Pair Makes It a Fine Line for the Bruins : College football: Parker and Novitsky help open the holes that let the Bruins average 231 yards rushing.

Tackle Vaughn Parker had no intention of attending UCLA when he took a recruiting trip to Westwood three years ago. Parker, who had never been to California, sought only a weekend escape from the harsh winter back home in Buffalo, N.Y.

“I really didn’t plan on coming here,” Parker said. “I just wanted to take the trip so I could say I’d been out to California, and then I’d sign with Michigan State.”

But Parker fell in love with UCLA and Southern California.

“They took me to a party and (Dodger outfielders) Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis and (former Laker-Clipper guard) Norm Nixon were there,” Parker said. “Being from Buffalo, we don’t see that many celebrities, so it was exciting.”

Parker’s mother, Arlene, didn’t want him to go to UCLA because it was too far from home.

“She wasn’t going to let me go, but my stepfather said, ‘If that’s what he wants to do, let him go,’ ” Parker said.

Arlene Parker-Dixon said she relented because her son was so determined.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to go to UCLA, it’s just that it’s far from home and we were pretty close,” she said. “I wasn’t sure that it was the best move to make, but Vaughn’s a very mature young man and we talked about it and he wanted to go to UCLA for all the right reasons.”

Parker started at right guard as a redshirt freshman in 1990, playing alongside tackle Craig Novitsky. Then Parker moved to right tackle and Novitsky moved to left tackle because of injuries.

Parker, a 6-foot 3 1/2-inch, 271-pound redshirt junior, and Novitsky, a 6-6, 275-pound redshirt junior, have developed into one of the best tackle tandems in the nation.

Parker, a first-team all-conference selection last season, and Novitsky, a second-team all-conference pick, opened the holes for a Bruin rushing attack that averaged 200.1 yards last season. UCLA is averaging 231 yards in three games this season.

Novitsky plays the most vital offensive line position, protecting the blind side of new quarterback Rob Walker, who has been sacked only twice in 2 1/2 games since he replaced injured starter Wayne Cook.

“They’re probably the best tackle combination I’ve had here over a longer period of time,” said Ed Kezirian, the offensive line coach who’s in his 11th season at UCLA.

They also are versatile. Novitsky is the backup center and Parker is the backup right guard.

Another former offensive lineman, Coach Terry Donahue, can appreciate that.

“Craig has been the most flexible of all the offensive linemen because he makes the toughest switch, going from tackle to center,” Donahue said.

After redshirting in 1989, when he played on the scout team, Parker started nine games in 1990 and quickly established himself.

Parker, who patterns himself after former all-pro Reggie McKenzie of the Buffalo Bills, started all but one game last season. He was in the lineup for every snap down the stretch after his backup, Rick Fuller, suffered a separated shoulder, and he earned the highest football grades among the Bruin offensive lineman.

“Most players are good at either run blocking or pass blocking, but he’s good at both,” Kezirian said.

Parker led the team in touchdown blocks and “Bruin blocks.”

“It’s where you totally dominate your man and put him on his back,” Parker said. “It’s just our idea of the complete block. It’s what you’re trying to do everyplay.

“It’s the kind of thing where you know and he knows what’s going on, and that’s how it’s going to be all day. He may as well give up. It’s kind of demoralizing for him because he’s on his back and you’re on top of him.”

Parker also likes to taunt opponents.

“I’m always running my mouth during the game,” he said. “If I just dominate them, I’ll say, ‘It’s going to be like this all day. You should have stayed at home.’ It helps me stay in the game and stay focused. The coaches don’t care for it, but I don’t do it to the point where I have the refs on my back. It’s just little reminders for my opponent.”

Parker hopes to become an All-American this season.

“Being all-conference was surprising, but it wasn’t satisfying,” Parker said. “Last year was nice, but it’s all about being an All-American. That’s my goal. If I don’t make it I won’t be happy.”

Novitsky, who loves to manhandle opponents on the football field, worked as a bouncer at a restaurant-bar near his home in suburban Washington last summer.

But he didn’t get into any fights.

“A lot of people told me that I shouldn’t work there because the place had a bad reputation,” Novitsky said.

“I had to ask a few people to leave but that was it.

“Bouncing, you have to be really controlled, because the slightest little thing and you could have a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against you.”

Novitsky says he has learned to control his aggression.

” . . . I’ve learned . . . when to turn it on and when to turn it off,” he said. “Monday through Friday, when I’m not on the field, I try not to think about football and be nice and relaxed.

“But when Saturday comes--boom! That’s it.”

Novitsky, who started every game last season, graded out at 75% or better in six games. He had seven Bruin blocks and two touchdown blocks.

It is playing center that unnerves him a little.

“I actually think center is pretty tough,” he said. “I’d become accustomed to playing left tackle, but when I play center I’ll see a lot of different (defensive alignments) I’ve never seen. At left tackle, you’re covered inside, but your whole left side is wide open and that’s the one place where you can’t let your guy beat you.”

Novitsky doesn’t get beat often.