After 66-3, Can UCLA Still Do a Number?

Two weeks ago, there was a feeding frenzy and the question before the house today at the Rose Bowl is: Are the Bruins still hungry?

They are coming off an open date in the schedule after their 66-3 rout of Texas in Austin, and there is some concern that they dulled their appetites in the feast generated by a defense that forced eight turnovers.

With that in mind, 24th-ranked UCLA, 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Pacific 10, has been trying to knock some recent memories out of its mind while preparing to play Arizona (1-2, 0-1).

Actually, the Bruins have been trying to knock out each other.

“We’ve got a game this week, and we’ve got to forget about what happened in the past and get on to the next one,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “You get their attention pretty good when you bang them around a little bit in practice. We have had physical practices. We’ve had some guys knocked out because of it, but one thing we’ve stressed is that it’s going to be a physical game.”

Backup running back Keith Brown learned that Tuesday when he was carted off Spaulding Field, victim of a tackle around his throat that rendered him speechless . . . and, for a while, breathless.

But memories linger, and some should. A year ago in Tucson, the Bruins led at halftime, 14-7, but lost, 35-17.

“Arizona knocked us out of bowl contention,” said safety Shaun Williams. “We can’t forget that.”

And Toledo hasn’t forgotten the Wildcat defense, which has been statistically sound this season, ranking first in the Pac-10 overall and fifth in the NCAA, giving up an average of 227.7 yards a game. Opponents are averaging only 1.8 yards a rush against Arizona and only 61.3 yards a game. The Wildcats held Ohio State, which beat them last Saturday, to 70 yards rushing, the Buckeyes’ lowest total in four years and 152 yards under their average.

In three games, Arizona has given up one second-half touchdown and 10 second-half points.

But that’s the UCLA offense’s problem. Rocky Long, the Bruin defensive coordinator is more concerned with Keith Smith.

He’s the Arizona quarterback and the Bruins found him indigestible a year ago, when he threw for a touchdown and kept UCLA defenders chasing him all day.

“The quarterback is very dangerous,” Long said. “He can beat you with the pass, but what scares you most is when he’s carrying the ball, either on the option or scrambling.”

He threw the touchdown pass a year ago when the Bruins believed they had bottled him up.

Their normal defensive approach is a headlong pass rush designed to rattle a quarterback, but against Smith they have to try a cattle drive, herding him into trouble--if they can.

“We have to be a little bit more controlled on the pass rush than we would be with a guy that didn’t scramble as well,” Long said. “We hope we will be a little more disciplined in our rush lanes. That’s the emphasis.”

After a standout freshman season, Smith has struggled early for Arizona, throwing for 424 yards on 35-for-74 passing, with two touchdown passes and four interceptions. Perhaps more telling, he has rushed for 98 yards and Wildcat quarterbacks have been sacked eight times.

But he might have had a breakout fourth quarter at Ohio State, leading four scoring drives, scrambling for 69 yards and passing for 210.

“I don’t think Keith’s played to his expectations or mine,” Wildcat Coach Dick Tomey said. “We’re hoping that the last quarter of the Ohio State game was more Keith being himself, and I think I finally saw him relax a little bit and just play.

“For whatever reason, I just feel like he has just pressed and hasn’t been himself. But I think probably the expectations that have been placed on him, being just a sophomore, maybe were burdensome to him because he . . . has played only nine games.”

Actually, he has played 14--nine starts--and that has been enough time to get opponents’ attention.

“You’ve got to contain him,” Toledo said. “You can’t let him run around and make plays. You’ve got to keep pressure on him.”

The pressure today is on both teams.

“I’d say we’re at a crossroads right now,” Toledo said. “This is a pivotal game in the season for us. We’re going to go one of two ways right now. The one that loses this game is out of the Rose Bowl race. The one that wins it is still mathematically in it.”

For UCLA, the numbers that linger are 66-3. How long they linger might well determine the Bruins’ destiny.