It’s Not for the Roses, but It’s Still Special

During a season in which the Rose Bowl game will not automatically feature teams from the Pacific 10 and Big Ten conferences, Saturday’s match-up between UCLA and Ohio State is a fair substitute. At least the Buckeyes believe so.

“It’s going to be very exciting for us,” tailback Jonathan Wells said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Ohio State has played 13 games at the Rose Bowl. Each time, the game was the Rose Bowl game. A September nonconference meeting doesn’t have the same allure, but it is the only game between two ranked teams Saturday.

“We’ve talked about Ohio State treating this as a big deal,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “For any Big Ten school, playing at the Rose Bowl carries special meaning.”

The Buckeyes are 6-7 in Rose Bowl games, only one of which came against UCLA. But that was memorable for the Bruins.

Under Coach Dick Vermeil, UCLA dashed the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes’ national championship hopes with a 23-10 victory on Jan. 1, 1976, avenging a loss to Ohio State earlier that season. UCLA is 3-4-1 against the Buckeyes with the other victories coming in 1962 and 1980. Ohio State won the most recent meeting, 42-20, in 1999 when 11 UCLA players were suspended in the handicapped-parking scandal.

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Chris Kluwe, the Bruins’ reserve punter and kicker, damaged ligaments in his right knee while trying to sit on the floor of his apartment. He wore a brace and used crutches at practice Thursday and is out for an undetermined length of time .... Lila McCann, the 19-year-old platinum-selling country music artist, will sing the national anthem .... The radio broadcast will be on KLAC 570 because XTRA 1150 will be broadcasting the Dodgers.