Riptide on the West Coast

Not that it was a monumental event or anything, but:

* Bob Toledo called it one of the top two of his 30 victories as UCLA coach, better than even the 1998 Cotton Bowl triumph;

* Senior Jason Bell cried before the game;

* The much-maligned secondary contained one of the most dangerous and versatile receiving threats in the country and the much-maligned offensive line blew open holes against arguably the best run defense in the nation.

All against an opponent ranked third.

While twice coming from behind.

Without the starting quarterback.

UCLA 35, Alabama 24 on Saturday afternoon before 76,640 at the Rose Bowl may not be one for the ages, but it’s one for these Bruins in particular, the perfect season opener and an even better bit of redemption. Beyond perfect being possible on this kind of day.

It was everything last season wasn’t.

DeShaun Foster, no longer held back by a sprained ankle, ran with authority, carrying 42 times to tie the school record for a career-high 187 yards, the most for UCLA in three years. The defense, 107th out of 114 Division I-A teams, gave up only 265 yards and 10 points, Alabama getting its other scores on a punt return and an interception return. Even the crowd, though boosted by the arrival of some 25,000 Crimson Tide fans, was 21,000 more than the best showing of ’99.

“Nothing makes up for the heartache we had,” offensive tackle Mike Saffer said. “But it’s a great feeling.”

Maybe even the greatest of all. So great a win was this--a national- championship contender against a team trying to pull itself back up to respectability, with backup quarterback Ryan McCann at that since Cory Paus separated his right shoulder on the first series--that it was being measured in historical context, against the years and not the singular opponent.

It was certainly more meaningful than anything that came during the 4-7 debacle of 1999, when the highlight was the overtime victory against No. 23 Washington in the next-to-last weekend of the season.

It was even better than anything in the 10-0 start of 1998--the great opener against Ricky Williams and Texas, the huge night conference showdown at Arizona, the overtime shootout with Akili Smith and Reuben Droughns and Oregon, even the eighth consecutive victory over USC.

Toledo does not hesitate to say so. Some of his seniors do not disagree.

The Bruins beat Texas A&M; in the Cotton Bowl to end the 1997 season and gain a measure of revenge for their coach, who had been fired by the Aggies as offensive coordinator. Not better than Alabama 2000, Toledo says. Not the 66-3 victory for unranked UCLA over No. 11 Texas that came as the response to a pair of season-opening losses and started the school-record 20-game winning streak.

The only one that tops it for Toledo is the double-overtime classic versus USC in the 1996 finale. His players, even those in their fifth year with the program, struggle to imagine anything better than this.

“Top three, definitely,” defensive end Kenyon Coleman said.

Said Bell, the senior cornerback whose day was made all the more emotional because it marked his first game in 51 weeks, after a frustrating comeback from a heel problem: “For me, this is the biggest. The reason for that is it’s the beginning. We’ve never had such a big game at the beginning of a season. And after we had so much adversity.”

Not that Saturday wasn’t without its adverse moments. Paus, on the opening play from scrimmage, sprained a ligament on the top of his right (throwing) shoulder and finished the three-and-out series before leaving the game.

McCann went the rest of the way and completed 14 of 24 passes for 194 yards, a 46-yard touchdown to Freddie Mitchell and the interception that became Reggie Myles’ 91-yard return for a score. Paus, meanwhile, went to the sideline for three to four weeks, meaning at least Fresno State, Michigan and Oregon.

Then the Bruins fell behind immediately, when that first series ended with Nate Fikse’s punt, which became the starter’s pistol for Freddie Milons, Alabama’s thrilling receiver/runner. Milons went 71 yards up the middle, barely touched, for the score and for old time’s sake for UCLA.

That’s when everything turned. The Bruins answered with a commanding drive, using 9 minutes 6 seconds to go 64 yards in 19 plays, capped by Foster’s one-yard run. The UCLA defense didn’t take the field until the game was 10:21 old, then didn’t give up a score until Ahmaad Galloway’s one-yard plunge with 5:35 left in the second quarter. In between, Brian Poli-Dixon had caught a perfectly thrown option pass from flanker Mitchell, the third scoring pass of Mitchell’s career, and Foster had another score from a yard out.

Neal Thomas’ 38-yard field goal with 59 seconds remaining in the half got Alabama to within 21-17. The Crimson Tide eventually took the lead back, 24-21, on Myles’ interception when McCann threw into double coverage, but the Bruins proved resilient again, scoring on the McCann-to-Mitchell pass with 7:05 to play in the third quarter and Foster’s three-yard run with 1:50 left in the period for the final margin.

“A lot of people didn’t give us much credit,” Toledo said. “No. 1, [the players] worked extremely hard in the spring, the summer and fall practice. And they believed. You’ve got to believe.”

*

Rolled Tide

Alabama brought a No. 3 ranking, 25,000 fans and its own state troopers to the Rose Bowl, but it wasn’t enough. Page 6

Thick Blue Line

UCLA’s offensive line, considered the weak link in a 4-7 season, paved the way for DeShaun Foster’s big afternoon. Page 7

Irish Smiling

Arnaz Battle threw two scoring passes and the Notre Dame defense shut down Texas A&M; in the second half of a 24-10 win. Page 5

Unhappy Valley

Penn State had never lost to a MAC team and hadn’t been 0-2 in 10 years, but that changed with a shocking 24-6 loss to Toledo. Page 8

Worth the Wait

Heisman front-runner Michael Vick showed some lightning of his own in Virginia Tech’s 52-23 victory over Akron. Page 10

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

UCLA BY THE NUMBERS

53-24-5: UCLA’s record in season openers

60-18-4: UCLA’s record in home openers

3-2: Bob Toledo’s record in UCLA season openers

1-1: UCLA vs. Alabama all-time

7-0: Pacific 10 nonconference record in 2000

42: Carries by DeShaun Foster, tying school record

265: Yards given up by UCLA defense, 180 under Bruins’ 1999 average

76,640: Saturday’s attendance

Pulling Rank

With Saturday’s victory over No. 3 Alabama, UCLA is 4-9 in the last 10 years against teams ranked in the top 10:

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1990: Lost to No. 7 Michigan, 38-15 Defeated No. 2 Washington, 25-22 1993: Lost to No. 8 Nebraska, 14-13 Defeated No. 7 Arizona, 37-17 Lost to No. 9 Wisconsin (Rose Bowl), 21-16 1994: Lost to No. 2 Nebraska, 49-21 1996: Lost to No. 2 Tennessee, 35-20 Lost to No. 6 Michigan, 38-9 Lost to No. 4 Arizona State, 42-34 1997: Lost to No. 3 Tennessee, 30-24 1998: Defeated No. 10 Arizona, 52-28 Lost to No. 9 Wisconsin (Rose Bowl), 38-31 2000: Defeated No. 3 Alabama, 35-24

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