UCLA Knows Washington Has Some Scores to Settle

Washington Coach Tyrone Willingham and his staff were not on the Husky sideline last season when Maurice Drew ran for 322 yards and five touchdowns in UCLA’s 37-31 victory at Seattle.

But many current Washington players were, and they will get a chance for redemption tonight against Drew and the 3-0 Bruins at the Rose Bowl.

“We’re playing against many of the same cats we played against last year, but they’re better now,” said Drew, who leads UCLA in rushing with 278 yards and four touchdowns.

“They’re going to come in fired up because of last year, and I expect them to have an attitude and the mind-set to stop the run.”

For the 1-3 Huskies, that may be a tall task. Washington ranks last in the Pacific 10 Conference in total defense, giving up 432 yards a game, and ninth in rushing defense, giving up 183.2.

In a 36-17 loss to Notre Dame last week, Washington gave up 560 yards, including 233 on the ground. That’s not a good sign if the Huskies hope to contain Drew tonight.

“He is amazing,” Willingham said of Drew, whom he compares to USC’s Reggie Bush. “You read so much stuff about the other guy across town from him, he almost becomes kind of a forgotten back. But I think anyone that plays him walks away clearly impressed with his toughness, with his speed, with just his all-around running ability.”

Making big plays is nothing new to Drew, who is averaging 10.04 yards every time he touches the ball and 154 all-purpose yards a game. In his career, he has 25 touchdowns, 13 from at least 40 yards.

“I watched him the other night, watching some of his video,” Willingham said of UCLA’s season-opening victory over San Diego State, when Drew had 194 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in less than three quarters.

“I watched him do a move that you don’t see a lot of people do. He took a punt return back 60 or 70 yards.”

Last season, Drew scored on runs of 47, 62, 58, 15 and 37 yards against the Huskies. He rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter and had 235 yards and four touchdowns at halftime.

“It really wasn’t anything special that I did,” Drew said. “When everyone executes every play is supposed to go for a touchdown. Basically, that’s what happened. I would get the ball and just have to beat one guy. It was just one of those games.”

Fullback Michael Pitre, who had a strong game blocking last season, still envisions Drew running past Washington defenders.

“It was my third game and I was still getting my feet wet,” Pitre said. “In that game, everyone was playing so well it turned out to be a big game for me too.

“It was so exciting to see Maurice running down the field. It was great to see everyone on offense execute so well. It made you feel good to know that you did something to help spring him on those long runs.”

UCLA, which is coming off a bye week, expects Washington to crowd the line of scrimmage tonight just as Oklahoma did two weeks ago.

The Sooners held the Bruins to 83 yards -- Drew had 69 in 15 carries -- on the ground, but were hurt by quarterback Drew Olson, who passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns.

“Last year, our forte was running the football,” Drew said. “This year, we have a more balanced offense. We’re still going to run, but if you try and stack the box we will hurt you with the pass.... Not to sound cocky, but we’re just confident in what we’re doing and do not think we can be stopped.”

In victories over San Diego State, Rice and Oklahoma, the Bruin offense has been efficient. UCLA has rushed for nine touchdowns and averages 5.1 yards a carry. Olson has passed for 762 yards and six touchdowns without an interception.

It’s this type of mix that has given UCLA’s offense confidence heading into Pac-10 play.

“We’ve seen a lot of different looks used against us already this season and we’re ready,” said sophomore Shannon Tevaga, UCLA’s starting strong-side guard. “We pretty much know what to do against anything a defense shows us.”

Said Olson: “We’re not one-dimensional and that’s the great thing about this offense. We’ve shown that we can pass and run the football.”

But even if Washington moves eight players near the scrimmage line, Olson said the Bruins may still try to run, because “after struggling against Oklahoma, I think our guys are pretty determined to come out and make a statement.”

Which would please UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell, who does not want his team to come out flat after a week off.

“We hope not to have any hiccups because of our bye week, but I know we’re excited about where we are as a team,” said Dorrell, who is 2-0 in Pac-10 openers. “Washington’s a good team and we’ll have to be ready to play ... because the games get bigger from this point on.”