EMANUEL HAS ARRIVED REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE NOW PLAYER UCLA COACHES HOPED HE WOULD BE.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

Maybe it's the curse of Ben Emanuel II to be born and bred in Texas, a place where not much gets done in a hurry, be it a mouth-watering barbecue, screw music (think rap on cough syrup) or a complete sentence.

``He's one of those country boys,'' teammate Ricky Manning said. ``When he says the word `off,' it comes out `oooooooff.' ''

Pronouncements of the kind of career that many envisioned for Emanuel - including himself - haven't been any faster in coming.

It's taken two years, including detours to the doctor's office and the coach's doghouse, but the Bruins finally have the type of impact player they thought they were getting when Emanuel arrived from suburban Houston in 1999 as one of the country's top safety prospects.

Thus far, Emanuel, a 6-foot-3, 202-pound redshirt sophomore, has proven adept at both safety positions and emerged as a ball hawk after his game-sealing plays in victories over Colorado State and Oklahoma State.

In the 30-19 season-opening win over Colorado State, Emanuel scooped up a fumble on a potential game-tying two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter and returned it 89 yards for a score. Then he intercepted two passes last week against Oklahoma State, the second of which came deep in UCLA territory and secured a 38-24 victory.

He also has 10 solo tackles in the two games, second most on the team.

``I'm really pleased with the way Ben's playing,'' said defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who also works with the safeties. ``Ben has a great sense of playing the football. The guys that have that you don't find every day. The good ones make it look easy.''

When Snow showed up in the spring of 2001, he thought Emanuel was making it look too easy.

The first thing Snow asked of his players was to play faster, from snap to whistle. Six seconds - the length of the average play - became the credo, with Snow demanding they play as hard as they can, one six-second segment after another. Snow saw great speed from Emanuel, but he saw it in spurts.

``Ben and I butted heads quite a bit,'' Snow said. ``He probably thought I didn't like him very much. I was on him a lot, but he had to get used to the standard. I don't know if Ben was ever asked to play that hard. Some guys haven't been coached hard and they look at you half crazy.''

It was a difficult first 15 months for Emanuel.

He arrived in Westwood expecting to contend for a starting spot, but when he suffered a severe concussion early in training camp he was redshirted.

``I had a hard time adjusting,'' Emanuel said. ``People were expecting me to play as a freshman and I was, too. It seemed like I was out here by myself. I did have some family here, but I didn't have any transportation so I was on campus all the time. The life I was living - being on my own, playing big-time football and not doing well, learning what it's like not to play all year - wasn't easy.

``I thought about what it would be like if I was home, then I just stopped because I realized this was the place for me. When I went home I'd see friends who weren't doing anything. They'd be looking up to me, saying, `UCLA, blah, blah, blah.' People wanted to be where I was at even though I wasn't playing. There were way more positives than negatives - that's what got me through.''

When Snow arrived, he moved Emanuel from free safety to strong safety but he couldn't beat out senior Jason Stephens. In last season's opener against Alabama, Stephens played every down.

``It felt like I was going nowhere fast,'' Emanuel said. ``I couldn't see an end to it. I thought I'd be waiting for a long time.''

Emanuel was restricted mostly to special teams until late October when Stephens severely sprained his foot. In his first start, Emanuel intercepted two passes at Washington State, one he returned 29 yards for a touchdown. He started two more games until Stephens returned.

``It was a big opportunity for me,'' Emanuel said. ``All the coaches saw of me was in practice my redshirt year and practice most of my second season. It was an opportunity to show I could hang with everybody, that I could make my adjustments, make my calls and play well under pressure. It was a confidence booster for me, and I think it let the coaches trust me, too.''

Or did it? Emanuel missed spring practice while recovering from shoulder surgery and when he returned from home in August, he was behind Kevin Brant and Jibril Raymo on the depth chart.

``We had a long talk when we got back,'' said receiver Tab Perry, one of his closest friends. ``He was very focused and very determined.''

Emanuel spent most of training camp working at free safety but was named the starter at strong safety. He's played both as Snow tinkers with different secondary combinations.

``Ben's been more competitive than I thought he could be,'' Snow said. ``He's got real soft hands, and he's a real good athlete, but he's playing the hardest of anybody in the secondary, and he's getting more physical every game.''

Ask Emanuel where he's made the greatest strides and he'll say it's not physical, but mental.

``In college, everybody's a good athlete,'' he said. ``If you're smarter, you don't have to be the fastest or the biggest. The knowledge of the game will get you places faster because you'll know how to react better.

``A lot of stuff has happened to me, but I don't regret it. It took a while for me to understand what the coaches wanted. In my head, this was my year to show what I could do. I wasn't planning on anything less.''

Even if he's taken his own sweet time.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) BEN EMANUEL

(2) UCLA's Ben Emanuel has earned a starting job this season, getting time at both safety positions.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer