It’s Sweet Home for Alabama in UCLA Rematch

A football team overcomes a shaky start and gels in time to pull off a wild upset in front of a delirious home crowd.

UCLA players sat glued to the inspirational film all week, like 5-year-olds watching the latest Disney flick until every line of dialogue is memorized.

Forget “Remember the Titans.”

Disregard “The Longest Yard.”

The Bruins viewed a real-life adventure starring ...

Themselves.

The antagonists were the Alabama Crimson Tide, who came into last season’s opener at the Rose Bowl ranked No. 3 and left 35-24 losers. UCLA fans chanted “overrated” while credits rolled.

Breaking down game film is rarely this much fun.

“We are learning while we’re watching, but we are enjoying it too,” safety Marques Anderson said.

Bruin quarterback Cory Paus was lost to an injury after the first series and Alabama took an early lead on a long punt return. But UCLA controlled the trenches, Ryan McCann filled in ably for Paus and victory was realized.

It was perhaps UCLA’s finest hour in a season that soon spiraled downward. DeShaun Foster rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Brian Poli-Dixon caught a 31-yard touchdown pass. The Bruin defense allowed only 10 points.

“That game showed what we can do when we put it together,” linebacker Ryan Nece said.

The cast will be recognizable Saturday when No. 15 UCLA faces No. 25 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Fifteen starters return for the Bruins, 13 for the Crimson Tide.

But Bruins beware--sequels are rarely as good as the original.

The change of venue tilts the scales. Alabama, which has played a majority of home games in Birmingham, is 19-0-1 in openers at the campus stadium since it was built in 1929.

UCLA seems an unlikely candidate to break the streak. The Bruins have won one of their last 11 road games, beginning with a 49-45 loss to Miami in 1998 that spoiled their unbeaten season.

Furthermore, the probability of an Alabama victory could be enhanced by friendly support personnel, otherwise known as homers, if recent history is an accurate gauge.

The last time a UCLA team visited Tuscaloosa was during the 1998 NCAA women’s basketball tournament. The Bruins led by one with 0.8 seconds to play. Alabama inbounded the ball from under the UCLA basket and about three seconds later made the winning shot.

Alabama timekeeper Doc Blanchard, who had been at the job for nearly three decades, apparently was a tad slow on the clock. Blanchard--no relation to the Heisman Trophy winner and Army legend of the same name--passed on about two years ago.

It is said around Tuscaloosa that Blanchard now times how long St. Peter keeps heaven’s gate open for departed souls. Most have 0.8 seconds to explain why they should be admitted, but those from Alabama get as long as they need.

Last year, UCLA football Coach Bob Toledo told women’s basketball Coach Kathy Olivier, “We’ll get some payback,” and like Clint Eastwood, Toledo backed the tough talk.

This year a handful of UCLA boosters won’t let the episode be forgotten. They plan to wear T-shirts to the football game that read “0.8.”

“It’s a reminder,” booster Keith Bereskin said. “People will ask me questions about it.”

Except for somebody standing behind Bereskin in a concession line, the capacity crowd of 83,818 will be too engrossed in football to give a split second’s thought to a bygone basketball game. And the Tide faithful have their own T-shirts, the ones that read “Fran Can.”

This will mark the debut of Dennis Franchione, who turned around programs at Southwest Texas State, New Mexico and Texas Christian. The new coach has his own Eastwood moment planned. “I’ll have a stare-down with the opposing coach during pregame warmups,” he said. “We will check each other out very deeply.”

Don’t consider Toledo rude if he doesn’t notice.

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“I don’t have time for that stuff,” he said. “Everybody has their own approach and that’s not my style.”

Franchione is all business. Last season players watched movies on Friday nights and credit “Remember the Titans” for fueling their victory over South Carolina. Not only are movies out, the team is forbidden from talking during dinner.

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Said tailback Ahmaad Galloway: “We’re still watching movies, it’ll just be about UCLA.”

Both teams study last year’s game for a reason. The message takes repeated viewings to decipher.

The outcome foreshadowed the troubles of Alabama, which went a humbling 3-8, yet UCLA got a false sense of grandeur. A 3-0 start dissolved into an injury-filled, ho-hum 6-6 season.

“We saw what we can do when we’re healthy and confident,” Nece said. “I believe we will win the football game. But win or lose, it’s only the first game. We’ll come home and get ready for another one.”