ROSE BOWL NOTES

Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said he prefers playing Washington, which had to come here from out of state, rather than a home-based team such as UCLA or USC.

“UCLA didn’t even have to move its equipment from the Rose Bowl when we played them in 1986,” Fry said. “But on that day UCLA had a superior football team. We couldn’t stop them.”

The Bruins won, 45-28.

Eric Briscoe, Washington’s senior strong safety from Ft. Lee, N.J, says he’s a laid-back type of person.

Coming out of high school, he narrowed his choices to Iowa and Washington.

“I liked the facilities at Iowa, but as laid-back as I was, I still didn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere,” he told the Seattle Times.

For the record, the University of Iowa is “somewhere,” Iowa City to be exact.

Washington’s Beno Bryant, who is ranked second nationally in punt returns with a 15.6-yard average, and wide receiver Orlando McKay are teammates in a different sport.

They were members of Washington’s Pacific 10 Conference-winning 1,600-meter relay team last track season.

Bryant, from Dorsey High, was the state high school 400-meter champion in 1989. McKay, from Mesa, Ariz., was also a state prep sprint champion.