Bruins Look to Avoid the Perils of the Road

UCLA will play Washington State today in a game involving streaking teams going in opposite directions.

The 12th-ranked Bruins are 5-0, including a 2-0 start in the Pacific 10 Conference. The unranked 3-2 Cougars have lost their last two games.

It would seem a perfect situation for a fall for the Bruins, who are playing outside Southern California for the first time this season, in a stadium where they haven’t won since 1993, against a team they haven’t defeated in five years.

“We’re just looking at it as just another road game in a hostile territory where we have to shut some folks up,” UCLA defensive end Justin Hickman said.

“The coaches have been telling us all week about all the bad things about the trip. The two-hour drive from Spokane to Pullman and how that could affect us. But we know that has nothing to do with what goes on [today]. What happens between the white lines is what matters.”

Coach Karl Dorrell did not have to raise his voice to remind his players to stay focused for Washington State, which has defeated UCLA in their last four meetings, and in seven of the last nine.

“It was a difficult place for us to play when I played, so I know what type of trip it is,” said Dorrell, a Bruin wide receiver in the mid-1980s. “This is our first airplane trip and this is Game 6 of the season. We’ve explained the whole process of getting there and getting back.... It’s all about staying focused.”

In 2003, the last time UCLA played at Martin Stadium, Washington State jumped on top of the Bruins early, scoring 14 points within the first seven minutes of the game in a 31-13 victory.

Drew Olson, then a sophomore, replaced quarterback starter Matt Moore in the fourth quarter and completed seven of 12 passes for 82 yards.

“We didn’t play that well,” Olson said. “But that was a different team.”

A year ago, the Cougars won, 31-29, in what many UCLA players considered their worst defeat of the season. The Bruins would have become bowl eligible with a victory but instead played poorly in front of Holiday Bowl representatives at the Rose Bowl.

UCLA fell behind early, lost running back Maurice Drew and tight end Marcedes Lewis to injuries, then rallied, only to lose when Olson’s desperation two-point conversion pass fell incomplete with 42 seconds left.

The key last year for Washington State was running back Jerome Harrison, who rushed for 247 yards and scored three touchdowns. He will play again today for the Cougars.

“This kid has got great patience and vision as a runner,” UCLA defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “And when he sticks his foot in the ground and decides to go, he is very, very fast.”

Harrison, third in the nation in rushing with a 148.2-yard average, has gained at least 100 yards in a school-record eight consecutive games, a streak that began against UCLA in 2004.

For UCLA, stopping the run has been a difficult challenge. The Bruins rank ninth in the Pac-10 against the run, giving up 209.6 yards a game.

“We’re concerned,” Dorrell said about UCLA’s run defense. “That’s one area where we have not been as consistent as we’ve been in the past.... That’s what we’ve put a lot of attention to this week.”

But overall, the third-year Bruin coach said, his team is primed to prove that it is worthy of its ranking.

“There is a great focus with our team right now,” he said. “We understand that this is our big road test. We’re ready to go up, play in an environment that will not be in our favor ... like good teams do when they go on the road.”