Svoboda Will Still Call Plays

UCLA’s play calling for Saturday’s game at Notre Dame will remain the same as it has been all season with offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda making the calls and Coach Karl Dorrell having some input.

“There’s constant communication going on and Karl has been real good in speaking up if he feels that there’s opportunities we need to look at,” said Svoboda, who took over play calling this season when he was promoted to coordinator after Tom Cable left for the NFL.

“It’s something that is an ongoing process and something that I can get better at and we can get better at as a group.”

This week, Dorrell talked about UCLA’s last game -- a 10-point loss at Oregon -- and raised some questions after he said he would not have called for a running play on third and three with the Bruins trailing, 13-0, in the first quarter. UCLA lost yardage on the play and ended up with a field goal.

Svoboda said that isn’t unusual.

“There’s obviously some times that you would like to have a play back,” Svoboda said. “If Coach said that, I’d probably say the same thing myself.”

UCLA’s offense has been anything but a smooth running machine for the first six games. The Bruins rank eighth in the Pacific 10 Conference in yards per game and only Arizona and Stanford have scored fewer than the Bruins’ 12 touchdowns.

“We’re going through some growing pains on offense, but Jim has done a good job with the play calling,” Dorrell said. “He has the potential to be a great play caller and I have confidence in him.”

Dorrell says he gives advice during games and has the prerogative to change a play but added that he likes to give Svoboda room to work.

For Svoboda, it’s all about wins. He says he understands that UCLA’s offense has been underachieving and he’s open for any help to get the Bruins to score more points.

“There’s dialogue between the whole coaching staff and there needs to be,” Svoboda said. “I know that I’m calling the plays, but it’s really everyone working together. I rely on all of our coaches for input.”

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Quarterback Patrick Cowan, who did not call signals in practice to help save his voice, said that he doesn’t expect inflammation around his vocal cords to be a problem Saturday.

“I’m fine, I can talk,” said Cowan, who added that he did not cough up blood after last week’s game against Oregon even though that had been reported.

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Considering that former UCLA receiver J.J. Stokes once caught 14 passes in a game, Bruins receivers have not been given many chances to make plays over the first half of the season.

After six games, UCLA receivers have combined for only six touchdown catches and are averaging less than 10 yards a catch as a unit.

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Although receiver Joe Cowan, who has been sidelined because of a knee injury, wore shoulder pads during practice, Dorrell said he was leaning toward having the senior, Patrick’s brother, use a redshirt year.

lonnie.white@latimes.com