Bowl Talk Returns With New Attitude

With three regular-season games remaining, UCLA (5-3) needs one more victory to become bowl eligible and at least two more to assure itself of a better-quality postseason bid.

Although a Jan. 1 Rose Bowl appearance is considered a longshot since the Bruins sit in the middle of the Pacific 10 Conference standings with a 3-2 record and still have to play No. 1 USC, a trip to the Holiday Bowl would be a good ending for a team picked to finish eighth before the season.

“We’re starting to take advantage of our opportunities when called upon,” senior running back Manuel White Jr. said about the Bruins, who played their most complete game of the season in a 21-0 victory over Stanford on Saturday.

“It feels great after losing two heartbreakers and then coming back with a shutout victory.”

Coach Karl Dorrell was pleased to see his team respond so well after consecutive losses to California and Arizona State, but he wasn’t surprised.

“There was a lot of doubt around us,” Dorrell said. “It was nice to see the character we all talked about.”

A key to UCLA’s season has been the leadership provided by seniors such as defensive backs Ben Emanuel II and Matt Clark, offensive linemen Steven Vieira and Paul Mociler, wide receivers Craig Bragg and Tab Perry, punter Chris Kluwe and White.

They along with fellow seniors Eyoseph Efseaff, Pat Norton and Benjamin Lorier have done a good job of setting high working standards in practice every day. It’s not unusual to see veterans like White, Bragg or Perry going over individual drills with younger players after practice.

“It’s all about getting the next guys ready,” Perry said. “And I’m cool with that.”

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After a couple of defensive miscues in their 48-42 loss at Arizona State, the Bruin coaching staff made a switch by having coordinator Larry Kerr sit in the press box, with linebackers coach Brian Schneider sending in signals from the sideline.

“We did that so he could have a better view of what is going on over the course of a game,” Dorrell said. “And he made some adjustments in the game that were pretty effective.”

After featuring a different blitz on almost every down in the losses to Cal and Arizona State, the Bruins were more conventional against the Cardinal. With tackles Kevin Brown and C.J. Niusulu setting the tone, UCLA’s front four controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing linebackers Spencer Havner, Justin London and Wesley Walker to make plays.

Havner finished with a team-high 16 tackles, including 11 solo, and London had 10 with seven solo.

When UCLA did blitz, safety Jarrad Page made effective hits on the quarterback, which is something that did not happen often enough in previous weeks.

“We wanted [Kerr] to be able to make adjustments on the run,” Dorrell said. “It was pretty evident that it worked.”