Bruins hope to finish year with win

  COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Junior offensive tackle
Bryce Bohlander and the team hope to salvage the
season by defeating Arizona State this weekend.

By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff

A tumultuous regular season comes to an end this Saturday when
the UCLA Bruins take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Rose
Bowl in Pasadena.

Both teams are mired in four-game losing streaks and are looking
to close the season on a positive note, in this, a game postponed
due to the Sept. 11 tragedy.

For the Bruins (6-4, 3-4 Pac-10), Saturday’s game will
conclude a year in which they saw legitimate national championship
dreams crumble into Humanitarian Bowl hopes.

UCLA won its first six games of the season, but probably needs
to win to be invited to a bowl game.

Arizona State is playing for pride. The Sun Devils (4-5, 1-5)
cannot reach the six-win mark necessary to qualify for postseason
play.

UCLA will be starting the game without Cory Paus at quarterback,
the first time someone other than Paus has taken the first snap
since early last year. Paus was demoted to third string earlier
this week after off-the-field troubles.

However, flanker Tab Perry returns to the lineup for the first
time since the Washington State game. On top of the loss at
Pullman, the Bruins have lost all three games in which Perry did
not appear.

“I can’t wait to get back out there,” Perry
said. “This gives us a good opportunity to finish up
strong.”

The Sun Devils are coming off a loss to cross-state rival
Arizona. Their last win came on Oct. 20 against Oregon State, when
the Devils put up 41 points in Tempe.

“They have a pretty good offense,” UCLA senior
linebacker Ryan Nece said. “We have to stop the run because
that really opens up their game.”

ASU’s leading rusher is senior Delvon Flowers, who comes
into the game with 1,030 yards on the season. He has scored ten
touchdowns and averages nearly six yards per carry.

The Bruins defense allows an average of just 3.1 yards per
carry.

Most of the focus will be on the offense, however, which was
held scoreless two weeks ago by USC. It was the first time in two
years the Bruins have been shut out.

“This is all we have left to play for,” offensive
tackle Mike Saffer said. “It’s a one-game season for
us.”

UCLA leads the all-time series against ASU 11-6-1. The Sun
Devils, however, have been successful at the Rose Bowl, beating the
Bruins four out of eight times.

Last year the Bruins needed a 28-point comeback to defeat the
Sun Devils 38-31.

The Sun Devils should not be able to surprise the Bruins defense
this year. UCLA defensive coordinator Phil Snow spent nine years at
ASU before crossing the border to California.

ASU has two players besides Flowers to keep an eye on. Senior
offensive tackle Levi Jones was recently named a second-team
all-American, and sophomore defensive end Terrell Suggs was named
to the third team.

Saturday’s game will be bittersweet as 23 seniors on the
squad make their final appearance at the Rose Bowl, including
linebacker Robert Thomas, who was named a first-team All-American
earlier this week. UCLA will honor the seniors by announcing their
names prior to the game.

Though 2001 will undoubtedly go down as a disappointing season
for the seniors and the rest of the squad, the team feels it can
salvage some pride with a victory of the Sun Devils.

“It’s hard to believe this is my last game at the
Rose Bowl,” Nece said. “Hopefully a win will stop some
of the bleeding.”

The Bruins can also salvage a postseason game, and while it will
not be rose scented, most on the team argue that it is better than
nothing.