Football notebook

Tuesday, October 6, 1998

Football notebook

Team preferred to defer ball in toss

Coach Bob Toledo challenged the struggling defense by promising
to defer the ball if UCLA won the toss.

The Bruins did win the flip and Toledo kept his word, letting
the defense take the field first.

The unit responded, holding the Cougars scoreless through the
first quarter and giving the Bruins good field position.

"I wanted to see what they were gonna do. They responded to the
challenge really well," said Toledo.

Bruin defense safe but not sorry

The Bruins blocked two punts, and they were both designed plays
to exploit the weakness of Cougar punter Kareem Anderson.

UCLA defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti noticed Anderson was
slow with his punt when the defense wasn’t charging.

So the punt team lined up in a "safe look," and when Anderson
eased up, the Bruins jumped in and covered. Duval Hicks blocked the
first punt, which resulted in a UCLA touchdown.

Ali Azziz blocked the second punt, but the Bruins failed to
convert it into a score.

"I don’t want to gloat, but it worked out for us well," said
Aliotti. "We’ve had three blocked punts (in two games). I like
that.

Farmer reaches 100-yard mark

For the second consecutive game, wide receiver Danny Farmer had
exactly 100 yards receiving. Against Houston, he reached the mark
with four receptions and vs. Washington State he did it with
five.

Life begins at 40

UCLA has scored over 40 points in all three games this year,
averaging 46.7 points per game. They are now 10-0 when going over
40 points under Coach Bob Toledo.

McNown’s streak matches numbers

Cade McNown completed 14 of 27 passes for 205 yards. It was the
18th consecutive game in which McNown, whose jersey number is 18,
has surpassed 200 yards passing. UCLA is 15-3 in those games.

The last time McNown failed to get 200 yards was against
Stanford in 1996 when he threw for 156 yards.

Lewis skips ahead of Hicks’ pace

Jermaine Lewis scored two touchdowns on Saturday and now has a
total of eight this season in just three games, putting him ahead
the pace of Skip Hicks a year ago.

Hicks, who scored seven times in the first three games, tied a
Pac-10 regular-season record of 22 touchdowns.

UCLA lauds players of the game

Each week, UCLA honors its top offensive, defensive and special
teams players.

Against Washington State, offensive tackle Kris Farris was named
offensive player of the game for his great blocking.

Ryan Roques was the defensive player of the game with his second
interception in two games.

The special teams player of the week was not given to just one
player, but to the entire punt return team for their tremendous job
blocking two punts.

Players afflicted with injury bug

Kenyon Coleman is still out after he sprained his knee during
the Houston game. He will not play this week against Arizona. Pete
Holland and Oscar Cabrera, who each had sprained ankles, played
sparingly against Washington State and are headed in the right
direction. Jason Bell mildly sprained his ankle on Saturday but is
expected to be OK. Michael Wiley sprained his ankle during pre-game
warmups and missed Saturday’s game. Finally, Ramogi Huma strained
his right hip and his status is uncertain.

Bruins bounce back up to No. 3 ranking

UCLA is ranked 3rd in both the AP poll and the USA Today/ESPN
poll. The Bruins have not been ranked higher since Oct. 23, 1988,
when they were No. 1 prior to losing to Washington State.

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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board