Guerrero Looks for Respect

Fresh off a 10-victory season, the UCLA Bruins football program is still fighting an uphill battle on many fronts, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said.

“The success that we had last year is not translating into maybe the kind of respect that you may want to see in a program,” Guerrero said. “If you go across the country and you come off a 10-2 year, people are dancing in the streets and talking up the program quite a bit. In the Southern California community, specifically Los Angeles, there is still a wait-and-see with this program.

“We need to follow up a successful season with a great effort this year in order to earn the respect that we believe we should have.”

UCLA last season finished third in the Pacific 10 Conference and won a bowl game for the first time in four years. However, the Bruins do not have a great track record following up on 10-2 campaigns. In 1988 and 1998 UCLA went 10-2, but in 1989 and 1999 finished 3-7-1 and 4-7.

With six new assistant coaches and a need to replace the team’s top three offensive players, there is some trepidation about a regression this year.

“Our goal is to win a conference championship,” Guerrero said. “There’s no one here thinking about a 6-6 season. What I’m looking for is to be in the mix late in the season and we’re battling for something.

“We’ll see how things unfold, because we’re breaking in a new quarterback and we have so many other changes, we really don’t know. But we’re excited because there’s a good foundation in place.”

But even Guerrero acknowledges that playing in the same city as USC, which has won two national championships and finished as runner-up over the last three seasons, does not give the Bruins much room for error.

“SC has clearly set a standard for this particular community, but when they were down several years ago that wasn’t the standard that anyone wanted to measure up with,” Guerrero said. “But [USC’s recent] success has impacted UCLA more locally than the national perspective because we are in the same area.

“Our fans are reading our papers and watching our newscasts and things of that nature every day. They are clearly measuring UCLA versus USC. That’s why I say a 10-2 year would be fantastic anyplace else, but not here.”

With a smile, Guerrero said that he’s actually happy that USC is winning across town.

“It has created a great motivator for us,” he said. “It’s not just UCLA chasing SC, it’s everyone else in the Pac-10 and across the country that is chasing them. It’s required everyone to step up their game, and I think [Coach] Karl [Dorrell] and our coaching staff relishes that challenge.”

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Aside from the quarterback competition between Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan, UCLA has several other battles for starting jobs going on. Dorrell said the group that seems the most settled is the secondary, with Chris Horton and Dennis Keyes starting at safety and Trey Brown and Rodney Van at cornerback. Junior Michael Norris and freshman Alterraun Verner are also in the mix at cornerback.

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Sophomore linebacker John Hale and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Jess Ward have been suspended for UCLA’s opener against Utah for their involvement in a fight at Ward’s parents’ house in Running Springs in February. Both players will continue to practice with the team, Dorrell said.... Senior receiver Joe Cowan suffered a right knee injury in practice on Tuesday and had an MRI test performed as a precautionary measure. Results were not immediately available.... Although UCLA continues to practice without pads until this weekend, Verner had the most impressive hit on Tuesday when he broke up a pass intended for Junior Taylor.