|
|
|
LOS ANGELES — The day UCLA football fans have been waiting for since Bob Toledo was fired at the end of last season arrives on Saturday when Karl Dorrell, the Bruins' new head coach, takes his team to the University of Colorado for their first game.
Dorrell, who played for UCLA in the 1980s and also coached at Colorado as an assistant, has tried to sever any connection with the current squad and the former coach. He has installed a ball control-type offense that features a short-to-medium range passing game he hopes will make fans forget the flanker-reverses, halfback options and deep passes that Toledo brought out of his tricky playbook each Saturday.
Dorrell has also modified the Bruins' home uniforms with block numbers and new colors. The UCLA public relations department promotion of 2003 season has even drawn a line between the two coaches' personalities: Dorrell is a disiplinarian with a strict hands-on style of coaching that involves every part of the team, compared to the relaxed Toledo, who, critics say, tolerated a laid-back attitude and handed off authority to his assistants.
But the one item that still shows Toledo's mark are the players he recruited, which make up the majority of this season's club. Matt Moore won the starting quarterback job this summer, bypassing Drew Olson after the two sophomores were tied for the posiition in the spring. Moore struggled with the offense during spring practice, revealing in a newspaper story recently that at the time he hadn't learned the playbook.
Over the summer he improved steadily and earned the No. 1 spot two weeks ago.
When Southern Cal traveled to Auburn last week, Trojan fans were guardedly optimistic about the team's chances. But in Westwood, the feeling is only guarded. Without a breakaway running back and thin ranks in the offensive and defensive lines, Saturday's game against the Buffaloes could be a long one, but so too could the season, which includes games against Oklahoma, Illinois and the aforementioned Trojans. Dorrell is going to need a lot of patience to go along with his discipline.
SOUTHERN CAL (1-0) and BRIGHAM YOUNG (1-0) play for the first time ever, Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum. It was reported earlier this week that the Cougars tried to have two home-and-home series scrapped after legendary coac Lavell Edwards retired. One was against Louisiana State, the other, USC. LSU said, "OK," but the Trojans said, "no."
So, USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who spent many years in Provo, Utah, working for Edwards, gets to coach against his old school where he was the mentor to a string of great quarterbacks.
The Trojans, who are favored by 21 points, are hoping there won't be an emotional letdown after last week's demolition of nationally touted Auburn. Look for head coach Pete Carroll to play many of his young freshman and sophomore recruits against the Cougars, who defeated Georgia Tech in their opener.
Some other West Coast teams to watch this weekend:
WASHINGTON STATE (0-0) at NOTRE DAME (0-0): The speedy Cougars under new coach Bill Doba, invade South Bend, Ind., for the first time ever and could give the slower Irish problems in the season opener for both schools. Doba took over after Mike Price suddenly quit before this year's Rose Bowl game to take the job at Alabama, which he later squandered in a room service tryst with Destiny, a stripper he met on a trip to Pensacola, Fla. Doba grew up, went to school and coached high school football in South Bend. Family and friends await his homecoming but will they root for his team? The Watcher likes the Irish, 25-21.
LSU (1-0) at ARIZONA (1-0): A good non-conference match-up at Tucson where the Wildcats are a one-point favorite. Both teams easily won their openers against weak opponents (Louisiana-Monroe and Texas-El Paso, respectively), so this will be an early season test for Nick Saban's Tigers and John Mackovich's Wildcats. LSU wins a close one.
COLORADO STATE (0-1) at CALIFORNIA (2-0): The Bears are off to a fast start and catch the Rams after their loss to rival Colorado last week in Denver. Jeff Tedford has recruited some top players from the Southern California area since coming from Oregon two years ago. Sonny Lubick's club may find sunny Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley a tougher place to play than Denver's Invesco Field with its wind and rain. Cal wins 35-14.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Rose Bowl
|
|
Final
|
|
|
|
1-Southern Cal
|
28 |
|
| 4-Michigan |
7 |
|
|
|
Orange Bowl
|
|
Final
|
|
|
|
9-Florida State
|
14 |
|
| 10-Miami, Fla. |
16 |
|
|
|
Fiesta Bowl
|
|
1st Quarter
|
|
|
|
7-Ohio State
|
7 |
|
| 8-Kansas State |
0 |
|
|
Sugar Bowl
|
|
Sunday, 8 PM Eastern
|
|
|
2-Louisiana State (12-1)
|
|
| 8-Oklahoma (12-1) |
|
|
