UCLA Hogs Cotton Bowl Spotlight by Shutting Down Arkansas, 17-3

Successfully putting a disappointing final month of the regular season behind them, UCLA’s intrepid Bruins dived head-first into a sea of red Monday in the Cotton Bowl, clawed and kicked for most of the afternoon and emerged with their heads above water.

Their 17-3 defeat of Arkansas, much more convincing and one-sided than the score would indicate, did more than silence a decidedly pro-Razorback crowd of 74,304 and give UCLA bowl victories in 7 consecutive seasons, a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record.

It also helped ease the sting of a season in which the Bruins climbed to the top of the polls after a 7-0 start, then saw their campaign unravel when they lost 2 of their last 4 games, including a 31-22 decision against USC.

“It sort of makes the end of the season a little bit easier to handle,” nose guard Jim Wahler said.

The final score might not reflect it, but UCLA embarrassed the Razorbacks, who won the Southwest Conference championship and came within 2 points of an unbeaten regular season, losing to Miami, 18-16, in their final game.

Six of the Razorbacks’ 10 possessions consisted of 3 plays and a punt. Another consisted only of a 10-yard holding penalty on the last play of the first half, and another ended with an interception after they drove 4 yards.

Even their most successful possessions were noteworthy only because of their ineptitude in the others.

After recovering a fumble in the third quarter, they drove 14 yards in 6 plays before All-American Kendall Trainor kicked a 49-yard field goal.

And in their last possession, they failed to net a yard in 6 plays, including a fourth-down sack of quarterback Jimmy Williams by UCLA linebacker Carnell Lake with 1 minute 54 seconds left. But at least, they didn’t turn the ball over, instead giving it up on downs.

All told, the Razorbacks produced 42 total yards and 4 first downs in 36 plays, including 21 yards rushing in 22 attempts.

Only 3 times previously had a team in the Cotton Bowl been limited to fewer first downs; only twice previously had a team been limited to fewer yards rushing, and only once previously had a team been limited to fewer total yards or been restricted to fewer plays.

UCLA has never allowed an opponent fewer total yards.

“Our defense was as dominating today as it has ever been,” said UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, who was not quite a year old when the Bruins gave up only 43 total yards in a 6-0 loss to California in 1944.

The Bruins, who completed a second straight 10-2 season, had faced a flexbone attack similar to Arkansas’ only once previously this season--Arizona’s. And they also limited the Wildcats to a field goal in a 24-3 victory.

“Their style of offense, quite frankly, plays into our style of defense,” Donahue said of the Razorbacks (10-2). “We felt that we matched up well with them. Our personnel runs well and plays laterally very, very well. We felt like we had the speed that was needed.”

Meanwhile, the Bruins kept the Razorback defense on the field for long stretches with a ball-control offense that produced 371 total yards and 22 first downs. UCLA’s time of possession was a staggering 42:43.

Quarterback Troy Aikman, playing his last game for the Bruins, was efficient, if not spectacular, playing in front of about 150 friends and relatives from his hometown of Henryetta, Okla., and in a city that he probably will call home for several years to come. The Dallas Cowboys are expected to make him the No. 1 pick in the National Football League draft next April.

Aikman passed for 172 yards and 1 touchdown, throwing to 13 receivers, and, perhaps more for his commanding presence than his performance, was named the game’s outstanding offensive player.

“I didn’t feel like he needed to come in and be the major factor,” Donahue said of Aikman. “I thought if he played within himself and other elements of the team could come up to a higher level, we would have a better chance to win.”

Freshman tailback Shawn Wills, all but ignored by Donahue in the last half of the regular season, ran for a season-high 120 yards, and sophomore Brian Brown added 56 as the Bruins gained 199 yards rushing.

“I felt really good,” said Wills, who is the first freshman in Cotton Bowl history to rush for more than 100 yards. “I was pumped.”

Wills didn’t expect to play much, but starter Eric Ball, still bothered by an ankle injury, played in only the Bruins’ first 2 possessions.

Wills came on in the second quarter, when UCLA scored its touchdowns on time-consuming drives of 93 and 74 yards.

Until then, UCLA hadn’t been any more efficient on offense than the Razorbacks. And when Aikman was dragged down from behind by linebacker Kerry Owens after a 4-yard gain on third and 5 from the UCLA 12 early in the second quarter, it looked as if the Bruins would have to punt again.

Linebacker Odis Lloyd, however, was called for a late hit on Aikman, and the Bruins continued to move.

Aikman said the penalty helped to calm the Bruins.

“It had been a while since we had played,” he said, referring to the Bruins’ 6-week layoff since the end of the regular season. “The guys were probably a little jittery. I know I was jittery in the pocket and that (penalty) was a big swing in our favor.”

