Ogden Tackles Roles Head On : College football: At 6-8 and 310, UCLA lineman is big in Westwood, and soon to be big in the pros.

Jonathan Ogden, UCLA offensive tackle, left the Rose Bowl Saturday night feeling pretty good about his future.

He had just served as the dominating force on a dominating offensive line that often reduced University of Miami defensive linemen to helpless onlookers as UCLA tailback Karim Abdul-Jabbar ran for 180 yards in a 31-8 victory.

Sunday afternoon, Ogden, who had come out late in the game because of a concussion, sat his aching body down to watch the NFL.

Suddenly, his future didn’t seem so certain anymore.

He watched Harry Swayne, San Diego Charger left tackle, battle the likes of Nolan Harrison, Jerry Ball and Chester McGlockton of the Raiders. Ogden flipped the dial and watched other offensive tackles struggle against mammoth defenders.

“It’s no joke in the NFL,” Ogden said. “I’ve got to keep working hard.”

While no one on the UCLA coaching staff would object to that lesson in humility, no one seriously thinks Ogden won’t soon join those offensive linemen he watched Sunday.

Jon Kingdon, who scouts colleges for the Raiders, said that if the NFL draft were held today, Ogden would go in the top five.

NFL talent evaluators are sometimes hesitant to reveal their thoughts about players they’ve scouted, but, in the case of Ogden, they’re not talking about a well-kept secret. Football people across the country seem to be well aware of the 6-foot-8, 310-pounder.

“He’s started for four years,” Kingdon said. “He’s been consistent, he combines great size with excellent movement, and he seems to be a good guy off the field.”

Said Bob Toledo, Bruin offensive coordinator: “If he’s not a first-round draft choice, then they shouldn’t have a draft.”

Toledo ought to know. He was at USC at the same time as Anthony Munoz, at Oregon with Gary Zimmerman and at Texas A&M; with Richmond Webb. All three offensive linemen became NFL first-round choices, either in regular or supplemental drafts.

Ogden is impressive because of the speed at which he carries his huge frame.

One of UCLA’s most effective plays Saturday was the sweep right. While the two offensive linemen on the right and center Mike Flanagan sealed off the line, Ogden and left guard James Christensen pulled from the left and moved quickly in front of Abdul-Jabbar as he made his way up the right side. Christensen took on the defensive end while Ogden led the way, searching for a linebacker or any other defender in Abdul-Jabbar’s path.

Ogden did that repeatedly on a late afternoon when the temperature at kickoff was 102 degrees.

“I couldn’t slow down,” Ogden said, “because I knew he [Abdul-Jabbar] was right behind me. I can’t look bad because then I make us both look bad.”

Ogden looked good enough Saturday to be named Pacific 10 offensive player of the week. That’s particularly impressive when considering that since 1985, as far as those records are available, this is the first time an offensive lineman had been so singled out.

Ogden is accustomed to being singled out. As a high school freshman, he was already 6-2 and 270. By the time he was a senior at St. Alban’s School in Washington, D.C., he was not only all-everything as a lineman, but was even used occasionally in short-yardage situations as a running back, the prep version of Refrigerator Perry. By the time Ogden was ready to choose a college, he had about 100 recruiting him.

“I was kind of overwhelmed,” he said.

His decision came down to UCLA or Florida.

“This seemed like a better place,” Ogden said. “I liked the atmosphere and I never heard anything bad about them. I never heard about them cheating or anything.”

Just after signing his letter of intent, however, he heard all sorts of bad things about Los Angeles. The 1992 riots had just broken out.

“I wasn’t going to change my mind,” he said. “If you come to California, they’ve got earthquakes. If you go to Florida, they’ve got hurricanes. If you go to Nebraska, they’ve got tornadoes. If you stay in the East, they’ve got snow. You can’t just run because things happen.”

And you can’t worry because things might happen.

Ogden knows he has become valuable, but he refuses to let that disrupt his final year in Westwood.

“I want to go high in the draft,” he said, “but I can’t think about getting hurt. When you ease up, that’s when it happens.”