Dorrell Wants His Team to Stay Loose

When Karl Dorrell was a graduate assistant at UCLA in 1988, few gave the Bruins a chance to beat second-ranked Nebraska in an early season showdown in the Rose Bowl. UCLA built a 28-0 first-quarter lead in that game en route to a 41-28 victory over the Cornhuskers.

The Bruins were ranked No. 5 at the time, so it wasn’t college football’s most stunning upset, but Dorrell used the blowout as an example of how the Bruins should approach today’s game here against top-ranked and heavily favored Oklahoma.

“From a team standpoint, we didn’t go in thinking we wouldn’t win that game,” said Dorrell, now UCLA’s head coach. “I think every team is vulnerable. That’s the nature of sports week to week. You have to line up every Saturday ready to play, and when you have a letdown, when you get a little confident, that’s when issues can sneak up on you. So [the Sooners] can be just as vulnerable as anyone.”

Dorrell’s message: If the Bruins go into this game thinking they have absolutely no chance to win, they’ll get blown out. But if they stay loose, play with confidence and refuse to allow themselves to be intimidated by the opponent or the surroundings, they could stick with the Sooners.

And if UCLA can keep the game close going into the fourth quarter, all the pressure will be on Oklahoma, not the Bruins.

“There shouldn’t be any pressure on us,” UCLA quarterback Drew Olson said. “We’re going against the No. 1 team, and no one expects us to win. For sure, we have to play loose and relaxed, and we didn’t do that last game, for some reason.”

*

UCLA hasn’t played Oklahoma since Sept. 6, 1986, when the No. 1-ranked Sooners defeated the fourth-ranked Bruins, 38-3, at Norman, but Bruin tailback Tyler Ebell will find a familiar face -- not to mention a pair of open arms ready to smother him -- when he ventures into Oklahoma’s defensive line.

Ebell and Sooner defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who is on the watch list for the Camp, Lombardi, Nagurski and Outland Trophy awards, were teammates on the West team that beat the East in the 2000 National High School All-Star Game in Dallas, and they’ve been friends since. They spoke on the phone Tuesday night and have been eagerly anticipating today’s game.

“We kind of connected from the get-go,” said Ebell, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound sophomore. “We were in line [before the All-Star game] getting ready for interviews and just started talking. He’s a big guy [6-3, 289] and I’m a smaller person, but we clicked, and since then we’ve talked regularly. He’s a great guy.”

*

Oklahoma, which won its seventh national championship in 2000 -- Bob Stoops’ second year as coach -- ranks ninth in the nation in defense (240.7 yards a game) and 11th in pass defense (138.7 yards). UCLA ranks 10th in scoring defense (9.5 points), 16th in defense (264 yards) and 18th in rushing defense (77.5).... Oklahoma cornerback Derrick Strait will make his 44th consecutive start today, a school record for defensive backs.