UCLA converted 5 more third-down situations in a 19-play drive, Aikman passing for first downs in the last 4.

His 9-yard pass to flanker Brendan McCracken along the right sideline on third-and-5 at the Arkansas 10-yard line set up the touchdown, which was scored on the next play by fullback Mark Estwick, who dived over from the 1.

“We were successful when we had to be,” Aikman said of the Bruins’ passing.

After yet another Arkansas possession resulted in 3 plays and a punt, Aikman moved the Bruins again.

Wills carried 3 times for 32 yards in a 10-play drive, but the key play was made by split end Paul Richardson, who took a short pass from Aikman on third and 5 at the Arkansas 49 and turned it into a 20-yard gain.

A pass to fullback Maury Toy gained 8 yards, and Wills then broke through the middle of the line for an 18-yard gain that put the ball at the 3.

On third and goal at the 1, Aikman faked a pitch to his left, rolled to his right and found tight end Corwin Anthony in the back of the end zone.

The touchdown drives had used almost 12 minutes of the second quarter, and the Bruins led, 14-0, with 21 seconds left in the first half.

Aikman said: “We took what they gave us, tried to mix things up as much as possible and kept the chains moving.”

It was more of the same in the second half, but twice the Razorbacks knocked the ball loose from UCLA receivers.

Linebacker Reggie Hall caused the first fumble, jarring the ball from Estwick after Estwick had taken a short pass from Aikman. Arkansas’ ensuing 14-yard drive was its longest of the game, and Trainor’s field goal made it 14-3 with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

UCLA, though, again took control, using the last 6 1/2 minutes of the third quarter and the first 1 1/2 minutes of the fourth before flanker Laurence Burkley took a pass from Aikman, was hit by linebacker Ty Mason and lost a fumble inside the Razorbacks’ 10-yard line.

Arkansas’ next 2 possession produced a net of minus-3 yards before UCLA put together a 38-yard, 9-play drive that consisted of nothing but running plays and resulted in a 32-yard field goal by Alfredo Velasco with 3:26 left.

“I’m not sure we anticipated running the ball the way we did,” Aikman said. “A lot of that should be attributed to the offensive line.”

Razorback Coach Ken Hatfield tried three quarterbacks--Quinn Grovey and his backups, Williams and John Bland--all with the same results.

Which is to say, not much.

“Nobody dominated us the way UCLA did today,” Hatfield said. “We didn’t block nearly as well as we had and we were just not as sharp throwing the ball as you need to be in a game like this.”

Arkansas completed 4 of 14 passes for 21 yards.

Grovey ran for a team-high 19 yards in 7 carries, and fullback Barry Foster, the Razorbacks’ leading rusher in the regular season, gained 16 yards in 6 carries. Foster’s 9-yard run in the first quarter was Arkansas’ longest play.

“We felt that it was important to take away the running of Barry Foster,” Wahler said.

Said Lake: “I don’t think they felt very comfortable throwing the ball.”

Feeling much more comfortable in general were the Bruins, who again ended a potentially disappointing season on a high note.

Last season, they beat a mediocre Florida team in the Aloha Bowl after losing to USC, but this time they had humbled a conference champion.

Addressing the Bruins’ streak of bowl victories, Donahue said: “To do something that no football program has ever done--some cynics may minimize it--but the fact of the matter is, it’s a tremendous accomplishment.”

Bruin Notes

UCLA, which improved its bowl record to 9-7-1, had never allowed fewer than 9 points in a bowl game. . . . Coach Terry Donahue is 7-2-1 in bowl games, including a 3-0 record in the Rose Bowl. . . . UCLA’s last loss in a bowl game was to Michigan, 33-14, in the Bluebonnet Bowl on Dec. 31, 1981.

Is Donahue interested in the San Diego Chargers’ coaching vacancy? “I am not a candidate for anything,” Donahue said. . . . Shawn Wills’ 120 yards rushing increased his season total to 622 yards. Wills ran for 394 yards in UCLA’s first 5 games but carried only 23 times for 108 yards in the Bruins’ last 6 games.

DONAHUE ROLLS A 7 A look at UCLA Coach Terry Donahue’s 7 consecutive postseason victories:

Date Bowl Score Jan. 1, 1983 Rose UCLA 24, Michigan 14 Jan 2, 1984 Rose UCLA 45, Illinois 9 Jan. 1, 1985 Fiesta UCLA 39, Miami 37 Jan. 1, 1986 Rose UCLA 45, Iowa 28 Dec. 30, 1986 Freedom UCLA 31, Brigham Young 10 Dec. 25, 1987 Aloha UCLA 20, Florida 16 Jan. 2, 1989 Cotton UCLA 17, Arkansas 3