A Sixth Defensive Back May Hold Key for UCLA

He’s a linebacker in a defensive back’s body, a specialist who reacts to an open route to a quarterback like a mountain lion eyeing a crippled deer.

“Your eyes get big,” Donovan Gallatin said. “You get hungry. You start licking your lips. Your adrenaline starts flowing and right before you get there, you start thinking about the big play, about wrapping him up.”

Gallatin plays on UCLA’s specialty defense, called the “41” and designed to deal with problems like those posed by Steve Stenstrom of 17th-ranked Stanford in today’s game at Stanford Stadium.

In other ports, it’s called a dime defense, twice the value of the nickel or five-back secondary. He is the sixth defensive back and carries the dual responsibility of pass coverage and rushing the passer. He prefers the latter.

“I love to blitz,” he said. “I love putting on the pressure.”

He did just that a week ago in UCLA’s 14-13 defeat by Nebraska, shooting in on Cornhusker quarterback Tommie Frazier, once wrapping him up and forcing a lobbed pass that was intercepted by Tommy Bennett. But another time Frazier escaped for a six-yard gain.

It was a star-crossed game for what has been, this season at least, a star-crossed player.

“Unfortunately, I let a big one slip last week,” Gallatin said. “I don’t intend to let that happen again.”

He was the starting strong safety in the Bruins’ season opener, a 27-25 loss to California, and had some problems on deep coverage, bearing part of the responsibility for Cal’s second touchdown, a pass from David Barr to Mike Caldwell.

“That will always be in the back of my mind,” he said. “I can’t put it completely out. When you lose a game by two points, you kind of pick out every mistake you made and blow it out of proportion, make it a lot bigger than it is. But you have to concentrate on your next game. We have a whole different scheme for every game we play, so you have to get it out of your mind.”

The scheme for Stanford, 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) is dictated by the Cardinal’s propensity to throw the football. Stanford is first in the Pac-10 and sixth in the nation in passing, averaging 326.3 yards a game, and last in the conference in rushing, at 71.3 yards.

Stenstrom is rising on the all-time passing lists at a school where his predecessors were Frankie Albert, John Brodie, Jim Plunkett and John Elway, among others, and is coming off the best game of his career--382 yards and five touchdowns against Colorado. His coach, Bill Walsh, is starting to compare him to Joe Montana in the closing moments of a close game. And Walsh should know.

The Cardinal is averaging only 2.3 yards a rush and has only one running back with more than 100 yards. Ellery Roberts has 126 in three games.

But UCLA Coach Terry Donahue doesn’t see it quite that way.

“Stanford likes to run the ball,” he insists. “I’ve never viewed Stanford under Bill Walsh as a passing team. It’s more of a balanced team.”

The numbers this season disagree, but history and Walsh don’t.

“We haven’t run the ball efficiently,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of pressure on Stenstrom. . . . He’s carrying a heavy load, and it’s our job to alleviate some of that load.”

It’s Gallatin’s job to help make it heavier. Stanford has concentrated on protecting Stenstrom, giving up two sacks to the San Jose State defense and two more to Colorado, after Washington had sacked Stenstrom seven times in Stanford’s opener.

“I think we’re going to pressure them a little more than Colorado did,” Gallatin said. “Colorado didn’t blitz quite as much as you need to to put Stenstrom under pressure. He had some time to get the ball to (Justin) Armour and some of his key receivers. Hopefully, we’re not going to let them do that.”

If the Bruins (0-2, 0-1) do let him throw, they are in trouble.

“They do as good a job of getting the ball to all five eligible receivers as anybody,” UCLA defensive coordinator Bob Field said of Stanford. “We need to put more pressure on them.”

That pressure begins with the front four, which includes linebacker Jamir Miller, the Bruins’ sack leader last season. And it includes Gallatin, a 215-pounder from El Segundo who occasionally calls his position “dimebacker” and who is on a mission to erase some unpleasant memories.

Or maybe create some in other minds.

“A game like this puts pressure on the defensive backs, but it puts them in the spotlight and gives them an opportunity to make some big plays,” he said. “Hopefully, by the end of the game, Stenstrom will remember my name.”