Venue’s Mystique a Concern

Many of the historical events in the stadium have not even involved today’s opponent and approximately 20,000 fans are expected to be wearing red and white, but Alabama Coach Mike DuBose will be watching to see how his players react to being in the Rose Bowl for the first time.

In fact, it’s the first visit for any Crimson Tide team since Jan. 1, 1946, when Alabama beat USC in the final game before the tie-in between the Big Ten and the Pacific 10. Only three current players have anything close to California roots, and even that’s a stretch: tailback Ahmaad Galloway was born in San Diego, but moved to Alabama as a child, and defensive back Connie Brown and defensive end Shawn Oglesby played at City College of San Francisco before transferring.

“I’m a little concerned about it, because of the hype that’s going with this game, going out on the West Coast and seeing the Rose Bowl for the first time,” DuBose said. “I really think this is a football team that, when it comes time to play, will be focused. We’ve talked about it.

“Good football teams are ready to play when the ball is teed up, and for 60 minutes you’re focused on the task at hand. I am concerned somewhat about going to California . . . concerned about the Rose Bowl mystique and the tradition there. But I’m more concerned about UCLA.”

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The memory of former Bruin star Eric Turner, who died in May, will be saluted today and throughout the season. A tribute will be shown on the video scoreboard before the game. He is also profiled with a page in the game program. The media guide has been dedicated to Robert Fischer, UCLA’s athletic director in the early 1980s who died in February.

Turner started at free safety from 1988-90, becoming an All-American as a senior before going on to a nine-year NFL career. He is still fourth in all-time tackles and tied for fourth in interceptions at UCLA.

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Defensive end Kenyon Coleman and guard Oscar Cabrera were selected co-captains for the season in a vote by players. The coaches will choose two additional captains for each game. This week, linebacker Tony White and tailback Jermaine Lewis were picked.