Duck Next Course on Bruins’ Menu

Sifting through a 66-10 game, it is now clear the last time Houston matched up equally with UCLA was at the coin flip when four captains from each team shook hands at midfield.

After that, the Bruins spent most of the actual game time exercising Chris Sailer’s leg on extra-point kicks.

Cade McNown passed for 297 yards and four touchdowns before the half, then took a seat and waited to see if the Cougars could catch up. Actually, McNown’s flaming red hair would have turned snow white before that ever happened.

Anyway, McNown was so impressed with the scope of the victory, he decided to forget about it by the time he reached the locker room.

“This doesn’t matter at all,” McNown said. “The real deal is the Pac-10. That’s the meat of our schedule.”

Nice of Houston to serve as hors d’oeuvres. And so it goes for the Bruins, who are 3-2, but only 1-1 in conference and now past the canapes and on to the main dish.

Since there are no more Houstons on the schedule, UCLA must turn its attention to the Pacific 10 Conference, which has been troublesome enough.

Next Saturday, UCLA will be in Eugene to play Oregon, and that’s probably going to make Skip Hicks happy. Last year, Hicks ran for 175 yards against the Ducks--153 in the third quarter--and UCLA stomped on their webbed feet, 41-22.

After the Oregon game, well, linebacker Brian Willmer said he is not looking ahead.

“We’re focused,” Willmer said. “One game at a time. We don’t want a letdown.

“All I know is since we lost to Washington State, we’re behind the eight-ball and we have to run the table,” he said.

The Bruins can put the Oregon State Beavers in the side pocket in a truly rare matchup. It has been so long since they last played that the UCLA coach was some guy named Donahue. Oregon State hasn’t lost to UCLA in three years . . . of course, the Beavers haven’t played UCLA in three years, since a 23-14 victory at the Rose Bowl in 1994.

Andy Meyers, UCLA’s right guard, was asked if he remembered Oregon State’s nickname.

“Ducks . . . no, Beavers,” Meyers said. “Hey, it’s been a long time.”

Whomever the Bruins run into the rest of the way, they promise to be ready.

The final four weeks of the season go like this: California, Stanford, Washington and USC. Last year, UCLA lost at Washington, where Hicks gained exactly eight yards. The Bruins also lost to Stanford at the Rose Bowl, where there was a full eclipse of UCLA’s chances to go to the Sun Bowl.

The prize right now is the Rose Bowl, which still is possible, but only if a few things happen, such as UCLA winning the rest of its games, somebody knocking off Washington State and other teams playing like Houston.

“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” Willmer said. “But we’re really excited about it. We have our eye on the big prize . . . but to get there we have to take little steps.

“It’s do or die. It’s a six-pack of Pac-10 games left.”

Meyers believes UCLA plays better under pressure and that’s probably going to come in handy the rest of the way. Meyers is smart enough to be on the Director’s Honor Roll in eight of his 11 quarters, dedicated enough to paint the toilets in the locker room for $7 an hour and driven enough to want a political career.

“I’d like to be a senator or something like that,” he said.

So say something politically correct.

“We have a very, very good team and we have great respect for every team we play the rest of the way,” he said.

If they have more points each game than every team they play, Meyers probably could get elected right away.