Bruins Will Take a Walk to Get the Juices Flowing

UCLA will continue a tradition it borrowed from Tennessee and started at the Rose Bowl last season by having the team bus stop about a quarter-mile from the tunnel entrance two hours before the game so players can walk through the crowd around Area H and the food zone to the locker room.

“It helps to get our players get emotional and it gets the fans into the game,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “It gets them [the players] going. People are yelling at them, ‘Go! Go!’ It gets me fired up.”

Previously, the UCLA bus had pulled down the tunnel and next to the locker room, but Toledo instituted the walk last season, an idea he got when the Bruins played at Knoxville in 1996.

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Here’s how to make a 66-3 rout. In last year’s game at Austin, the Longhorns committed eight turnovers, gained only 53 yards, and gave up 28 points in the second quarter.

“You can’t count on what happened last year to happen this year,” McNown said.

Texas is counting on it not happening.

“We played horribly last year, and the bar has been raised this year,” Williams said. “The confidence level of this team now is such that we expect to go out and win every week.”

“Williams is a physical runner who attacks you,” Toledo said. “He’s got a lot of speed, he catches the ball.”

Williams needs only 74 yards to surpass Earl Campbell and become the leading career rusher in school history.

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A crowd approaching 80,000 is expected, so no tickets will be on sale at the Rose Bowl. . . . Reserve defensive lineman Ken Kocher, bothered by a sprained and bruised ankle, is expected to play in what should be a boost for the Bruins. He had been listed as questionable most of the week, but has been showing improvement all along. . . . Starting UCLA fullback Craig Walendy won’t play because of an infection he contracted from a spider bite several weeks ago. . . . The Texas offensive line that has played a key role in Williams’ success is led by right guard Ben Adams, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound senior from La Mirada High.

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HOW THEY COMPARE*

UCLA

Scoring: 39.8

Points Allowed: 20.6

Passing: 264

Rushing: 165.7

Total Offense: 165.7

Passing Defense: 236.5

Rushing Defense: 115.3

Total Defense: 351.8

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Texas

Scoring: 66

Points Allowed: 36

Passing: 306

Rushing: 274

Total Offense: 274

Passing Defense: 250

Rushing Defense: 233

Total Defense: 483

* UCLA averages from 1997