After Fast Start, Future Looks Bright

Things are setting up well for UCLA, which moved up five spots to No. 20 in the Associated Press top-25 poll without playing a game and will begin Pacific 10 Conference play against Washington at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.

The Bruins are averaging 49.3 points and outscoring opponents by 27.3. They have won four in a row over the Huskies.

“We’re pleased with how things are going right now,” said Coach Karl Dorrell, whose team has defeated San Diego State, Rice and Oklahoma in nonconference games.

“We’re 3-0 and feeling good and confident about our potential of being even better.... We want to keep the pace going.”

UCLA is also No. 18 in the initial Harris Poll, a new component of the bowl championship series.

Thanks to a favorable schedule, the Bruins have a realistic chance of maintaining their early success.

UCLA does not have to play Oregon this season and faces California and Arizona State at the Rose Bowl. Other than a Dec. 3 rivalry game against USC at the Coliseum, UCLA’s toughest road game is against Washington State on Oct. 15.

“We’re really coming together as a team, that’s the most important thing with us,” senior linebacker Justin London said about the Bruins, who have not been ranked in the top 25 for consecutive weeks since November 2001. “We all pick each other up now whenever something doesn’t go right. We’ve had time to jell.”

First up for UCLA will be the struggling Huskies (1-3), coming off a 36-17 home loss to Notre Dame. Washington has been outscored, 118-85, this season and has not defeated UCLA at the Rose Bowl since 1995. Last year, the Bruins defeated the Huskies, 37-31, behind Maurice Drew’s school-record 322 yards rushing.

After Washington, the Bruins will play California, which has lost two in a row against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

“We just want to completely eliminate all outside obstacles and continue to work on the things that we’ve been doing,” Dorrell said. “We have a pretty good focus right now. We understand week in and week out the things that we have to do.”

After its game at Washington State, UCLA’s first trip outside Southern California, the Bruins return home to play Oregon State on Oct. 22. UCLA then will play two road games at Stanford and Arizona and get a three-week break before playing USC.

There’s a strong possibility that the Bruins will be favored every week until they face the Trojans. But that’s getting too far ahead for Dorrell.

“I don’t think that our mind-set is really worried about failure or success,” he said. “We just want to continue to improve and put forth a great effort on Saturday.”

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The last time UCLA started 3-0 was 2001 and the Bruins won their first six, reaching a No. 4 national ranking, before losing four in a row and finishing 7-4.... UCLA has 12 touchdowns and two field goals in its 14 trips inside its opponents’ 20-yard line.... The Bruins have the fourth-highest scoring average in the nation (49.3) and second in the Pac-10 behind USC. Drew is third in the country in punt returns (30.20).