Doing a Number on Teams

Four games into UCLA’s promising football season, statistics are becoming meaningful. Trends are forming. Anomalies and aberrations are being ironed out.

In short, the numbers no longer lie. Valid conclusions can be drawn as easily as one, two, three.

Significant Bruin stats and how they relate to Saturday’s game against Washington in a matchup of 4-0 teams:

* UCLA’s offense ranks first in the Pacific 10 Conference in rushing and last in passing, a flip-flop from a year ago when the Bruins finished last in rushing and second in passing.

Coach Bob Toledo’s goal is for UCLA to become more physical and move the ball on the ground. Every game has begun with repeated carries by tailback DeShaun Foster and ended with the Bruins running the ball to protect a lead.

Some say the normally imaginative Toledo is becoming conservative. He says he simply can’t imagine not utilizing one of the nation’s top backs.

* UCLA has no one among conference reception leaders.

Bruin receivers, like G-men, are anonymous yet abundant. Tab Perry, Ryan Smith and Brian Poli-Dixon have taken turns making long receptions for touchdowns, and Craig Bragg, Bryan Fletcher, Mike Seidman, Manuel White and Foster have had featured roles.

“Last year Freddie Mitchell was the primary receiver, the guy I’d look for,” quarterback Cory Paus said. “This year I’m running the offense and not really thinking about who is in the game. A lot of guys have proven they can catch the ball.”

Most importantly, Paus hasn’t made a receiver out of a defender--he has not thrown an interception in 154 passes dating to last season.

* UCLA is first in pass defense. Opponents have completed only 37.1% for 606 yards and two touchdowns--both in the opener against Alabama.

In the last two games, the Bruins shut down experienced senior quarterbacks Steve Bellisari of Ohio State and Jonathan Smith of Oregon State, who were a combined 16 of 55.

This does not bode well for Washington. Junior transfer Taylor Barton is expected to make his first start because Cody Pickett has a shoulder injury. Barton was 11 of 20 for 197 yards and two touchdowns in relief against USC on Saturday, but fumbled three snaps.

* UCLA has held opposing first-string tailbacks to a minuscule 40.5 yards a game and a per-carry average of 2.8.

Alabama’s Ahmad Galloway had 76 yards, Reggie Duncan of Kansas gained 13, Jonathan Wells of Ohio State managed 47 and Ken Simonton of Oregon State was held to 26.

Last season, Washington led the Pac-10 with 211.7 yards rushing a game and 4.8 yards a carry behind option quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo. This year has been a different story. The Huskies average 3.4 yards a carry and Pickett was injured on an option keeper.

* UCLA opponents have driven inside the 20-yard line only seven times and scored just two touchdowns and a field goal, making the Bruins the stingiest red zone defense in the conference.

Washington has been vulnerable only through the air, allowing eight touchdown passes and zero scores on the ground. Six scoring passes and a field goal have come inside the 20.

* UCLA is last in punt and kick returns as well as in kick coverage.

Bragg and Ricky Manning average only 6.1 yards and have muffed punts. That’s a problem. But the numbers on kickoffs are misleading.

UCLA has returned only four kicks, a tribute to the Bruin defense and opposing kickers, who usually boot the ball out of the end zone. Similarly, Nate Fikse has sent all but six kicks out of the end zone.

Bruin kick coverage has been lax, allowing 30.3 yards, and coaches are livid at the lack of effort of players who assume Fikse will boom the ball through the end zone and jog down the field.

Washington is not a team to coast against. The Huskies have scored on a kick return, punt return and blocked field goal.

* UCLA is penalized less than any other Pac-10 team, an average of 4.5 for 45.2 yards per game.

The Bruins have rarely been hurt by holding or pass interference calls, and insist their four personal fouls against Oregon State were retaliatory.

Don’t expect a rash of flags against the Bruins on Saturday--Washington’s opponents have had only 45 yards of penalties per game, least in the conference.

* Washington’s victories over Michigan, California and USC came on fourth-quarter comebacks and the Huskies have outscored opponents in the last period, 53-20.

Meanwhile, UCLA has been outscored, 21-7, in the fourth quarter, but has not relinquished a lead. The Bruins have rendered fourth quarters almost meaningless by outscoring opponents, 44-0, in the third quarter.

Both teams have a penchant for falling behind. Washington has had to come back for 16 of 21 victories under Neuheisel and UCLA opponents scored first in 13 of 14 games before the Bruins took early leads against Ohio State and Oregon State.

* UCLA’s Fikse and Washington’s Derek McLaughlin lead the conference with 43.5-yard punting averages. Toledo and Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel are former quarterbacks savvy enough to play the field-position game when necessary.

* UCLA and Washington rank one and two in scoring defense. Not since 1995 has either team scored fewer than 20 points against the other. That could change. UCLA gives up an average of 11.8 points and has allowed a high of 17. Washington allows 18.2.

Shutting down the Huskies would be a novel concept--the Bruins haven’t held them to under 20 points since 1988. But go figure, all the stats this year point to a low-scoring, mistake-free game.