Their friendship passes screen test

LAS VEGAS -- One apartment.

Two guys.

Three televisions sets.

The math works a little differently in the apartment that UCLA’s Bruce Davis and Trey Brown share. A lifelong friendship lives here, one that was conceived even before the two were born.

Theotis Brown and Bruce Davis Sr. were friends, roommates and UCLA teammates -- the running back (Brown) and offensive tackle (Davis) that put bite in the Bruins’ ground game in the late 1970s. They passed their friendship down, like an heirloom, to their sons, who now spend their days on the defensive side.

Brown is a yakety-yak cornerback, who makes plays and has been known to give receivers a blow-by-blow description of what just happened. Davis is an undersized, yet often overwhelming defensive end, who seems to have never met a microphone, camera or tape recorder that he didn’t like.

The two will play their last college game together when UCLA faces Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, then like their fathers, they will begin to go their separate ways, yet are destined to remain close.

So who gets the third TV?

“You have to have three TVs,” Brown said. “Bruce likes cartoons and all that junk. I’m a more serious, more mature guy. He’ll turn on ‘Shrek’ or cartoons and all that. I’m not going to watch that. I go in my own room and turn on something serious, maybe an action movie.”

And the third television?

“You have to have one in the living room,” Brown said. “You have people over and you can’t have everyone in your bedroom to watch TV.”

DeWayne Walker, the Bruins’ interim head coach, just shook his head at this, and said of the Davis-Brown household, “That’s an interesting place.”

The lease is up Saturday, at least on the field. The Las Vegas Bowl and a rematch with BYU is not exactly the way Brown and Davis wanted to go out, but it is the path before them.

Like their fathers, who parted ways after the 1979 Fiesta Bowl, Davis and Brown will finish in the desert, far from blooming roses in Pasadena. Yet, the two are absorbing the moment.

“We always felt we have a legacy here,” Davis said. “We both wanted to come here and leave a mark on this program. We both had big shoes to fill. Trey’s dad is one of UCLA’s all-time leading rushers and my big old pops was there clearing the hole for him. That’s always been in the back of our minds.”

Theotis Brown and Bruce Davis Sr. also had three TV sets when they were roommates.

“One in the kitchen, in the living, one in the bedroom, surround vision,” Theotis Brown said. “You can never have enough televisions.”

That they became close friends was a longshot.

“Bruce was from this small town in and I was from Skyline High in Oakland and felt I was all-everything,” Theotis Brown said. “Then I saw Bruce and his brother Ron coming.

“Bruce was a nose tackle at first and Coach would be throwing me to the wolves telling me to go block him in practice. I was so happy when Bruce moved over to the offensive side.”

Very happy. Brown gained 2,914 yards in three season, and “every yard came running behind the Davis brothers,” he said.

Although their sons knew of each other their entire life, and would talk on the telephone, they didn’t meet until they were high school juniors attending a camp at UCLA.

“We hit it off instantly,” Davis said. “Our personalities are a little different. He’s more like cool, calm, pretty much even keeled. I’m more the outgoing, loud, get in your face. We vibed together.”

The two moved in together when they were freshmen and have a familiarity that comes with five years of living together. “Trey never puts trash liners bags in the trash cans,” Davis said.

They also went through the process of becoming prominent players. Even as scout team members as freshmen, they made a habit of drawing attention to themselves.

“One day the play was over and Trey just starts fighting with the entire O-line,” Davis said. “He’s mixing it up and I’m coming off the sideline to join in. We used to cause as much trouble as we could.”

Walker, who came to UCLA as defensive coordinator two years ago, saw a more finished product when he arrived on the scene, though there were still some rough spots to smooth over.

“Bruce came to me and told me he was going to be my outside linebacker,” Walker said. “I went, ‘whoa.’ But as I watched film of him, I could see the skills he had.”

Brown was less demanding, though equally fierce.

“Trey was easy,” Walker said. “He’s a war daddy. In five years, he has never missed a practice and he has never missed a game.”

Both are vital parts of the Bruins defense. Brown leads the nation is pass breakups, which includes five interceptions. Davis has 9 1/2 sacks.

The two were a big reason the Bruins escaped with a 27-17 victory over BYU on Sept. 8 at the Rose Bowl. Brown returned an interception 56 yards for a touchdown and returned a fumble 21 yards to set up a field goal. With the Cougars driving for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Davis stripped the ball from quarterback Max Hall and the Bruins recovered at their own 19-yard line.

Those type of plays are often underscored with swagger from Brown and Davis.

“Trey’s a funny guy,” UCLA safety Dennis Keyes said. “If he makes a play, he’s going to recap it for the receiver right there just in case he can’t catch the replay on TV that night.”

Brown, though, dials down the personality off the field. Davis, meanwhile . . .

“Bruce and I had an English class together and our teacher used to always separate us,” UCLA quarterback Ben Olson said. “We used to have debates and it would get pretty heated. We’d be standing in class yelling at each other and the teacher would think we were ready to fight.”

Said Davis: “Ben and I would go at it. That was fun.”

Brown is used to that personality, “I get to hear that stuff all the time. I’m used to it now. With everybody else, it’s ‘roll tape.’ ”

In some ways, another Davis-Brown show ends on Saturday. In some ways, it doesn’t.

“You want your kid to surround himself with good people,” Theotis Brown said. “Bruce is just a good kid, like his dad.

“We were honorary coaches for the Oregon game and Bruce [Sr.] addressed the players and pointed at me and said, ‘See that guy over there. I love him.’. . . . It’s hard to describe the feeling how close you can be. I’ve been a part of the Davis family most of my life. What are the odds that two fathers and two sons would follow that same path?”

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chris.foster@latimes.com