Dorrell, Bruins Try to Avoid a Bear Trap

Remember the Alamo? For UCLA, it’s more like “Remember last season.”

The Bruins head into today’s game at California on a roll. They’ve won four consecutive games and are tied for first place in the Pacific 10 Conference with a 2-0 record.

But Coach Karl Dorrell is not about to let his 4-1 Bruins get ahead of themselves.

Not after last season, which also started strong but ended with five defeats.

And not with today’s opponent being the eighth-ranked Bears (3-1), who are coming off a heartbreaking six-point loss at No. 1 USC last week.

“They are a very good and experienced football team,” said Dorrell, who has a 10-3 record in September and October over the last two seasons. “This will be a great challenge and a good measuring stick to see where we are at as a young football team.”

Last season, the Bruins were 4-0 in the Pac-10 and 6-2 overall -- Cal was among the victims -- when everything fell apart. UCLA ended with a 6-7 record and the collapse remains a constant reminder.

“We’re definitely looking at the past as a lesson to help us now,” senior safety Ben Emanuel said. “We’ve learned that we can’t get wrapped up in our success. There’s a lot of football left to play. We have to stay focused and be ready to play each game.”

A year ago, UCLA never quite became ta team.

“We had some team chemistry problems,” senior offensive tackle Steven Vieira said. “We had guys fighting among each other all of the time. That’s what brought us down a lot. We had guys [arguing] in the huddle, fighting on the field. We had zero team chemistry.... We were so busy arguing with each other, we never came together as a team.

“We don’t have that problem this year. It’s been completely different. We have guys really helping each other out. That’s what is going to hold the team together and that’s what is going to be the difference this year.”

UCLA knows that beating Cal for the second consecutive year will be difficult. The Bears have the best offense and defense in the conference and are regarded as the Pac-10’s most physical team.

“We’re ready to take them head-on because you can’t play Cal any other way,” sophomore running back Maurice Drew said. “They are going to try and come in and beat you up, and the best way to deal with them is to hit them right in the mouth.

“Everyone knows about Cal and how good they are. But we’re ready to go on the road and get the job done. A lot of people may not believe in us, but we do believe in ourselves.”

The Bruins believe that whichever team wins the battle on the ground will win the game. For UCLA, that means plenty of Drew and senior Manuel White, who are coming off their worst rushing games of the season in last week’s victory over Arizona.

“They have a real good run-stopping defense,” quarterback Drew Olson said. “I don’t know how many All-Americans they have, but it seems like they all are, in the way they play defense together.

“Collectively, they are just a great group of hard-nosed, blue-collar-type guys who play fast, hard and do not take plays off.”

Senior linebacker Wendell Hunter is Cal’s big hitter on defense, and senior end Ryan Riddle is the team’s best defensive lineman. The Bears are yielding only 87.8 yards a game on the ground and held USC to 41 yards rushing.

That’s nearly a quarter’s worth for UCLA’s porous run defense, the worst in the Pac-10. The Bruins are giving up 250 yards a game on the ground and will be facing the best rushing attack in the Pac-10 and ninth best in the country.

Senior J.J. Arrington leads the conference in rushing at 144.5 yards a game and has rushed for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games.

“J.J.’s a good back who has a little bit of power and good speed,” UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner said. “He’s just a good all-around back. He’ll be one of the best that we’ll see this season.”

The Bruins also are impressed with Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ ability to read defensive alignments.

“We don’t want to get caught up in a situation where the guy is picking up all of our coverages and blitzes,” defensive line coach Don Johnson said.

Last weekend against USC, Rodgers tied an NCAA single-game record with 23 consecutive completions. He’s completing 78.3% of his passes and is third in the country with a 179.46 quarterback rating.

“He definitely does a good job of taking advantage of coverages,” Emanuel said. “Once he is able to tell what defense you’re in, he’s able to pick you apart.”

If that happens, the Bruins could be in for a long day.