ROSE BOWL / DAILY REPORT : WASHINGTON : Brunell Has a Shot at Four Records

It could be a longshot, but Husky quarterback Mark Brunell has a chance to break four Rose Bowl career passing records in his third appearance Friday.

--Brunell has thrown 30 passes and needs 34 more to break Pat Haden’s record set in USC’s 1973-75 Rose Bowl games.

--Brunell has 21 completions and needs 17 more to break Rodney Peete’s record set in USC’s 1988-89 Rose Bowl games.

--Brunell has 252 yards passing and needs 201 more to break the record of Rick Leach in Michigan’s 1977-79 games.

--Brunell has thrown three touchdown passes and needs three more to break the record of Jim Hardy in USC’s 1944-45 Rose Bowl games.

Who was that vaguely familiar man at practice Sunday? The Huskies, who practiced in pads for two hours at Occidental College, were visited by Coach Don James’ brother, Tommy James, a former Ohio State star and Cleveland Brown.

After today’s practice, Coach James and his four captains--Brunell, Lincoln Kennedy, Shane Pahukoa and Dave Hoffmann--will take a helicopter from the field to Disneyland, where they will join their Michigan counterparts at a news conference.

The rest of the Washington squad will either visit Universal Studios or play golf.

Take note, Michigan: A good strategy in the Rose Bowl might be to score a lot, because Washington was last in the Pacific 10 in kickoff returns (16-yard average). Another good tactic might be to avoid punting, since Washington’s 11.4-yard average on punt returns was second in the Pac-10.