Michigan defense took UCLA to school

By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Bob Toledo described Saturday’s loss to Michigan as a bump in
the road.

As for the offense, it was more like driving head-first into an
oncoming Mack truck.

The damage? Only seven first downs (one in the second half). No
touchdowns. Total offense of 170 yards. The UCLA defense scored
twice as many points as the offense.

"We’re going to go out and try to correct our mistakes and make
them better," Toledo said.

They’ve got a lot of work to do.

Wolverines returned three Cade McNown interceptions for a total
of 42 yards. Bruin receivers only gained 39 yards on McNown’s
passes.

Of the 55 offensive plays, 15 were either dropped passes or
badly thrown balls.

"Some guys just didn’t make plays," Toledo said. "When you look
at video and see what happened there were plays there that have got
to be made."

The Bruins have failed to sustain a long drive against either
Tennessee or Michigan.

"We just can’t get in a rhythm," Toledo said. "You’ve got to
make some passes and get some first downs."

The only offensive touchdown against Tennessee was an 88-yard
scoring strike to Danny Farmer. They failed to reach the end zone
last weekend.

The Bruin defense has scored two touchdowns in that same
span.

This may be a result of the sheer number of plays that each team
has had on the field.

Against Michigan, the Bruin offense took 30 fewer snaps than did
the Wolverines.

* * *

The Michigan game, however, wasn’t a total disaster on the
offensive side of the ball.

"Our tight ends Jamal Clark and Tyrone Pierce played pretty
well," Toledo said, "And our offensive line did some good
things."

In fact, right tackle Andy Meyers was given offensive player of
the game honors.

Defensively, Phillip Ward’s interceptions accounted for one
Bruin touchdown and stopped another Wolverine drive. However, Brian
Willmer took the defensive player of the week honors by virtue of
his team-leading 15 tackles.

"There were some bright spots," Toledo said. "We want to compete
against the best and to do that we’ve got to get all of them doing
their job. On that particular day, they were just better than
us."

* * *

After dislocating his knee on punt coverage Saturday, inside
linebacker Rosco Zamano remained in Michigan while the rest of the
team came back to Los Angeles.

He is expected to return home in about a week for surgery.

The doctors said the circulation in the leg could be a problem,
and it remains uncertain if he will play again.

"I just know it’s a lot better than what we first heard," Toledo
said. "Knowing Rosco, if there’s a 1 percent chance of coming back,
he’ll be back."

* * *

Game time has been changed for Saturday’s game at Oregon.
Originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m., the game has been pushed back
to 7:15 p.m. in order to accommodate television. Prime/Fox Sports
Net will air the game.

In addition, ABC has decided to televise the UCLA-Arizona State
game Oct. 12 at the Rose Bowl. As a result, the game will begin at
12:30 p.m.