CLOSE-OUT SPECIALIST

This UCLA season is getting predictable. And not only because of the victories.

Another opponent. Another backup quarterback.

Unless Randy Fasani makes an unexpected recovery from a sprained knee, Chris Lewis will start for Stanford on Saturday, becoming the fifth second-string signal-caller and third in a row to start against the Bruins in seven games.

But Lewis is no Eric Holtfreter of California, whom UCLA chased to exhaustion. Nor is he Taylor Barton of Washington, who required hospitalization after the Bruins knocked him silly. And he’s no Tyler Watts or Zach Dyer, early-September victims from Alabama and Kansas whose demise provided the first empirical evidence that the UCLA defense is new and improved.

In fact, as a relief pitcher, the Stanford redshirt sophomore rivals Mariano Rivera. He authors storybook endings as neatly as C.S. Lewis.

Last week’s shocker against Oregon was the most recent example. Lewis came off the bench in the second quarter in hostile Autzen Stadium and after a slow start brought the Cardinal back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, 49-42.

“For the first few possessions, I felt like a junior high quarterback,” Lewis said. “Once I found my rhythm, the crowd seemed to be a little less intense.”

Then he felt like a high school quarterback--the confident, dominant high school quarterback he was at Long Beach Poly. Lewis was the national prep player of the year in 1998 and set a state record with 107 career touchdown passes.

Stanford Coach Tyrone Willingham prefers to bring quarterbacks along slowly.

“If you play a quarterback too soon,” he said, “you can hurt him for his entire career. Those scars sometimes can leave unbelievable damage.”

Willingham, however, had little choice but to make Lewis the backup to Fasani last year when projected starter Joe Borchard signed a baseball contract.

And the coach soon found himself summoning Lewis in a save situation against Texas. The freshman responded by throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass moments after replacing an injured Fasani and leading the Cardinal on the winning drive with less than two minutes to play, capping the 27-24 victory with a 15-yard scoring pass.

A month later, Lewis came off the bench with less than a minute remaining and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the game to defeat USC, 32-30.

Willingham sang a different tune.

“For him to come off the bench and make that play, that tells you something special about his personality,” he said. “He has ice water running in his veins for him to do that.”

Ducks, Longhorns, Trojans. They might as well have been Poly’s Moore League foes Compton and Lakewood. Or Pop Warner opponents back when Lewis’ teammates called him “Elway” for his comeback knack.

Bob Toledo is wary that UCLA could be the next victim. He recalls Lewis coming off the bench last year against the Bruins and leading Stanford on three touchdown drives in UCLA’s thrilling 37-35 victory.

“I think he is one of the up-and-coming star quarterbacks in this conference,” the UCLA coach said. “He played last year. He’s played this year. He brought them from behind. He’s not a rookie.”

Because the Bruins’ game Saturday against California was at night, many players watched the Stanford victory over Oregon on television in the afternoon.

Linebacker Robert Thomas, for one, gained respect for Lewis.

“He stepped into that game and put another 20-something on the board,” he said. “That might have built his confidence to play us.”

UCLA roughed up the other backup quarterbacks with frequent blitzes. That will be risky against Stanford, which averages 189 yards rushing.

“We are going to come after him,” Toledo said. “We are going to try to rattle him. But they can run well, so you have to be careful and pick your spots.”

If Stanford could choose a situation for Lewis to make an impact, it would be as a reserve. He was 0-3 as a starter while Fasani recovered from knee surgery last year, completing only 51 of 108 passes against Arizona, Notre Dame and Oregon State. Stanford scored a total of 23 points in the losses.

Consistency and efficiency are not his strong suits. He has completed 46.2% of his 39 passes this year after completing only 45.1% of 204 last year.

He’s better as a big-play threat and a cool customer down the stretch, ideal attributes of a closer.

Stanford probably has no choice but to start him, though. After the Oregon game, Fasani wore a large brace on his right knee and said to reporters that doctors told him he would be out three to four weeks.

“I’ve been hurt one too many times,” he said. “My goal is to play in the NFL. I sure hope the scouts give me a chance.”

It almost sounded like he was writing off the rest of the season. But Fasani has made quick recoveries before. Last year he was pronounced out for the season after injuring his left knee against Texas, yet was in the lineup four weeks later against USC.

As it happened, he couldn’t make it through the entire game and his backup was summoned to pen a happy ending. This week, however, it appears Lewis must begin with chapter one.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Fantastic Finisher

Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis’ statistics: 2001 PASSING

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Games Efficiency Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G 4 108.99 39-18-1 46.2 237 2 50 59.3

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2001 TOTAL OFFENSE

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Games Plays Rush Pass Total Avg/G 4 42 -9 237 228 57.0

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2000 STATISTICS

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G/GS PA PC Pct Yds Int TD Tot Off. 8/3 204 92 .451 1,179 5 8 1,140

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