Mitchell shows his NFL form in El Paso

  Daily Bruin File Photo Freddie Mitchell
pushes past two Oregon State University defenders last season.
Mitchell was named the Sun Bowl MVP, and will enter the NFL
draft.

By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

EL PASO, Texas “”mdash; Four minutes into the Sun Bowl, Freddie
Mitchell burst through the Wisconsin secondary with a clear path to
the end zone. He turned to Wisconsin cornerback Jamar Fletcher, the
nation’s best defensive back, showed him the ball and then
waved good-bye.

“I told him, “˜You can’t stop me.
Bye-bye,'” Mitchell said.

It was good-bye to Fletcher, good-bye to UCLA’s single
season receptions and receiving yardage records, and good-bye to
college football.

Mitchell, UCLA’s most outspoken player in recent memory,
is not shy about his talents. After coming in second to Pitt
sophomore Antonio Bryant in the Biletnikoff Trophy balloting, he
called the award a “joke.” According to Mitchell, the
lazy East-Coast voters never bothered to watch West Coast
games.

“I’m the best. No one can cover me,” Mitchell
said.

All this did not sit well with Fletcher, who won the Thorpe
Award for the nation’s best defensive back. Fletcher
isn’t shy either. And he can back it up ““ in three
years, not a single receiver had scored a touchdown against him.
Michigan’s All-American David Terrell? Nope. Pac-10 and
record-setter Troy Walters? Nope. “I can cover
anybody,” Fletcher said.

The war of words between the two escalated in the week leading
up to the game. Before the game started Fletcher came over to the
UCLA side of the field during warm-ups and ignited a little
pre-game extracurricular activity.

After the fourth play of the game Mitchell’s touchdown was
already the highlight of the game. Mitchell, who was honored as the
game’s MVP, finished with nine catches for a Sun Bowl-record
180 yards, the best performance of any player during the bowl
season. Mitchell backed his best-receiver-in-the-country argument
by besting Bryant’s bowl performance by four catches and 35
yards, all while playing against a superior defense and with a
third-string quarterback throwing him the ball.

The verbal battle following the game was almost as heated as the
one on the field.

Mitchell: “He’s good, but I’m better. He had
that streak of three seasons of no touchdowns. I took care of that
in all of what, five minutes? I’m the best.”

Fletcher: “He only had two catches against me, and you can
see the outcome of the game.”

Mitchell: “I’ll let the tape speak for itself.
You’ll see it, I don’t have to talk about it. If
he’s the best defensive back, then I guess that makes me the
best receiver in the country.”

Fletcher: “He got really frustrated in the second half. It
was hard for him to get off the line of scrimmage.”

Mitchell: “For four quarters, I physically beat him down.
He didn’t have all that tape that he’s got on now at
halftime.”

Fletcher: “All of his big plays came in zone
coverage.”

Mitchell: “After the game he had today, he’d better
stay.”

Fletcher, a junior like Mitchell, is pondering whether or not to
jump to the NFL next season.

Fletcher, however did have the last word, something Mitchell
could not argue with ““ “It’s OK. He got his
touchdown, we got our win”

Following the Sun Bowl, Mitchell returned home to Florida to
discuss with his family whether or not to jump to the NFL.

On Friday, Jan. 5, Mitchell made official what most had
suspected for months. “I decided it’s time to give
something back to my family,” he said. So Mitchell, a
fourth-year junior, finished his career as one of the best, if not
the best, UCLA receivers ever.

His 1,494 yards is a school record, and his 77 receptions ranks
second all-time. In just over two full years of competition
Mitchell’s 119 receptions and 2,135 yards ranks seventh in
receptions and fourth in yardage for UCLA. He also completed 5-of-6
passes for 189 yards and four touchdowns.

Mitchell burst onto the NCAA scene his freshman season, racking
up 250 all-purpose yards in his debut. The next week he broke his
femur in half returning a kickoff at Houston, but made a quick
recovery, getting healthy enough to play in the 1999 Rose Bowl.

The following season Mitchell put together a 38-catch, 533-yard
season despite tremendous inconsistency at the quarterback
position. “He was open deep so much, but the quarterback
didn’t have enough time to throw it to him,” said
offensive coordinator Al Borges.

Though it’s the age of big, fast receivers like Cris
Carter and Randy Moss, Mitchell’s pro prospects are still
bright. He’s generously listed as 6-feet tall and 190 pounds
and has only an average 40-yard dash time, but Mitchell pinpoints
routs and has hands that could catch buttered trout.

He also possesses the range of abilities the NFL demands. When
Ricky Manning Jr., UCLA’s regular punt returner, left the
game with a concussion, Mitchell stepped in. Wisconsin punter Kevin
Stemke, winner of the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best
punter, faced a challenge in keeping the ball away from Mitchell.
He finished with five punts averaging only 37 yards.

When all was said and done in El Paso, Fletcher did come clean
““ “I respect the guy. I know I’ll see him again
on Sundays.”