PASADENA, Calif. – A curious thing about today’s matchup between No. 18 Washington and unranked UCLA.
Here’s Washington, with a 6-foot-4, 225-pound game-breaking receiver in Reggie Williams. Here’s UCLA, with one of the best cornerbacks in the nation in 6-3, 220-pound Matt Ware.
And neither UW coach Keith Gilbertson nor UCLA coach Karl Dorrell say they think the Bruins will rearrange their defense so that Ware covers Williams on a regular basis.
“I don’t know that Reggie has been quote ‘matched-up’ against Matt Ware, ever,” Gilbertson said. “Last year, I don’t think that Matt Ware matched up on Reggie at all. I just think they played their defense.”
The Bruins, under defensive coordinator Larry Kerr have a formation that labels Ware as the right corner and 5-9, 174-pound Matt Clark as the left corner. Will they move them around according to where Williams lines up? Not likely, Dorrell said.
The Huskies routinely move Williams around on the line of scrimmage – left, right, inside, outside – in order to both give the defense another thing to think about and to create matchup problems.
Given those philosophies, it follows that Williams and Ware will match up on occasion, but so will Williams and Clark, which has to worry Dorrell and Kerr. Williams simply eats smaller cornerbacks for lunch.
As a result, teams generally put their best cover man on him. Ohio State used All-America Chris Gamble. Ware has been on him. And last year, Cal used corner Nnamdi Asomugha to do anything he could.
“The guy just got away with tackling him, end of story,” Gilbertson said of Asomugha. “He did a great job, but he didn’t get called, and that’s one for the defense.”
Still, Williams finished with eight catches for 116 yards.
“No one shut him down,” Gilbertson said. “You can match him, roll up, do what you want to do, but we will find ways to get the ball in his hands. We have enough offense to get it to him.”
Given that, what do the Bruins hope to gain by stubbornly risking a jump ball between Williams and Clark? Watch for the Bruins to double Williams with a corner and a safety.
“I don’t think there’s ever a way to shut him down,” Dorrell said. “You just want to manage him to where he can’t hurt you when he wants to hurt you. We’ll just try to do what we need to do to be effective defensively in hurting or stopping the offense, with the understanding that he’s going to have his opportunities to make a few plays.”
In what would appear to be a tough, close game, a few plays might be all Williams needs.
So, Dorrell might focus his attention on the Bruins’ defensive front, an outstanding group of athletes who have been together, seemingly, forever. He might believe that if the Bruins can put enough pressure on quarterback Cody Pickett, it will render Williams into a non-issue.
Defensive end Dave Ball has five sacks, tied for the Pacific-10 Conference lead. Linebacker Brandon Chillar has 4 1/2 tackles for loss, while defensive tackle Rodney Leisle has three.
“I think their front seven is as good as Ohio State’s front seven,” Gilbertson said.
It might be a legitimate scheme, or it might be typical coachspeak. But it’s hard to imagine that Williams vs. Ware won’t crop up sometime today.
And it will be magnificent.
“It’s something I’ve looked forward to,” Williams said. “I like going against him. He is bigger and stronger than a lot of the guys I go against. This will be a challenge.”
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