UCLA eyes redemption, revenge in Sun Bowl
By Daily Bruin Staff
Dec. 10, 2000 9:00 p.m.
FOOTBALL vs. Friday 12:15 p.m. MST El Paso, TX
TV – CBS Â
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Reporter
Getting punched in the mouth is no fun. Getting beat up in your
own back yard is even worse. That is what happened to the UCLA
Bruins the last two times they took on the Wisconsin Badgers. So
the Bruins (6-5) are looking for a little schoolyard revenge
heading into El Paso on Dec. 29 for the Sun Bowl against the
Badgers (8-4).
This time they’re playing the bowl game at a neutral site,
though six UCLA players went to high school in Texas, including
senior linebacker Tony White and junior fullback Ed
Ieremia-Stansbury, who both grew up in El Paso.
For UCLA, the Sun Bowl presents a chance to redeem itself
against a powerful Big 10 team that dominated the 1994 and 1999
Rose Bowl games.
“The last two times we played them were bowl games and
they beat us each time,” said junior defensive end Rusty
Williams. “We’re looking forward to chance to redeem
ourselves.”
While the Bruins’ preseason sights were set on a Rose Bowl
berth, the Sun Bowl is not to be taken lightly. In most cases, the
third place team in the Pac-10 plays in El Paso. This year’s
third-place team, the Oregon Ducks, appeared in the Sun Bowl a year
ago and have already played Wisconsin earlier this season. While
most players would probably rather be in the Aloha or Oahu Bowls in
Hawaii, the Sun Bowl is considered more prestigious than the former
two.
“The Sun Bowl’s not a bad bowl,” said
quarterback Cory Paus. “We’re excited to be playing
them because they beat us the last couple of times we played in
bowl games.”
Wisconsin also looks forward to competing in El Paso.
“Our team is very excited about the opportunity to extend
our bowl streak and participate in the Sun Bowl,” head coach
Barry Alvarez said in a statement. “You compete all year long
for the chance to play an extra game and visit another area of the
country.”
The Badgers are known for their running attack. Junior running
back Michael Bennett accumulated nearly 1,600 yards rushing this
year behind an offensive line as solid as a chunk of stale Gouda.
The last time these two teams played, Ron Dayne ran all over the
Bruins for 246 yards and four touchdowns.
“I know their offensive line is really big,”
Williams said. “They can really move. As for Michael Bennett,
he’s an awesome running back.”
But the Bruins have no plans to change their defensive attack
when they play the Badgers.
“We don’t plan to change our schemes,”
Williams said. “We just have to execute better.”
In order to execute better, the Bruins will have to stop the
Badgers’ running game. Earlier this year against Oregon,
Bennett rushed for 290 yards and two touchdowns. The Bruins know he
is a force to be reckoned with.
“We just have to put some hits on him,” junior
linebacker Robert Thomas said. “We’re going to be
flying around the field. It’s our last game, the seniors are
going to be pumped up. We’ll be ready.”
The Bruins will have to shake off a bit of rust that accumulates
in the 41 days they will have had between games. As of last week
the team had not started preparing for Wisconsin.
“We’re working on fundamentals right now,”
head coach Bob Toledo said after practice on Dec. 4.
“We’ll start focusing on Wisconsin next
week.”
Defensively, the Badgers are led by cornerback Jamar Fletcher.
The junior had three interceptions against Oregon and should give
Biletnikoff finalist Freddie Mitchell a good test.
The Bruins proved earlier this year that they can beat a top Big
10 team with a 23-20 victory over Michigan in Pasadena on Sept. 16.
The Badgers lost to Michigan 13-10 a week later in Ann Arbor.
UCLA and Wisconsin are similar in that both teams started the
year 3-0 before dropping close games. Both are dissatisfied with
their current records, and both hope to use a bowl victory as a
redemption for disappointing seasons.
The difference right now might be in the momentum of the teams.
Wisconsin closed out the season with four straight wins, three of
which came on the road. UCLA conversely lost its last game to rival
USC at home.
The beauty of the bowl system is that teams get a chance to
forget tough losses and focus on the task at hand. Injuries,
mistakes and triple overtime losses to California get pushed to the
back as preparation takes a front seat come bowl time.
The Bruins head into El Paso with revenge on their minds and
redemption at their fingertips.
