Football Notes

Monday, November 3, 1997

Football Notes

Cardinal remark fires up the Bruins

With the Rose Bowl race heating up and revenge on their mind
from last year’s defeat, the Bruins didn’t need any extra
motivation for Saturday’s game. But they got it when Stanford
quarterback Chad Hutchinson supposedly guaranteed victory earlier
in the week in a Bay Area newspaper.

UCLA Coach Bob Toledo told his players that he had heard that
Hutchinson had guaranteed a win – whether he really did or not
remains a mystery.

The defense, in particular, took exception to his
"statement."

"That was a pretty bold statement," Bruin linebacker Brian
Willmer said. "I mean you’re going to take that personally – that
basically they’re going to beat you and there’s nothing you can do
about it. We don’t need things like that to get us going – we were
just out there flying around and having fun."

The Bruin defense, which terrorized Hutchinson and company all
night long, finished with six sacks, 12 tackles for losses, two
interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and held Stanford to negative
34 yards rushing.

Winning streak is longest since ’87

UCLA reached its longest winning streak of the ’90s with its
seventh consecutive win on Saturday.

"It’s a real credit to the players, because when we started the
season 0-2 they very easily could have gone off and gone in
different directions," coach Toledo said. "We’ve been on an
avalanche ever since."

UCLA has outscored its opponents 307-105 over the past seven
games – an average win of 44-15. The school last won seven
consecutive games in the 1993 season, and the last time they won
more in a row was in the 1987 season when the Bruins won eight
straight contests.

Finally, the Bruins reach AP’s top 10

The Bruins are in the Top 10.

No, it’s not a typo, and no, it’s not the UCLA basketball team
that made the top 10 in this poll. Rather, in the aftermath of the
win over Stanford, the football Bruins earned a berth in the
Associated Press’ top 10 for the first time since the final
regular-season poll of the 1993 season.

UCLA jumped Florida, Washington State and Auburn, but in turn
were jumped by Georgia, who handed Florida a 37-17 loss
Saturday.

Three other Pac-10 teams are in the top 16 – Washington (No. 6),
Arizona State (No. 15) and Washington State (No. 16).

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, the Bruins are ranked 11th
– nine points behind No. 10 Kansas State.

Hicks ties 1-season touchdown record

Skip Hicks scored three touchdowns to increase his season total
to 20, tying the UCLA single-season record he set a year ago and
leaving him only three touchdowns shy of tying the Pac-10
single-season mark.

In addition, Cade McNown (15-of-28 for 205 yards Saturday) is
only one completion shy of tying the UCLA all-time completion mark
with 440 in his career.

Football news

from the cockpit

Bruin-football fever is spreading, not just outward, but upwards
– even 30,000 feet up in the air. On Southwest Airlines flight 1764
from San Jose on Saturday night after the game, the pilot gave
continuous score updates on the Washington State-Arizona State
contest.

To the delight of many fans on board, ASU won the game, making
UCLA’s run for the roses just a little easier. The Bruins need to
win both of their remaining games, and WSU must lose to either
Stanford or Washington in the final two weeks of the season in
order for UCLA to play in the Rose Bowl.

As Rose Bowl nears, it’s crowded on top

Besides the Bruins, three other Pac-10 teams still have a shot
at earning a Rose Bowl berth – Washington, Washington State and
Arizona State. Washington controls its own destiny with three games
remaining.

WSU can still win an outright championship, but could also
advance to the Rose Bowl if they end up in a tie with UW or UCLA or
a three-way tie with UCLA and ASU.

Arizona State needs to win out and hope for two Washington
losses and either a UCLA or WSU loss.

Compiled by Brent Boyd, Daily Bruin Staff.