Go-To Guy Is Missing for Team Used to One

It’s deep in the second half, the game is tight, and UCLA desperately needs to score.

Who’s going to get the ball?

A season ago it was DeShaun Foster, at least until NCAA rules trouble hit.

Before that it was Freddie Mitchell who could break open a game, or Cade McNown who always seemed to make some last-ditch scramble and score ... Kevin Jordan ... J.J. Stokes ...

Who now?

Three games into the season, UCLA doesn’t have a go-to guy.

“We all have to step up and make plays,” receiver Craig Bragg said.

“You know, that was our theme going into this year. We’re not going to be individuals. We’re going to be a team. And whatever the coaches say, whatever the defense gives us, that’s what we’re going to do.

“It’s a big difference from last year. We’re team-oriented. Last year, we had a superstar: We had De- Shaun. Everybody knew that was our guy. This year, I guess you could say we are looking for an identity.”

When it’s third and five, you never really know who the Bruins will give the ball to--which is good for keeping defenses guessing, not so good for building an offense that’s confident it can move the ball when it needs to.

The tailback duo of Akil Harris and Manuel White had been reasonably effective until Saturday, but the ground game didn’t get much going in the 31-17 loss to Colorado at the Rose Bowl.

Despite an effort to establish the running game, UCLA finished with 62 net yards rushing, only 31 by Harris and 36 by White, who doubles as the fullback. The longest run of the day was 13 yards by White.

“We just didn’t run the ball very well today,” said Kelly Skipper, UCLA’s running back coach and offensive coordinator.

“We’ve still got to get a better flow on offense. We were averaging 400 yards a game coming into this game. Things just didn’t go as we’d like.”

Harris and White are more workmanlike than flash-and-dash, and quarterback Cory Paus and the receiving corps didn’t show much of a deep threat Saturday, either.

Bragg probably comes closest to being UCLA’s big-play guy, though the Bruins would like to see the same thing from Tab Perry.

It was Bragg’s 41-yard touchdown reception against Oklahoma State with the Bruins trailing, 10-0, that turned that game UCLA’s way in a 38-24 victory.

In the loss to Colorado, his 33-yard reception on a trick-play pass from receiver Jon Dubravac gave UCLA its only lead, 7-0.

Surprisingly, during training camp the most consistent deep threat was tight end Mike Seidman. That hasn’t materialized so much during the season, though he did have a 27-yard touchdown reception against Oklahoma State.

“I need to be a big-play guy,” Seidman said. “Whenever a deep ball was called to me [against Colorado], Cory was sacked or had to get rid of it.”

Two of the most exciting potential options are freshman tailback Tyler Ebell, whose darting ability is being used mostly on punt returns although he has yet to break one, and freshman receiver Junior Taylor.

Taylor showed his ability on an electrifying 49-yard reverse in the opening victory over Colorado State, but hadn’t caught a pass until Saturday. He finished with two receptions, one of them for 20 yards.

“He’s got a lot of speed,” Skipper said. “Just you know, a freshman. He’s starting to get in the groove, getting some game experience. He made a nice catch over the middle, and had another nice reverse [a 10-yarder Saturday.]”

Bragg sees Taylor’s talent, but knows the freshman has more to learn before he can become a big part of the offense.

“He’s going to be a great player,” Bragg said. “The biggest thing is learning to understand the offense. A reverse is the easiest thing to do.

“But you have to learn to understand coverages. We might have a fade on, and if they give us a different coverage you have to change it to a slant or an in. You’ve just got to be able to read coverages on the move, which is not something you have to do in high school. Once you learn to do that in college, you see how much easier it is to get open.”

Somebody might yet emerge as UCLA’s go-to player. Or it might be a season when the defense has to make most of the big plays and the offense continues to be an ensemble cast.

“There definitely needs to be more big plays from all of us rather than one particular guy,” said Bragg, not one to mind an equal-opportunity offense.

“That’s how you keep the team unified,” Bragg said. “Nobody’s jealous of somebody else getting all the balls. The coaches aren’t hearing players or parents complaining about their son not getting the ball.

“We like playing this way. It’s more fun for the rest of the team, because everybody gets the ball.”