Cook Tour a Success : UCLA Quarterback Justifies Decision to Make Him Starter

The plays evolve more deliberately now, opportunities presenting themselves in slow motion in the three or so seconds between the center snap and the pass.

One of football’s ironies is that the faster it’s played, the slower it seems to a quarterback. He sees each portion of the panorama standing out to be exploited as an invitation or ignored because it’s a closed door.

In UCLA’s 39-25 victory Saturday, Wayne Cook showed that he was seeing all the parts of the Washington defense, rather than merely a part and not the whole. He completed 22 of 35 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns in continuing a roll that began when UCLA beat Stanford in the third game.

It was the Bruins’ first victory after two defeats, their first of four in a row. And it was a signal to Cook and UCLA that the decision to make him the team’s quarterback after three-way competition in fall camp had been the right one.

“I think in the first two games he was just trying to get the ball off,” said Cook’s most effective receiver, J.J. Stokes.

“We went into those games knowing we would have to quicken our routes (because of Cook), but I think as the games unfolded, he found he had more time.”

And used it well enough to beat Stanford in a prelude of things to come.

“Just winning the Stanford game was OK,” Cook said. “I did some things in that game. But the San Diego State game was probably the game that showed I could play quarterback. I looked off some defenders, threw some touchdowns, hit some deep balls in that game.”

Three of the deep balls went to Stokes, who started a three-game streak during which he has caught 10 touchdown passes in victories over San Diego State, Brigham Young and Washington. All of the passes were thrown by Cook, suddenly calm, comfortable and capable, with 45 completions of 74 passes for 687 yards and 11 touchdowns over the three games.

The indecision of August seemed a distant memory.

“The thing about Wayne that’s exciting and encouraging is that he’s on a growth pattern,” said Coach Terry Donahue, who enjoys the stability Cook has shown after a season of revolving-door quarterbacks.

“He’s long on experience in the program and short on game experience, and so every week he plays a game, he’s going to be that much better a player the following week.”

It’s what Cook, 22, wanted to hear as the season began, when he started against California with bad legs and little experience. He figured he was on a short leash, and that the competition that won him the job might as easily offer a successor in Ryan Fien, designated as No. 2--or perhaps 1-A.

“At the beginning of the year, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I was looking over my shoulder, thinking if I screwed up, they’re going to put in Ryan,” Cook said.

“I was afraid to make a mistake. I think after the first three games, I’ve just been out there playing. You have to be that way. Sometimes, when you worry too much about making mistakes, you’re going to make them.”

Mistakes were made--an interception down the stretch in the Cal game stands out--but they have been few. Cook went 86 passes after the interception against Cal before he threw another, that a deflection in the first quarter against Washington. A second interception glanced off tight end Brian Allen’s shoulder pads into the hands of Andy Mason.

Still, the game was the best of his career. His four scoring passes tied the school record, and Cook is the only quarterback in UCLA history to do it twice in a row.

“Just playing the games, you learn so much,” said Cook, whose knowledge before the season had been gleaned in spring ball and in fewer than two quarters of the first game of 1992, before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“You learn something every series you go out there. You get more of a feeling. (The decisions are) just quicker.

“Before, I was thinking of a receiver, ‘Is he going to be open? Is he going to be open?’ If he is, I’d throw it. If he’s not, I’m in trouble because it’s too late to find another.

“It’s almost to the point now that, when I go up to the line of scrimmage, I can tell if the receiver is going to be there. That makes it easier, because you don’t want to do it all on the run.”

Never particularly nimble, the leg injuries have cost Cook mobility and he has to pick his spots, such as the two-point conversion run up the middle in the fourth quarter against Washington. He proudly points out that his knee has stood the pounding of a six-sack day against Nebraska.

Cook’s contribution at UCLA has been something of a surprise, even to him. Bravado says that an athlete expects to play well because he is an athlete and always has been. Reality is that the athlete is human.

“I knew I had it in me to play well, but I don’t think I expected it,” Cook said. “I knew I could be a good player, but I hadn’t played in so long there was doubt. Could I get that competitiveness back? It had been five years (since his last complete game, as a Newbury Park High senior). Could I get hit and make mistakes and still get my competitiveness back?”

The answers have been yes.

Getting Better

UCLA quarterback Wayne Cook’s 1993 passing statistics:

Date Opponent Comp Att Pct. Int Yds TD Result Sept. 4 California 19 36 52.7 1 230 1 L, 27-25 Sept. 18 Nebraska 11 22 50.0 0 134 0 L, 14-13 Sept. 25 at Stanford 13 22 59.1 0 164 1 W, 28-25 Sept. 30 at San Diego St. 11 16 68.8 0 223 3 W, 52-13 Oct. 9 Brigham Young 12 23 52.2 0 170 4 W, 68-14 Oct. 16 Washington 22 35 62.9 2 294 4 W, 39-25 Totals 6 games 88 154 57.1 3 1,215 13 4-2 Record