#1 UCLA Gets Poll Position

Ranked No. 1 in the bowl poll, ranked No. 2 in the other two--but still plain rankled.

Somehow having bluffed their way into the running for the Fiesta Bowl when they apparently should be grateful for consideration by the Motor City Bowl people, the UCLA Bruins are undefeated and somewhat unappreciated. OK, not so somewhat.

Texas running back Ricky Williams played them Sept. 12, then a week later called the follow-up opponent, Kansas State, tougher.

Houston played them Sept. 19, then a week later Coach Kim Helton called the follow-up opponent, Tennessee, tougher.

USC Coach Paul Hackett, not waiting to have played either team, called Oregon the team to beat in the Pacific 10, three days after the Bruins had beaten the Ducks to take control of the conference race.

And then there was California wide receiver Dameane Douglas, who caught 10 passes for 73 yards Saturday in Berkeley in UCLA’s 28-16 victory.

“If that’s the No. 2 team in the nation, then we should play the No. 1 team,” Douglas said. “I don’t think they just came out and blew us away, with them being No. 2 and us unranked. They’re definitely not the No. 2 team. Maybe No. 27 or 28, but not No. 2.”

That did it.

“It’s unbelievable to me, it really is,” Bruin Coach Bob Toledo said. “I don’t want to get into a contest. It’s like when you get into contests with skunks. You lose the battle, right? But their receiver. Before the game, he was talking to all our guys and saying how he was going to beat them and swearing at them. And then during the course of the game, he was [near] our sideline saying, ‘McNown, there goes your Heisman. You’re going to lose it.’

“The guy catches 10 passes for 70 yards. My daughter could catch 10 passes for 70 yards. They lost the game. It kind of upsets me. It makes me laugh. When you win the game, go pop off. Our guys aren’t going to pop off when we win, but for guys to pop off when they lose, that doesn’t show me much. I have no respect for those types of people.”

Which prompted the obvious question:

Which daughter?

“Alissa,” Toledo said. “My younger one. My older daughters are even better than her.”

On Sept. 12, Williams rushed 29 times for 160 yards, 69 in the fourth quarter, after UCLA had built a 42-10 lead and was playing its reserves on defense.

On Sept. 19, Williams rushed for 43 yards against Kansas State, and the Texas team managed only 53 in 28 carries.

“K State was much more physical and aggressive than UCLA,” Williams said.

“Every week we have to beat a team by 60 or we’re not deemed worthy of being the No. 2 team in the nation,” Bruin tackle Kris Farris said.

“When people play the No. 2 team in the nation, they expect the best of the best. We’re not always the best of the best. But we’re still always winning.”

Part of the image problem, the Bruins routinely acknowledge, is that they have yet to play a great game. They have recorded impressive victories--over No. 10 Arizona on the road and No. 11 Oregon at home--but not overwhelming ones.

Texas kept it close enough to force Toledo to leave McNown in until the final moments. Houston made itself a pain. The Bruins sputtered offensively in the second half against Washington State. Cal, a two-touchdown underdog, didn’t get left behind until UCLA went to a halfback option pass in the fourth quarter.

So people talk.

“If people think we [stink] all the way up to the Fiesta Bowl, that’s fine with me,” Farris said. “As long as we get there.”

On Sept. 19, Houston had 173 yards in 45 carries and 269 yards passing against UCLA.

On Sept. 26, Houston had 39 yards in 31 carries and 200 yards passing against Tennessee.

“Tennessee is a good, hard-nosed and clean team,” said Helton, no friend of the Bruins even before he went to Knoxville. “They’re a lot tougher than UCLA. Tennessee was very physical up front.”

“We play teams and we beat them,” strong safety Jason Stephens said. “If they want to play us again, we’ll beat them again. SC talks. We’re going to play ‘em. We’ll see then.”

The Bruins probably need to start blowing teams out to convince the skeptics, starting Saturday against 1-6 Stanford at the Rose Bowl. More than being the No. 2 team, they need to impress like one. Image and all.

They see the situation. They sense the lack of appreciation for a team that is fifth in the nation in scoring, tied for sixth in turnover margin, ninth in total offense and 15th in passing offense, all while going extended stretches minus injured game-breakers Freddie Mitchell and DeShaun Foster, and several key components on defense.

But there’s a lack of blowouts, the only one being 49-17 over Washington State. So there’s a lack of respect.

“That’s frustrating,” Toledo said. “But it’s like the same old deal. When you’re on top, everyone wants to take a shot at you. Everybody wants to knock you down.”

Cal players. Texas players, Houston coaches. USC coaches. Maybe it’s time for UCLA to unveil a new weapon.

Alissa Toledo.