UCLA'S THREE-POINT PLAN BRUINS LOOK TO BREAK TREND VS. COUGARS.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer UCLA's Craig Bragg Bold text Craig Milton Bragg (born March 15, 1982 in San Jose, California) is an American football wide receiver. He attended UCLA and Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA. spent the week answering questions about nearly every one of his 175 career catches. There was his first one, the most memorable and the most important. And just what will he do with the ball from the record-breaking catch? As everyone else counts down to Bragg's record-breaking catch - he needs five to pass Kevin Jordan - he had something different in mind as the Bruins prepared to face Washington State today at the Rose Bowl. ``I'm looking at the rest of this schedule,'' Bragg said. ``We've never beaten the three teams we have left since I've been here. When we've had trouble at the end of the season, it's been against the three teams we have left on the schedule. That's what I've been thinking about this week.'' With its next victory, UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX (5-3, 3-2 Pacific-10) will become bowl eligible. Sounds easy with three games remaining, but it might not be that simple. No Bruins player has a victory against any of the final three opponents - Washington State, Oregon Oregon, city, United States Oregon, city (1990 pop. 18,334), Lucas co., NW Ohio, a suburb adjacent to Toledo, on Lake Erie; inc. 1958. It is a port with railroad-owned and -operated docks. The city has industries producing oil, chemicals, and metal products. (Nov. 13) or rival USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. (Dec. 4). When UCLA stumbled the past few Novembers, it primarily was against those three. Since a 34-29 victory over Oregon on Oct. 9, 1999, the Bruins are 0-12 against the three schools. ``We're not going to go out there like wild men and play out of character, but we do know we haven't beaten them,'' Bruins senior receiver Tab Perry Tab Wilson Perry (born January 20, 1982 in Pennsylvania and raised in Milpitas, California) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. He attended UCLA. Played wide receiver and safety in High School wearing the jersey number 3. said. ``To go out on top, it means we have to go out and beat these guys.'' The usually-quiet Bragg said he planned to speak to the team about the importance of finishing strong and beating Washington State for the first time. ``I definitely want to say something,'' Bragg said. ``It's just to remind everyone about the situation, and why this year is different.'' UCLA last beat Washington State (3-5, 1-4 Pacific-10 Conference The Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I. Membership Full members ) in 1998. After not playing the next two seasons, the Bruins lost the past three years to the Cougars by a combined score of 99-54. But this is a different situation, especially where Washington State is concerned. When the teams played in 2001, the 16th-ranked Cougars beat the No. 9 Bruins 20-14 to improve to 8-1 en route to their first of three consecutive 10-win seasons. In 2002, No. 7 Washington State pounded UCLA 48-27 to secure a spot in the Rose Bowl. That loss also helped cost coach Bob Toledo Bob Toledo (born March 4, 1946, in San Jose, California) is an American football coach, recently hired as head coach at Tulane University. He is best-known as the thirteenth head coach at UCLA. his job. Last season, the 12th-ranked Cougars beat the floundering Bruins 31-13 and finished second in the Pac-10. Now, though, the Cougars come to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, in a rebuilding mode. They have lost four in a row, start redshirt red·shirt tr.v. red·shirt·ed, red·shirt·ing, red·shirts To keep (a college or school athlete) out of varsity competition for one year in order to extend the athlete's period of eligibility. freshman Alex Brink Alex Brink (June 2, 1985- ) is a 6-foot-3, 207 pound senior quarterback at Washington State. Through his junior campaign, Brink has completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 7,095 yards. He has thrown 50 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. His quarterback efficiency rating is 131.78. at quarterback and are two-touchdown underdogs. ``They're a good football team,'' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell Karl Dorrell (born December 18, 1963 in Alameda, California) is the first black head coach in the history of the UCLA Bruins college football team, a position he took on December 18, 2002. said. ``They have skill on both sides of the ball. On defense, they run fast and get to the football. Offensively, they have some skill with wide receivers and running backs. They have a young quarterback who's going to be a better player this week than he was last week. They're a dangerous football team. ``We know we're not taking that lightly. We know we have a lot to improve on and continue to build, and this game is another opportunity for us to keep that continuity going, and changing the trend that has been plaguing us for the last few years.'' Washington State is the current focus, UCLA players said this week. But the inability to close seasons strongly goes well beyond the Cougars. UCLA's last win against Oregon came when its fifth-year seniors were seniors in high school. Since then, the Ducks have beaten the Bruins four consecutive times, the middle two of which were 1-point games. And no one has to remind the Bruins of recent failures against the Trojans. After winning eight in a row in the series, UCLA has lost the last five and been outscored 181-85, including 126-43 in the past three meetings. ``We have to win this week, period,'' UCLA quarterback Drew Olson Drew Olson (born April 6, 1983 in San Francisco, California) is a former starting quarterback for the University of California, Los Angeles football team, where he broke many of UCLA's passing records. said. ``Not to get rid of any collapses or anything like that. I think that's past. We won't even think about that anymore. We need a win.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Senior Craig Bragg, left, needs just five catches to become UCLA's career leader in receptions. Kevin Jordan holds the record with 179. Matt A. Brown/Associated Press |
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