Bruins Positively Need It

For a football team that has lost two games in a row, UCLA is feeling pretty good about itself heading into today’s homecoming game against Stanford at the Rose Bowl.

“We know now that as long as we play our game, we can win,” sophomore running back Maurice Drew said. “The coaches have gotten us to understand that it’s a process. We learned a lot last year about how to play, and this year we’re learning about how to win. At this point, it’s just a grind to get better.”

UCLA (4-3, 2-2 in Pacific 10) is coming off consecutive losses to top 25 teams, including a 48-42 defeat at Arizona State last week. Although the Bruins blew an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead in that game, they say they gained confidence from the effort.

Coach Karl Dorrell praised his team’s ability to rally from a first-half deficit and said his team has improved on defense.

“With us, it’s all about execution,” Drew said. “If we can fix that, we can go 8-3 or 7-4, and we’ll be right there. We would be in the top three in the Pac-10 and headed to a bowl game.”

But a loss to Stanford (4-3, 2-2) in front of representatives from the Sun, Insight and Las Vegas bowls would put a damper on the Bruins’ lofty dreams.

Like UCLA, Stanford is a developing team in desperate need of a victory. The Cardinal started the season 2-0 but has lost two of its last three games, including a 16-13 decision to Oregon at Palo Alto last week.

Dorrell expects Stanford to play its best game.

“They’re a good football team that gave USC all they wanted,” Dorrell said. “Their offense is very explosive ... and they have as good a defense as there is in our conference.”

Featuring a 3-4 alignment, led by 320-pound nose tackle Babatunde Oshinowo, Stanford’s defense is ranked third in the Pac-10 and 19th nationally in points allowed, limiting opponents to an average of 16.1 a game. The Cardinal gives up an average of 117.1 yards rushing a game.

“It’s a unique defense that we haven’t played against all season long,” Dorrell said. “It takes some preparation time to get familiar with.”

Against Arizona State, UCLA’s running game received a boost from freshman Chris Markey, who helped the Bruins rush for 210 yards. Dorrell said Markey will continue to be worked into the running back rotation with Drew and Manuel White.

“Maurice and Manuel are our primary two, and then our off-speed pitch will be Markey getting in at some point in the game, probably in the second quarter,” Dorrell said.

Stanford Coach Buddy Teevens said it doesn’t really matter which back has the ball because the Bruins’ ground attack is so strong.

“They don’t run a lot of different plays,” Teevens said. “They run a zone play and can block as well as anybody I’ve seen, and they will run it and run it and run it. They’ve got a real good feel for it. Their offensive line has done a good job. They’ve got some newer guys in there, but they seem to develop each week that we’ve watched them play.”

When Stanford has the ball, UCLA’s major concern will be the Cardinal passing game, led by sophomore quarterback Trent Edwards, 6-foot-7 receiver Evan Moore and 6-5 tight end Alex Smith.

“I would rate their passing attack closer to Cal’s because they do a very good job of getting the ball to the people they want to go,” UCLA defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “They’re not as strong with their running game, which I rate the same as Arizona State, but they like to do both. And they feed off each other.”

In last week’s loss to Oregon, Stanford’s offensive line had a poor game, giving up 10 sacks. Edwards was knocked out of the game in the second quarter. UCLA also will try to keep the pressure on the Cardinal passing game.

“We’ll definitely try and go after them,” Kerr said.

UCLA’s pass rush will have sophomore end Justin Hickman available for the first time since he injured his knee against Arizona on Oct. 9. Hickman will join a front that has been bolstered by the play of Brigham Harwell, Kyle Morgan, William Snead and Bruce Davis.

UCLA’s defense ranks statistically among the worst in the nation, but Teevens said he has been impressed. “They’re young, but they fly around, they play hard, they play physically, they play with enthusiasm,” he said. “People say they’re not a real good defensive unit, but I dispute that.”

Dorrell knows that the Bruins have to start turning their learning experiences into victories.

“We need to play better, we need to get that bad taste out of our mouth from last week,” he said. “We played a good team on their ground in a hostile environment and came up short. We had an opportunity to win the game but didn’t finish.”