UCLA: A PROGRAM IN NEED OF A SPARK TRUTH OR DARING KARL DORRELL MUST SHOW HE CAN DO SOMETHING BOLD, BEGINNING SATURDAY.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Is he Coach Darell, or Coach Borell? 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. faces familiar questions about the spirit of the 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 football team after a loss at Oregon in which the Bruins failed to complete a long pass play, punted while three scores down with four minutes on the clock, and shunned a hurry-up offense The hurry-up offense is an American football offensive which has several strategic applications usually categories as the "two-minute drill" and even a "no-huddle offense". after they got the ball back. Daring or boring? The good news for Dorrell is that he has a chance to show not only the city but the nation a more dynamic side when UCLA faces Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame in South Bend South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. on Saturday in what could be (depending on the meaning of the USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. game in December) the Bruins' most-watched game of the season. By winning, Dorrell said Monday, the Bruins can ``get ourselves in position to do great things.'' As important, by just showing some spark, the Bruins can put fans in a mood to keep watching them. Stop me if you've heard this every now and then for decades, but the thing you must be if you're the other college football team in town is entertaining. Terry Donahue Terry Donahue (born June 24, 1944 in Los Angeles, California) is a former college football coach and NFL general manager, and a current football analyst. Player Terry graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. Donahue played defensive line at UCLA. figured it out, although the cautious coach needed a few years. Dorrell should know, having been a receiver in the mid-1980s when the Donahue passing game blossomed. If this year's USC attack isn't all that entertaining either, all the more reason for UCLA to throw itself out there as the fun one. Instead, only one Bruins wide receiver has a gain over 19 yards -- flanker Brandon Breazell caught a 25-yarder against Stanford. And none of Pat Cowan's 16 completions in the 30-20 loss to Oregon last Saturday covered more than 14 yards -- Breazell, Junior Taylor and Marcus Everett went for exactly 14 on second-half passes. Fourteen yards. In a Westside house, that's the walk from the sofa to the refrigerator, where TV viewers will spend most of their time if things don't liven up Verb 1. liven up - make lively; "let's liven up this room a bit" liven, enliven, invigorate, animate energize, perk up, energise, stimulate, arouse, brace - cause to be alert and energetic; "Coffee and tea stimulate me"; "This herbal infusion doesn't . ``That's something we need to correct this week,'' Dorrell said Monday. ``We did not give ourselves the best opportunity, with (quarterback) protection, to make those plays downfield down·field adv. & adj. Sports To, into, or in the defensive team's end of the field. Adj. 1. downfield - toward or in the defending team's end of the playing field; "he threw to a downfield receiver" .'' UCLA needs Dorrell to succeed. Because, as the first football hire of the Dan Guerrero era, he's the face of this athletic director's stewardship of the football program. Because, having come up under Donahue, he's totally a representative of the school. Because of where he fits in the campus' legacy of racial barrier-breaking -- a role whose pluses and minuses he embraces. To succeed, Dorrell has to produce teams as rousing as his public personality is stoic. UCLA's 10-2 record in Dorrell's third season was a huge step. As was the way the 2005 team kept winning from behind with explosive offense, 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. throwing 13 touchdown passes of between 21 and 91 yards, sixof those going to wide receivers. If that team wasn't as good as its record, at least you had to give it credit for excitement. Now the Bruins are 4-2, and 2-2 in the Pac-10, and Dorrell may be caught in the same fourth-year hole as 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. (seven losses), Donahue (six), Tommy Prothro Tommy Prothro (July 20, 1920 - May 14, 1995) was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels for more than 30 years. Prothro, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, was the son of major league baseball player and manager Doc Prothro, who played for (seven) and Bill Barnes William H. Barnes was a baseball player, playing as a center fielder in the 19th century. He played for the St. Paul Apostles of the Union Association, a replacement team which began play near the end of the 1884 season. (six). Yet the real problem is the way the 2006 is doing it, with stick-in-the-mud offense, its 6.1 yards per pass play and seven touchdown passes ranking ahead of only Arizona in the conference. No excitement dividend here. The Bruins faced third-and-10 or longer seventimes at Oregon, tried six passes, got the first down once. How much of this has to do with Ben Olson's injury twoweeks ago and Cowan's inexperience, we might find out at Notre Dame. ``We need to get on the same page,'' Dorrell said. ``We're just not getting it done.'' Dorrell hasn't proven he can, and he hasn't proven he can't. The soggy pass offense can be excused in part by Olson's injury. The punt against Oregon, on fourth-and-7 from the UCLA 37, when the Bruins needed the ball? Dorrell said Monday a fake was planned, but the Ducks lined up to prevent that, and calling off the punt would have cost the Bruins their last timeout. The lack of a no-huddle offense after the Bruins recovered the fumbled punt? Dorrell said one factor was that Cowan had nearly lost his voice after being hit in the throat. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , Dorrell said, it wasn't lack of daring or drive last Saturday. He can prove it this Saturday. Beating 10th-ranked Notre Dame (5-1) won't be easy, especially if Cowan still can't talk -- how's he going to change a play, call an audible? The Bruins began the week as 12 1/2 -point underdogs, which is ominous beyond the obvious. Dorrell's UCLA teams are 1-8 (3-6 against the spread) as underdogs on the road, and they're 3-6 (3-6 against the spread) as double-digit underdogs anywhere. So maybe you shouldn't gamble on the Bruins. But maybe Dorrell has to gamble with his offense if he's going to make a statement. Downfield or downhill? Darell or Borell? The city wants to know. The nation finds out Saturday. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) KARL DORRELL (2) With UCLA QB Patrick Cowan, left, suffering from a throat injury, it's up to Bruins coach Karl Dorrell to shake things up. Rick Bowmer/Associated Press |
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