Cal¹s Rose Bowl chances lie in Bruin paws

Friday, October 25, 1996

FOOTBALL:

UCLA must win 4 of the last 5 games to keep bowl hopes aliveBy
Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

At the Pacific 10 Media Day about a month before the season
started, Steve Mariucci said he wanted to wake up a sleeping
giant.

That’s exactly what the new head coach at UC Berkeley has
done.

After suffering through two nightmarish seasons (4-7 and 3-8 the
past two years), Mariucci has the Bears stomping all over their
opponents en route to equaling their best start since 1950.

It is the Bears (5-1, 2-1 Pac-10) that UCLA (2-4, 1-2) will
collide with Saturday in a game that will go a long way in
determining each team’s postseason aspirations.

The Bears control their own destiny in their quest to reach the
Rose Bowl for the first time in 38 seasons. Only two games stand in
the way between a showdown with Arizona State, which could be for
the Pac-10 championship. A win here and the Bears will virtually be
guaranteed a bowl berth of some sort, whereas a loss would most
likely leave them in a two-game hole and out of the running for the
conference title.

Meanwhile, UCLA needs to win four of its remaining five games
just to meet the NCAA minimum of six victories to earn a bowl
berth. However, a more likely scenario would require the Bruins to
sweep their remaining five games in order to attract the interests
of either the Aloha or Sun Bowl.

"This season is not over," head coach Bob Toledo said. "We’re
going to continue to play hard."

Cal will be the Bruins’ toughest competition until the season
finale against USC, so a victory here would put UCLA back in the
thick of the bowl race.

To do so, the Bruins will have to deal with a Cal offense that
is on pace to break school records in total offense (458.7 yards
per game) and passing offense (283.5 yards per game).

The Bears are led by the Pac-10’s leading passer, Pat Barnes. "I
certainly rest easier at night knowing we have a guy like Pat
Barnes at quarterback," Mariucci said. "He has taken the bull by
the horn and taken command."

Barnes in his senior season has thrown for nearly 1,700 yards
and has completed over 60 percent of his pass attempts. He has
thrown 14 touchdowns compared to only five interceptions.

"He is certainly playing with some confidence," Toledo said.

This is not a good sign for the Bruins, who have given up over
30 points in four of their six games.

Not only will UCLA have to contend with Barnes through the air,
but sophomore Brandon Willis has been running all over defenses on
the ground.

Since picking up the main load after star tailback Tarik Smith
went down with an injury in the third game of the season, Willis
has averaged 103 yards per game.

If the Bruins are to win, they will need to take advantage of a
defense ranked ninth in the conference, having given up 436.7 yards
per game.

But to exploit the Bears’ weaknesses, UCLA will need to take
care of its problems first.

This week the Bruins have been concentrating on special teams
coverage, which in the past couple weeks has been a key ingredient
in the Bruins’ demise.

Already this season, the Sun Devils returned a kickoff 99 yards
for a touchdown and Washington averaged over 34 yards per return
last week.

As a result of those returns and turnovers, five of Washington’s
touchdown drives were 52 yards or less.

"You’ve got to make them do it for 80 yards, not just 52,"
Toledo said. "There are guys out there on scholarships that just
aren’t holding up to their end of the bargain and they need to
start playing. There are definitely going to be some changes."

In addition, the tailback position has come under fire this
week. Skip Hicks was in danger of losing his starting job, but
according to Toledo, he will hold onto it for at least one more
week.

Last week Hicks rushed seven times for eight yards and fumbled
for the fourth time this season. But the other tailbacks didn’t do
much better. Durell Price ran once for three yards and Keith Brown
gained nine yards on four carries.

What may be more difficult for the Bruins to overcome than the
physical mistakes is the emotional roller coaster they have been
on. UCLA is coming off two morale-crushing defeats. Two weeks ago,
they dominated fourth-ranked Arizona State only to fall in the
fourth quarter, and against Washington they were never in the game,
trailing 28-0 and ultimately losing 41-21.

But according to Toledo, they’re ready to get back out on the
field.

"We’re not down and out," he said. "They’re still fighting and
they’re still playing with emotion. We haven’t given up."

* * *

When UCLA backup rover Wasswa Serwanga takes the field Saturday
at Memorial Stadium, he will be doing something he hasn’t done in a
long time ­ competing against his twin brother, Kato, who
plays cornerback for Cal.

The two played on the same defense throughout high school, then
at Sacramento State in 1994 and Pacific in 1995.

However, when Pacific dropped its football program after last
season, the two decided to go their separate ways.

Kato has three interceptions for Cal, while Wasswa is UCLA’s
10th- leading tackler with 17.

"I’m excited about playing my brother," Wasswa said. "We’ve been
joking around a lot about it."

STEVE KIM/Daily Bruin

Tailback Skip Hicks, currently the fourth-leading rusher in the
Pac-10 Conference, hopes to return to the form he had before
fumbling in the fourth quarter of the Arizona State game.