Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 18, 1993

The UCLA-Washington game figured to be special, and it was. . . .

“It was an exciting and draining experience,” Terry Donahue said after the Bruins rallied from a 15-0 deficit to put away the Huskies, 39-25, Saturday. . . .

Too bad that more fans couldn’t have shared that experience with the coach. . . .

The crowd of 40,830, smallest of the season at the Rose Bowl, was an embarrassment. . . .

Granted, it drizzled in the morning. That is usually enough to keep fair-weather Southland fans indoors. However, as early as Tuesday, with no rain in sight, the prediction was for only 42,000. . . .

“I can’t tell you what’s going on in L.A.,” said UCLA Athletic Director Pete Dalis, who is aware that neither USC nor the Raiders have attracted as many as 50,000 to the Coliseum this year. . . .

The Bruins drew slightly more than 50,000 for the California, Nebraska and Brigham Young games only because those teams brought a good number of fans with them. . . .

It will be interesting to see what kind of support UCLA gets Oct. 30 at the Rose Bowl for the Arizona game, which could decide the Pacific 10 championship. For sure, Arizona will sell plenty of tickets. . . .

The Bruins have developed into the most balanced team in the conference. . . .

They showed they could win without an overpowering rushing game when only 116 of their 410 yards against Washington came on the ground. . . .

In fact, their most impressive runner was wide receiver J.J. Stokes. Many of his 190 yards on 10 receptions, four for touchdowns, came after he caught the ball. . . .

“J.J. is a running fool,” Donahue said. . . .

“He’s an extremely gifted athlete who can make a big play out of a five- or 10-yard pass,” quarterback Wayne Cook said. . . .

J.J. stands for Jerel Jamal. . . .

What helps to make the Bruins so formidable is a defense that is improving every week and limited the Huskies to seven points in the last 38 minutes. . . .

Second only to Stokes in town Saturday was Johnnie Morton of USC, who caught three touchdown passes against Oregon State. . . .

Stokes and Morton should be the consensus All-American wide receivers. . . .

Joe Paterno isn’t going to make mincemeat of the Big Ten, after all. . . .

Florida State’s 40-14 romp over previously unbeaten Virginia on a day when the Seminoles could have been flat was nearly as impressive as their victory over Miami the week before. . . .

Look-alikes: Duane Ward and Tom Niedenfuer. . . .

Have you ever seen a better catch by a second baseman in a big game than the one Roberto Alomar made in the fifth inning Saturday? . . .

If there is a standout team in the NFL, it is the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. . . .

The Cowboys were at home Sunday when they beat San Francisco, 26-17, in a rematch of the NFC title game, but the 49ers, coming off a bye, had the advantage of an extra week of preparation. . . .

It’s hard to believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Rams, 27-0, five weeks ago at Anaheim Stadium. . . .

Dan Reeves is doing a terrific job with the New York Giants and most of his Denver Broncos teams were overachievers, but he was 1-6 against Raider Coach Art Shell, who begins his rivalry against Wade Phillips tonight at Mile High Stadium. . . .

*

Trainer Eddie Futch on the physical condition of Riddick Bowe, who faces Evander Holyfield Nov. 6: “He’s getting there and in three weeks, he’ll be right there.”. . . .

Helping to apply the Futch touch to the heavyweight champion at Lake Tahoe are the 82-year-old trainer’s capable proteges, Thell Torrence and Hedgemon Lewis. . . .

The two-legged star of Cal Cup Day at Santa Anita was jockey Corey Black, who tripled in the sixth, seventh and eighth races on the eighth anniversary of his first victory as an apprentice at the same track. . . .

Glen Rice, the Miami Heat forward-guard who was supposed to be traded to the Clippers with Willie Burton for Danny Manning, made 148 three-point shots last season. The Clippers made 133. . . .

This is a sad day in Germany, the fifth full day of freedom for Guenter Parche after he got a suspended sentence for stabbing Monica Seles.