon in some circles as a disappointment.

“If you can view 9-2 as an unsuccessful season, I’m not sure that I’m not as guilty as the next person in contributing to the madness,” Donahue said. “It was a good year, but it just didn’t meet all of our expectations.”

A victory over the Razorbacks would ease the burden.

Cotton Bowl Notes

Of the 4 other schools that won bowl games in 6 consecutive seasons, Georgia Tech and Alabama had their streaks ended by Southwest Conference schools. Georgia Tech lost to Arkansas, 14-7, in the 1960 Gator Bowl and Alabama lost to Texas, 14-12, in the 1982 Cotton Bowl. USC and Nebraska also won bowl games in 6 straight seasons. . . . In the only meeting between the schools, UCLA and Arkansas played to a 10-10 tie in the 1978 Fiesta Bowl. . . . UCLA is listed as a 5 1/2-point favorite. . . . The extended forecast called for a cloudy sky with temperatures in the low 50s and a 20% chance of rain.

UCLA is playing in a bowl game for the eighth consecutive season, the longest current string in the Pacific 10 Conference. Its record in bowl games is 8-7-1, including a 6-2-1 record under Coach Terry Donahue. . . . Arkansas is 9-12-3 in bowl games, including a 1-3 record under Coach Ken Hatfield and a 2-3-1 record in the Cotton Bowl.

Outside linebacker Eric Smith of UCLA will miss the game with knee and ankle injuries, Donahue said Sunday, and will be replaced in the starting lineup by Billy Ray. . . . UCLA also will be without inside linebacker Chance Johnson, who is out with a knee injury, reserve linebacker Stacy Argo and reserve defensive back Randy Beverly. . . . Eric Ball, who has been bothered by an ankle injury, will start at tailback and reserve wide receiver David Keating might play despite a hamstring injury, Donahue said.

Mark Henry will take the place of suspended right guard Freddie Childress in Arkansas’ starting lineup, although James Morris will move over from left guard to take Childress’ regular place in the line. . . . Suspended defensive tackle Wayne Martin, who led the Razorbacks with 13 sacks, will be replaced by sophomore Tony Ollison. . . . James Rouse, who was Arkansas’ leading rusher before missing the Razorbacks’ last 5 games with a knee injury, is expected to play, but will not start.