Beware of Freshman
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 10, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA freshman
cornerback Matt Ware feels ready to stop Husky
freshman wideout Reggie Williams.
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Staff
Just a year ago, UCLA and the University of Washington engaged
in a battle over two of the most prized recruits on the West
Coast.
The Huskies promised longtime Bruin fan and Loyola High star
Matt Ware the chance to play for a defense that Washington head
coach Rick Neuheisel envisioned would be the best in the nation.
All the while, the Bruins romanced Washington’s Reggie
Williams with the proposal of continuing the legacies of Danny
Farmer and Freddie Mitchell in head coach Bob Toledo’s
pass-happy offense.
When all was said and done, however, the two high school
megastars stayed local, Ware choosing UCLA and Williams opting to
continue his Washington roots.
For Ware, who committed early and now starts in a Bruin
secondary that ranks No. 11 nationally in pass defense, the choice
was easy.
“The Washington coaches really wanted me to come play for
them,” said Ware, whose parents are both Bruin alumni.
“But I knew I was coming to UCLA when I came out of the womb.
I had no choice. My parents told me “˜UCLA, UCLA, UCLA.’
I’ve been going to games and coming to campus all my
life.”
Williams’ commitment to the Huskies didn’t come
until late in the recruiting process, however, and only after
serious contemplation of attending UCLA.
“He told us he was coming to UCLA,” said Bruin
cornerback Matt Clark, Ware’s cousin and one of the prep
players who went on last year’s UCLA recruiting trip that
both Ware and Williams attended. “At the last minute he
decided to go to Washington though. (Ware and I) told him that if
he did decide to go to Washington we would just have to lock him up
when we played. I guess that’s what it’s going to have
to be Saturday between Matt and him.”
Williams is now the top offensive threat on an undefeated Husky
team, and ranks 15th in the nation with 93.75 receiving yards per
game. On Saturday, the 6-foot-4 Williams and the 6-foot-3 Ware will
meet for the first time since last year’s recruiting
visit.
“Matt’s going to be covering a true freshman who,
like himself, is a great player, and is going to be a great player
in this league for a long time,” UCLA cornerbacks coach R.
Todd Littlejohn said. “They’re both going to be in the
spotlight and if it happens that they match up with each other, may
the best one win.”
Despite similarities in high school accolades, Ware and Williams
approach to the game is like night and day.
“Matt wants to be silent in words and yet do the things on
the field that will help him gain the respect of his defensive
teammates,” Littlejohn said.
Williams, on the other hand, isn’t shy of promoting his
abilities.
“I can’t wait to show Ware and UCLA what I’m
made of,” Williams said. “I want to prove to them that
I’m the real deal.”
It was the UCLA recruiting trip that poses to be the first
encounter in what promises to be a long rivalry between the
two.
“He was talking a lot of smack on that recruiting
trip,” said Ware, who coming out of high school was rated as
the No. 1 defensive back in the nation by several publications.
“He talked about how he was the No. 1 prep receiver in the
nation and how nobody could stop him. He talked about making this
catch and that catch on me. I guess we’ll see.”
The season has been like that for Ware, who has been tested
weekly in his role as a weakside corner playing opposite the
smaller yet more experienced Ricky Manning Jr.
“For a rookie cornerback, every week is a
challenge,” Littlejohn said. “The first week he had
Freddie Millons, and Millons is just as good as Williams, in terms
of experience and talent. For Matt, each week the target gets
bigger, and each week he takes strides in his
improvement.”
In his first collegiate start against Alabama, Manning and Ware
were involved with two key miscues that resulted in the only
passing touchdowns the UCLA defense has allowed all season.
Since that time, Ware has been a key ingredient to UCLA’s
near shutouts of Ohio State and Oregon State. Against the Buckeyes,
Ware snagged his first interception of the season, a key play in
UCLA’s 13-6 victory.
Even Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel has taken notice of
Ware’s smooth transition.
“He sure looks good in a UCLA uniform, doesn’t
he?” Neuheisel said.
