Ruckman Shows Emotional Leadership

It began in the second quarter, when Oregon’s Akili Smith was sacked by Jeff Ruckman for a 10-yard loss, back to the UCLA 19, from which the ball was snapped on the next play, a futile field-goal try by the Ducks’ Joshua Smith.

Ruckman, a senior who has spent much of his five years in rehabilitation, stood up, pounded his chest and yelled loud enough for many of the stunned 42,314 at Autzen Stadium to hear.

Actually, he said, it was Ruckman being Ruckman.

“I think I’m starting to realize what my role is,” said Ruckman, who played fullback on UCLA’s last Rose Bowl team, switched to linebacker and now is a defensive lineman.

“This team needs a yeller, a screamer, a guy who can run around and get into people’s faces at times. I kind of have that mentality, or at least I did in high school, and just felt like we needed to start doing that. I start playing better when I can have some emotion.”

He finished the game with seven tackles, only one fewer than he had all season, much of which has been spent rehabilitating a strained hamstring.

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Cade McNown’s play in Saturday’s 39-31 victory over Oregon continued his march through the UCLA record books. McNown’s 25th consecutive start gave him the longest streak by a Bruin quarterback since Larry Zeno’s 25-game run from 1962-64.

McNown’s 15 completions gave him 403, moving him past Tommy Maddox to third on the all-time UCLA list. Just ahead are Troy Aikman, with 406, and Tom Ramsey, with 441.

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Skip Hicks’ touchdown Saturday gave him a score in each of his last 14 games and pushed his lifetime point total to 270, third on the all-time UCLA list and first among non-kickers. John Lee is the top Bruin scorer with 390 points, Bjorn Merten is second at 301.

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NEXT FOR UCLA

Who: Oregon St.

Where: Rose Bowl

When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 9

Radio: AM 1150