COLLEGE FOOTBALL: DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Donahue Having a Difficult Time

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue says this has been one of his most trying seasons since taking over as head coach in 1976.

“I was very confident that we were going to have a good football team. . . ,” said Donahue, whose Bruins are 3-4 overall, 0-4 in the Pacific 10. But I’ll bet you there are lot of people in the world who would love to (trade) problems with me.”

Although freshman quarterback Ryan Fien completed only four of seven passes for 18 yards during last week’s 20-0 loss to Arizona State in his first college start, Donahue is confident that Fien will develop.

“He’s got a nice throwing arm,” Donahue said. “He’s just got to get some (experience). It’s like taking a guy and telling him to fly an F-14 with three hours of flight training. He had no preparation and we just put him in the F-14 and gave him a helmet and said, ‘Hey, you’re a pilot. Here’s the key.’ ”

UCLA is 0-4 in conference play for the first time since 1943, when the Bruins, playing a limited schedule because of World War II, finished 0-4 in the Pacific Coast Conference.