Letters

UCLA’s play-calling needs work Sept. 25
As a Bruin football fan for years, I was frustrated by some of the
play-calling in UCLA’s loss to the Oregon Ducks this past
Saturday. Continuing to run Foster up the middle (with too few play
action pass calls) into a “brick wall” Oregon defense
that was expecting Foster to do so was hardly imaginative of coach
Toledo and offensive coordinator Al Borges. Didn’t UCLA learn
from Fresno State, as it wasn’t until late in the game that
Foster made a couple of long runs? But Oregon wasn’t ready to
fold at home like Fresno State did in the Rose Bowl. Also, why
didn’t Toledo take two downs (on third and fourth) to make
the 15 yards late in the game for the first down? Why did he have
an inexperienced quarterback in Ryan McCann “go for
broke” on a longer pass play when all UCLA needed was 15
yards or so to keep the drive alive? Going for long on first or
second down is okay in such a situation, but on third-and-15? And
then not going for the first down and punting away on fourth-and-15
with just minutes to go in the game? The game was basically lost
anyway by that point, so why not go for broke then instead of
punting yet again? The UCLA special teams play seemed to be inept
as well for the most part. Didn’t coach Toledo know that
Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti, who was in charge of the
porous UCLA defense that blew the 1998 national title hopes, would
be “gunning” for the Bruins? So why didn’t coach
Toledo and Borges respond with some imagination in the play
calling? Except for the fake option with Drew Bennett’s pass
to Freddie Mitchell, there was not much creativity in the play
calling, with Foster’s repeated attempts to run up the
middle! Granted, there were some dropped balls and Mitchell’s
true touchdown catch was unfairly taken away. But Aliotti knows the
UCLA offense after practicing against it during his stint at UCLA,
and he knew that UCLA would continually try to run up the middle
with Foster. So where was the play action to give McCann a chance
on some of those first down calls? Not being so predictable on
first down might have enabled Foster to break free a little more
than he did. Last weekend turned me into a Washington Husky fan for
the rest of the season. Washington is No. 6 in the country in the
AP poll and has already paid back Miami earlier this season for
what Miami did to the Bruins in 1998. After former UCLA quarterback
and Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel leads the Huskies to the
national title this year (or the Pac-10 title, at least), it will
be the right time for him to return to UCLA where he belongs. At
least Neuheisel should be able to win on the road, which Toledo
can’t get the Bruins to do!

Jim Morris Marina del Rey Bruins should play games
later This letter was directed toward football coach Bob
Toledo

Sept. 18 I have been a UCLA fan since attending UCLA in 1932. I
was sunburned on my face and hands sitting in the rooting section
of the Rose Bowl. Today I am more aware of the health consequences
of sunburn and heat. The UCLA-Michigan game, played in 110-degree
heat, could and probably did cause health problems for many fans,
players, coaches and officials because the game started at 12:30.
Games at the Rose Bowl in September should start at sundown. The
game with Alabama was also a skin and heat problem. I hope that in
the future, games in September and early October start in the late
afternoon or at sundown ““ 4:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. Your UCLA fans
will thank you and your players. TV has to recognize these hot
summer days now go into fall. My 30-year-old granddaughter asked me
to leave the game during the second quarter. We were able to watch
the second half when we returned home. TV did us a big disservice
when they switched to a commercial a split second after your
players pumped a victory of ice water on you. The flavor of victory
was lost.

Edward Kapitanoff Los Angeles Sports Letters to the Editor can
be sent to [email protected]. Please note “Letter”
in the subject, and include location, contact number, and UCLA
affiliation, if any. Letters will be edited according to length and
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