Huskies face bear of a foe

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, October 11, 2001

Look at Washington’s schedule during Rick Neuheisel’s tenure.

Go ahead. Try to find a better opponent in that time than the Washington Huskies will face Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The 2001 UCLA Bruins are better than the Kansas State team that beat Washington in the 1999 Holiday Bowl. Better than the 2000 Miami team that thought of itself as the uncrowned national champion last year. Better than the Purdue Rose Bowl team. Better than any of the Oregon teams, and that includes the OSU squad of last year.

The Bruins are better than all of them.

Forget the powder blue uniforms and the soft rep. This is a ball-control, smashmouth running team led by tailback DeShaun Foster. But the biggest difference is a defense that may be the best in the country.

Defense? UCLA?

You bet your chinstrap.

This is the UCLA team we’ve been hearing about since 1997. This one’s healthy, not like last year’s team that started nine different players on the defensive line and had 11 players on the defensive unit miss games because of injuries.

Five senior starters who took their lumps are ready now. They don’t resemble the freshmen who started the 1999 Rose Bowl. They’re older. Smarter. Faster. The defense yields less than 12 points a game and held its last two opponents to 13 combined.

How many teams have done that against Ohio State and Oregon State?

“What happened last year, with all the injuries, we had to play a lot of young guys,” UCLA coach Bob Toledo said. “Now, those guys are giving us a lot of quality depth.”

This is a wrecking crew with some of the best defenders in the nation in linebacker Robert Thomas, end Kenyon Coleman and safety Marques Anderson.

In fact, you could hear Thomas salivating this week when he mentioned Washington was starting a backup quarterback.

“We like to get into a quarterback’s head,” Thomas said. “That’ll be important against Washington, especially since they’re starting a backup.”

That would be one Taylor Barton, who must have drawn fate’s short straw in making his first collegiate start against these guys. Yes, the Huskies have their strong points. Before the season is out, Reggie Williams, Paul Arnold and Todd Elstrom will be considered one of the top two collections of receivers in the Pacific-10 Conference. Defensive tackle Larry Tripplett will be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft in April.

Then there’s that incredible resolve that has allowed them to come back in 16 of Neuheisel’s 21 wins at the UW, 11 in the fourth quarter.

That alone keeps Washington’s possibility of winning its 13th straight game alive.

At no time in that stretch, however, has Washington faced a team as good on both sides of the ball as it will Saturday.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s games involving Pac-10 teams:

Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

TV, radio: ABC (Channel 4), KOMO radio (1000 AM)

Stars to watch: Washington – Taylor Barton fills in for Cody Pickett at quarterback. After a shaky start, Barton threw for 197 yards in less than three quarters of work. He’ll need much help from receivers Paul Arnold, Reggie Williams and Todd Elstrom. He’ll also need a running game to keep the pass rush off him. That means the offensive line, which showed improvement against USC a week ago, needs to give Willie Hurst and Rich Alexis all the help they can get. Defensively, Larry Tripplett is a wall at defensive tackle. Linebacker Ben Mahdavi had 15 tackles against USC. Charles Frederick is third in the nation in punt returns.

UCLA – DeShaun Foster is a Heisman Trophy candidate at tailback. Quarterback Cory Paus has been inconsistent, but still has not thrown an interception and has five TD passes. But the true stars are on defense. Linebacker Robert Thomas is a Butkus and Lombardi award candidate. End Kenyon Coleman is solid against the run and is a great pass rusher. Linebacker Ryan Nece has recovered from surgery on both shoulders and had 13 tackles against Alabama. Safety Marques Anderson is a big-play guy who has 26 tackles, six passes defensed, two tackles for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery. Corner Ricky Manning, at 5-9, was a Pac-10 first-teamer last year.

Breaking down the game: The most interesting matchups involve Washington’s offense and UCLA’s defense. How will the Huskies keep the Bruins’ pass rush away from Barton? How well can Hurst and Alexis run? Can Williams shake Manning and freshman Matt Ware?

Bottom line: Washington is banged up at quarterback, receiver, linebacker and secondary. It’s difficult to understand how the Huskies can protect Barton, stop Foster and run the ball.

Pick: UCLA, 28-20.

Kickoff: 2 p.m. at Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Calif.

TV, radio: No live TV, KRKO radio (1380 AM).

Stars to watch: Washington State – Quarterback Jason Gesser is having the most overlooked Heisman Trophy-caliber season in the nation. Wideout Nakoa McElrath continues to impress at wide receiver, as does Mike Bush. Tailback Dave Minnich ran for nearly 200 yards against Arizona. Placekicker Drew Dunning has hit 10 of 12 field-goal attempts, with a long of 49. On defense, end Isaac Brown leads the conference in sacks, while the other end, D.D. Acholuno is third. Billy Newman and Lamont Thompson may be the best pair of safeties in the conference.

Stanford: Quarterback Randy Fasani has 10 TD passes and just one interception. Tailback Brian Allen averages 6.4 yards a carry. Wideout Luke Powell is a big-play guy, averaging 22.9 yards a catch. He also is a dangerous punt returner. Safety Coy Wire is a fearsome hitter.

Breaking down the game: This could be a wild one. Both offenses can nail big plays and roll up points. This is where we begin to discover just how good the Cougars are. After a game against Montana State on Thursday, they have Oregon and UCLA at home, and Arizona State and Washington on the road. They should be able to deal with Stanford’s running game, leaving Fasani to win it for the Cardinal with his arm.

Bottom line: We like WSU’s balance on both sides of the ball. Although this will be the Cougar secondary’s biggest test of the season so far, Newman and Thompson are up for it.

Pick: WSU, 30-28.

Oregon at California: Although the Bears surely gained some confidence in barely losing to Washington, the Ducks finally may have finally put it together, judging from their 63-28 victory at Arizona. It was Joey Harrington’s best game of the year, by far. It’s simply asking too much of the Bears to deal with Oregon’s firepower, even though they’ve had two weeks to prepare. Pick: Oregon, 56-21.

Arizona at Oregon State: Two teams that desperately need a victory to stay in a bowl race. Oregon State’s inexperienced offensive line has shackled both the running game and passing game. Both teams have been hurt with turnovers. The one difference may be Arizona’s pass rush, which has produced 17 sacks. Defensive end Alex Luna figures to have a monster game rushing Jonathan Smith. Pick: Arizona, 27-24.

Arizona State at USC: Let’s see. USC (1-4) has lost exclusively to teams ranked in the top 25. ASU (3-1) has beaten San Diego State, San Jose State and Louisiana-Lafayette. Pick: USC, 24-23.

Sleeper pick of the week: Western Washington 34, Central Washington 20.