Bruin Yawner Might Be Nice

It’s a universally accepted personality theory: There are morning people and night people.

“I’m definitely not a morning person, trust me,” Bob Toledo said.

The UCLA coach was reminded of this during a week of early practices to prepare his team for a game this morning at 9:30, California time, against Kansas.

“I was pleased with the energy and enthusiasm of our football players,” he said. “Maybe they are morning people.

“Or maybe they just stayed up all night, I don’t know.”

Football coaches, of course, are masters of cliches. This week Toledo and his staff have broken out a whole new set to motivate the Bruins.

Anybody overconfident after last week’s season-opening victory over Alabama is in for a rude awakening .

Anybody who takes the Jayhawks lightly is going to get a wake-up call .

In sum, the coaches warn, you snooze, you lose.

So today the Bruins are up and at ‘em, eating their pregame meal at 5:30 PDT and entering Memorial Stadium for warmups about the time they normally tiptoe outside to grab the morning paper.

Although Kansas has not had a winning record since 1995, Toledo has reason for concern. In two of the last three years, the Bruins barely survived lesser opponents the week after rousing victories in openers.

In 1998, a win over No. 23 Texas was followed by a struggle against lowly Houston and several Bruins suffered serious injuries.

Last year, a victory over No. 3 Alabama was followed by a 24-21 escape against Fresno State.

“In a lot of people’s eyes, they would see that happening again,” Toledo said. “Our guys know if they want to reach the goals they’ve set for themselves, they have to perform every week.”

Other obstacles await as well. Rain is forecast and UCLA must adjust to the AstroPlay field, the same artificial surface used at Washington. It’s softer than most non-grass fields and the Bruins will wear the same cleats they wear on grass.

Tailback DeShaun Foster is eager to play. Kansas is suspect defensively and he has heard all about Heisman Trophy winners who jump-started their seasons by motoring around Memorial Stadium.

Barry Sanders and his 313 yards in 1988. Rashaan Salaam and his 232 in 1994. Ricky Williams and his 211 in 1997.

“I’m looking forward to this game and running on that turf,” said Foster, who had 110 yards against Alabama.

Unless the weather forces a conservative game plan, expect quarterback Cory Paus to throw more often than he did against Alabama, where he was eight of 22 for 123 yards.

Five passes were dropped--three by Brian Poli-Dixon and two by Foster--but Paus misfired on several and failed to see open receivers, especially tight end Bryan Fletcher. Television close-ups caught Paus chewing himself out more than once.

“It was frustrating at times,” he said. “We were killing ourselves. This is a good chance to get the entire offense clicking.”

Kansas has 11 new starters and was not impressive in a 24-10 victory over Division I-AA Southwest Missouri State, committing four turnovers.

“We have an awful lot of new faces,” Coach Terry Allen said. “We really had some ups and downs against Southwest Missouri.”

Kansas will introduce at least one more new face against UCLA: Freshman Mario Kinsey will replace Zach Dyer at quarterback at some .

Dyer, a sophomore, displayed a lack of arm strength and mobility in his debut against Southwest Missouri, but he did enough to win. Kinsey, meanwhile, was serving a suspension for his alleged part in a purse-snatching incident.

Allen is showing restraint simply by not starting Kinsey. Tailback Reggie Duncan, who also was allegedly involved in the theft, will start. Sophomore Dan Coke rushed for only 44 yards in 21 carries last week.

“What scares you is that their tailback and quarterback were suspended, so they are the unknown,” Toledo said. “But it really comes down to how well we play. We can’t stub our toe.”

Provided the Bruins stretch, yawn and wipe the sleep from their eyes before kickoff, that shouldn’t happen.