Bruins RBs could be double-trouble

  • By John Sleeper / Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:00pm
  • Sports

SEATTLE – Six-foot-two, 245-pound Manuel White broke tackles from four Oklahoma State defenders and outran the rest of the field for a 60-yard touchdown.

At Illinois, 5-8, 190-pound Maurice Drew broke through a couple of tackles and left others in a cloud of dust for a 47-yard TD en route to a career-high 142-yard day on 21 carries.

The primary tailbacks for UCLA are so physically different, yet the result is often the same: a team-wide celebration in the end zone after an electrifying run.

“They’re really good, man,” said UW linebacker Scott White, who figures to run into both multiple times Saturday when the Huskies and Bruins collide in the Pacifc-10 Conference opener for both teams.

“They complement each other so well,” White said. “For what they do, they both fit into their schemes. It gives them really a dynamic offense. It makes them difficult to defend.”

White is a big back who runs as fast as a tailback. He also is a reliable receiver, having caught six passes for 56 yards in the Bruins’ first two games.

“White is a power runner,” White said. “Once he gets going, he’s hard to bring down. We’re really going to have to focus on tackling.”

Drew is the speedster, an outside runner who can turn short, inside screens into 40-yard nightmares. He’s fast enough to outrun linebackers on the outside, but powerful enough to withstand punishment on inside runs.

An added bonus: Drew’s lack of height means he can hide behind his offensive lineman, even for a split second, and run undetected to an open part of the field.

“If he gets into the open field, I think he’s going to be real tough to tackle,” UW outside linebacker Evan Benjamin said. “You’ve got to know who’s in the game. With Drew, you’re going to see a lot more screens and stuff like that and get him out of the backfield. With White, they’re going to try to use him north and south, get him against corners and safeties and use his power.”

Both are similar in that both like to cut back against the grain. You’d expect that with Drew, being the one with more speed, but White also can cut back. He can use his power to run over tacklers and his surprising speed to elude them.

Both will require multiple tacklers to get down. One may slow White, but others have to swarm to give help to the primary tackler.

With White, the swarm has to get there before he has a chance to break one.

It may well be the matchup that decides the game: White and Drew against Washington’s front seven, which had a solid day against Fresno State.

“Our principles are that, if everybody is running to the football anyway and playing eight seconds (a play) and executing, we’re going to have two or three guys hitting,” Scott White said. “That’s our goal, anyway, is to gang-tackle.”

Paus to start: UW coach Keith Gilbertson said Casey Paus will start at quarterback and that Carl Bonnell will move up as his backup.

Isaiah Stanback, who is Paus’ usual backup, probably won’t play because of a sprained ankle he sustained against Fresno State.

“I think Isaiah’s style of play has a lot to do with his feet,” Gilbertson said.

Gilbertson said Paus will play as long as he is efficient, or at least more efficient than he was against the Bulldogs, when he threw three interceptions.

“He doesn’t have to go out and be Dan Fouts,” Gilbertson said. “But it’s got to be better than it was and we’re hoping he’ll do it. … We’ve got to move the chains and not turn the ball over, pure and simple.”

Kicker back: Place-kicker Evan Knudson, who was diagnosed Monday as having had mononucleosis for some weeks, returned to practice. He was checked when he admitted to feeling poorly after missing two medium-range field goals against Fresno State.

“He said he was past the worst part,” Gilbertson said.

Michael Braunstein will handle the field-goal duties.

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