Aliotti Enjoys Happiest Hour Against Bruins

Two years later, Nick Aliotti finally delivered.

The man coached, coordinated and coaxed the kind of wrap-up-tackle defensive performance that can win a national title for a school. It came suddenly, it came Saturday, it came much too late for the 1998 UCLA Bruins but not a day too soon for the Oregon Ducks.

Call it irony, justice, or a gift from the great Defensive Coordinator in the Sky, but sometimes life throws you a payback you can’t begin to understand or explain.

“I’m actually going to drink a few beers,” Aliotti confessed. “But I won’t drive.”

Aliotti could not pretend to feign that Oregon’s 29-10 victory over No. 6 UCLA at Autzen Stadium was just another win.

It was, in truth, the biggest win for Oregon since its 1994 Rose Bowl season and the most cathartic of Aliotti’s life.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “That’s pretty selfish, but it sure does.”

Aliotti is Oregon’s defensive coordinator now, but he wasn’t always.

In UCLA lore, he’s held in roughly the same regard as Attila the Hun.

Aliotti is the man who cost UCLA a national title in 1998, the Bruins’ offensive defensive coordinator, the man whose troops needed to make one tackle against Miami to secure a national title-game berth for the Bruins.

His name will forever be hitched to the “49” in UCLA’s 49-45 loss that dreadful December day.

Aliotti left UCLA after that season, if not in the dead of night, then before first dawn.

“So many things were written on that Miami game,” he said. “That thing probably brought a lot of things to a head.”

Saturday, Aliotti drew up the defensive plans that will catapult Oregon in the national rankings this week.

Aliotti’s defense held UCLA to minus-nine yards rushing, 197 total yards, four rushing first downs and 10 points.

He called stunts and blitzes. He rolled up the corners, mixed up the coverages and mixed up the Bruins.

Aliotti put eight men “in the box” on the line of scrimmage to shut down UCLA star tailback DeShaun Foster and dared sophomore quarterback Ryan McCann to beat his Ducks.

McCann couldn’t.

“This victory was for Nick Aliotti,” Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman said. “Whether they gave him away or he quit, whatever, we’re glad they gave him away.”

Aliotti did his best to restrain his emotions during the week, but he couldn’t fool his players.

“We knew how much this meant to coach Aliotti,” defensive tackle Jason Nikolao said. “After the game, we got to see him smile. He had kind of a little arrogant smile, like ‘we got ‘em, we got ‘em.’ ”

Safe to say the Aliotti era ended poorly at UCLA.

He was not fired, but was in the least nudged out of Westwood after his team’s disastrous defensive efforts in UCLA’s otherwise glorious season of ’98.

Pardon the defensive coordinator if he’s still a bit defensive.

“The last time I checked, we were 10-2 and went to the Rose Bowl,” Aliotti said. “The bottom line is winning games. We didn’t win a lot of games on defense that year, but we won games.”

Aliotti’s relationship with UCLA Coach Bob Toledo, who publicly and justifiably criticized Aliotti’s defense in ‘98, splintered.

The two were not believed to be on speaking terms until Friday, when Toledo extended his hand to Aliotti after a UCLA workout.

“I said, ‘How you doing coach, and that was about it,’ ” Aliotti said. “Men handle themselves. They know the right thing to do. And when you handle yourself like a man, I respect that.”

As fine a game as his Oregon defense played Saturday, Aliotti admitted he admired the way that Bruins he once coached held up despite being saddled with poor field position all game.

Aliotti knew the young Bruins he threw to the wolves in 1998--Robert Thomas, Ryan Nece, Marques Anderson--would eventually mature into quality players.

Aliotti reminded everyone Saturday he fielded three true freshmen and five redshirt freshman at times that season.

“I love those kids down there,” he said. “When I was down there, I loved them. I coached them as hard as I could.

“I know they hurt. I know they hurt. They’ll play their butts off for you. I respect those kids. They gave me every ounce. I love the way they’ve matured, kind of the way I thought they might, with age.”

Aliotti never got the chance to see his project through.

There was too much blood on the tracks, too many points on the scoreboard, too much lost on the field of 1998 for him to survive.

Aliotti now has new kids to love.

Saturday, they felt his pain and put the hurt on the Bruins. They took Aliotti’s game plan and executed it to perfection.

They took Foster out of the game and put the heat on McCann, who completed only 13 of 33 passes.

“He was never tested in a hostile environment,” Nikolao said. “Too bad for him. He got the worst of it.”

And Aliotti grabbed the best.

In happier times, Aliotti coordinated the 1994 Oregon defense that was good enough to merit the nickname “Gang Green.”

With Washington coming to town Saturday for what becomes a critical early season Pacific 10 Conference showdown, Aliotti says it’s too soon to tag this year’s defense with a superlative.

“If this team merits a name, they’ll get a name,” Aliotti said.

Maybe it’s Aliotti who merits the name.

How about Coach Comeback?

Perhaps, finally, the defense will rest in the case against Aliotti.

“I never doubted myself,” he said. “I always thought I was a good football coach. Sometimes you have better teams than others. Sometimes they execute better than others.”

And his days at UCLA?

“That’s two years removed now,” he said. “I would like to think all the demons were put to rest today, on Sept. 23, 2000.”