Huddle Up, It’s Homecoming

In his first season at UCLA, offensive lineman Oscar Cabrera joined his teammates in the film room. Coach Bob Toledo wanted the Bruins to try something new.

Actually, something old. Toledo, in his first year as head coach, showed his players the old serpentine huddle, in which the Bruins snake out of the huddle and into their offensive formation.

“It’s kind of funny,” Cabrera said, “the way they break the huddle and they get that nice little tilt going.”

That’s how coach Red Sanders and the Bruins’ 1954 national champions did it. In tribute, that’s how Toledo has the Bruins do it when they break their first huddle in the homecoming game each year. Today is homecoming, and this will be the fifth annual tribute.

‘It’s neat,” said Cabrera, now a senior. “When we do it, everybody starts applauding.”

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Today’s game also features the wacky Stanford band, which disdains traditional marches in favor of loosely organized chaos, breakfasts of beer and doughnuts and halftime shows that blur the line between humorous and offensive.

“Musically, they’re weak,” said Lisa Snyder, who plays clarinet in the UCLA marching band. “It’s not something they focus on. They focus on running around the field and being crazy.”

Joey Pritikin, the self-described “public relations guru” for the Stanford band, said many talented musicians want to join “a band that isn’t like any other band,” even if the music suffers at the expense of having a good time. Pritikin said the Stanford band members respect the traditional marching bands at schools like California and UCLA.

“But we don’t respect USC. They’re pompous,” Pritikin said. “They present themselves to be an elite marching band, which they’re not. If you compare them to a real marching band, they’ll get blown away. I think UCLA and Stanford fans can agree on that.”

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* Time: 3:30 p.m.

* Site: Rose Bowl.

* TV: Channel 9.

* Radio: KXTA (1150).

* When UCLA has the ball: If Cory Paus had played enough games to qualify, he would lead the Pacific 10 Conference in passing efficiency, ahead of Washington State’s Jason Gesser. Efficiency is the goal today, one week after a roller-coaster game in which Paus threw two early interceptions on ill-advised passes but rebounded by conducting a crisp, smart two-minute drill and scrambling for the winning touchdown. The wrapping has been reduced around the broken right hand of tailback DeShaun Foster, and neither the hand nor a nagging case of turf toe should keep him from a heavy workload today. Stanford is not noted for its rushing defense, so if Foster--and, as needed, backup Akil Harris--can run well enough to minimize third-and-long situations, the UCLA coaches believe they can reduce the impact of Stanford’s sack artists. Two linebackers lead the Cardinal in sacks--Riall Johnson, who leads the Pac-10 with 10, and Coy Wire with five.

* When Stanford has the ball: The game ain’t over till it’s over, not against a Stanford team that recovered two onside kicks and scored three touchdowns in a five-minute span in the final quarter of last week’s 31-28 loss to Washington. Quarterback Randy Fasani missed three games because of a knee injury, and Stanford lost all three, but with Fasani the Cardinal is 3-2, averaging 28 points and 414 yards of total offense. Fasani can run, although not as well as Arizona’s Ortege Jenkins did last week, and he is a far better passer than Jenkins. DeRonnie Pitts leads the Pac-10 in receptions with 59 for 700 yards. Brian Allen and Kerry Carter split the rushing duty; Carter ran for 123 yards two weeks ago against USC. Stanford plays smart--of course--with the fewest penalties and second-fewest sacks allowed in the conference.

* Key to the game: Stanford has forced fewer turnovers than any Pac-10 team, so the Bruins can win if they can control the game with long drives. But UCLA cannot repeat last week’s performance, when it failed to gain 35 yards on 12 of its 14 drives.

* Fast fact: Former walk-on Kory Lombard becomes the eighth player in four weeks to start on UCLA’s hobbled defensive line.

* The line: UCLA by 8.

HOW THEY COMPARE

UCLA and Stanford

29.1 Scoring 20.1

29.9 Points allowed 27.5

250.4 Passing 234.6

103.4 Rushing 144.6

353.8 Total offense 379.2

213.1 Passing defense 214.8

164.0 Rushing defense 161.6

377.1 Total defense 376.4