GUTTY LITTLE BRUINS NOW BIG, BAD BRUINS; STRENGTH PROGRAM GAVE UCLA MUSCLE.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

The northeast wing of UCLA's Morgan Center athletics building is dedicated to the greatest players and coaches in school history. Plaques of Kenny Easley and Gary Beban. Pictures of Red Sanders, Tommy Prothro and Terry Donahue. There's even a bronze relief of J.D. Morgan himself.

Last week, surrounded by all that history, UCLA junior guard Andy Meyers pronounced dead one of UCLA's grandest traditions.

``The `Gutty Little Bruin' is dead. It's over,'' Meyers said. ``It drives me crazy. Coach (Bob) Toledo hates it. The offensive line hates it. We all hate it. It's insulting.''

Meyers detests the inference - that weak, undersized, UCLA wins games on heart alone. That might have been true 30 years ago, when Donahue and John Richardson patrolled scrimmage as pint-sized linemen, but it is not the case today. UCLA's offensive line is anything but ``little,'' with each starter topping 300 pounds. Other Bruins despise the tradition's slight to their attitude and ability.

``It's not very complimentary,'' middle linebacker Brian Willmer said. ``It's like we're always an underdog. Our attitude now is that we expect to win regardless of the opponent.''

Toughness is difficult to define. Is it a 400-pound bench press? Is it 200 yards rushing? Or is it center Shawn Stuart playing the final minutes against Tennessee with a dislocated shoulder and receiver Jim McElroy coming back from a first-half concussion to lead a victory over Oregon?

However it's defined, this much is indisputable: The Bruins are bigger and stronger than ever before, and that development has as much to do with their five-game winning streak as red zone efficiency and turnover margins.

``There no question that they've made an impact in all areas - strength, conditioning and mental toughness,'' said Oregon State coach Mike Riley, whose team lost to UCLA 34-10 on Saturday. ``Having seen UCLA too closely the last few years (Riley was USC's offensive coordinator from 1993-96), they are a more physical and stronger team, and they present different problems now.

``There's more emphasis on the linemen, on the running game, and on coming off the ball and getting after people. In the past, they were more finesse.''

The ``Gutty Little Bruin'' demise began when Toledo became head coach in 1996. From his post as offensive coordinator for two seasons under Donahue (1994-95), Toledo realized the Bruins were not big or strong enough to compete for his ultimate goal, the national championship. He saw bigger, faster bodies on the other sideline. He saw UCLA injuries that could have been prevented with better conditioning. And he saw how UCLA's reputation for finesse - for being ``soft,'' the most dreaded word in football - hindered recruiting.

``When other schools recruit you in the Pac-10, their catch phrase is, `UCLA's a bunch of pansies - we'll kick their butts,' '' freshman tailback Jermaine Lewis said.

Toledo immediately revamped the strength program, replacing Phil Frye with Kevin Yoxall, who injected intensity and discipline to a system that had made the weight room seem like Romper Room.

``The days of going to the weight room and doing your own thing are over,'' Meyers said. ``We used to call it a `pencil workout.' You came in at 1:30 and picked up your (workout) sheet. If you didn't feel like doing squats, you'd just write down five sets at 400 pounds and say, `That's a good workout.' Then you'd leave.''

Yoxall and his staff monitor every player, every weight and every lift, then log it all into a computer. Players lift for 45 minutes twice a week during the season to maintain their strength while avoiding burnout.

The serious work comes in the offseason, when Yoxall's program builds players toward periodic ``maximum lifts.'' The workouts emphasize Olympic power lifts (ie: clean and jerks, squats, snatches) and are designed to simulate the movements players use on the field. Curls might have benefits on the beach, but they do little good when shrugging a block.

The players have embraced Yoxall - ``When he gives you love, you get so amped,'' Lewis said - and his system because they see the effect each time they look in a mirror, take on a blocker or walk away from a game injury-free. Two seasons removed from Frye's ``pencil workouts,'' the Bruins are craving Yoxall's discipline.

``If you're one second late, you have 5:30 a.m. conditioning the next day,'' Willmer said. ``Guys are coming in 10 or 15 minutes early. If you're five minutes early, you're late.

``It's very regimented. We're there to work, not screw around. There's no rest between sets, no downtime.''

Practice provides no relief. During the Donahue years, injured players wore red jerseys and watched from the sideline. Toledo demands that everyone do something. If your knee hurts, bench press. If your shoulder hurts, run. The only players in red are the quarterbacks, so they don't get hit.

The healthy players must survive more grueling practices than in the past - not in length but intensity. To simulate game situations and improve conditioning, there are fewer substitutions and more no-huddle situations. If the players can withstand a two-hour practice, plus wind sprints, they'll have no problem in the fourth quarter of a tight game. Little wonder UCLA has outscored its opponents 146-47 in the second half this season.

``The tough attitude all starts with coach Toledo,'' Meyers said. ``He won't accept anything but your best effort. He won't accept bitching, and the team has bought fully into it.''

Hence, the death of a tradition.

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Photo: (color) UCLA linemen might still be gutty, but they are certainly not little anymore. They resent the old ``gutty little Bruins'' description.

Myung J. Chun / Daily News