| Each week during the season, Joel Buchsbaum highlights key college games.
This week Buchsbaum previews UCLA vs. Washington State. He breaks down each team, provides
a scout’s perspective on key players and picks a final score.
| UCLA vs.
Washington State |
Saturday, Nov. 3
at Pullman, Wash. |
 |
Bruins RB
DeShaun Foster
|
Both of these teams have only one conference loss, and in a conference with no unbeaten
teams, they are very much in the running for the Pacific-10 crown. For the first time
since the Ryan Leaf era, the Cougars are very much in the bowl picture and a threat to
beat any team in the conference.
Quarterbacks — A huge reason Washington State has been so
successful has been the play of QB Jason Gesser, who not only beat out Leaf’s cousin,
Matt Kegel, but has played as well as any quarterback in the conference until last
week’s shaky game against Oregon. Gasser is more of a Timm Rosenbach type, while
Kegel is much more in the Leaf mold. Both are just sophomores. UCLA’s Corey Paus had
been solid and had not thrown an interception all year until last week’s loss at
Stanford, when he had a poor first half before suffering an injury to his throwing hand,
which kept him out for the rest of the game. Scott McEwan came in and sparked the Bruins,
throwing the ball downfield quite well at times.
Running backs — UCLA’s DeShaun Foster is one of the top
running backs in the country. He can be his own blocker and gets a lot of his yardage
after contact. Since fumbling four times (losing two) against Ohio State, he had really
improved his ball security but lost a key fumble in the Stanford game. He had a monster
game against Washington, rushing for over 300 yards and could be in for a very big day
against a Cougars defense that gave up over 400 rushing yards to Oregon last week.
Washington State had gotten yeoman’s work from Dave Minnich, a 27-year-old service
veteran who displayed a boot-camp mentality and good run vision and balance before tearing
cartilage in his knee against Oregon State on Oct. 6. He may not be 100 percent yet, but
he did play well vs. Oregon. If he is not at his best, freshman Allen Thompson, who has
more speed but less power, or John Tippins, a bigger, more powerful back, could share time
with him.
Receivers — Going into this year, this area was a major concern
for Washington State, but what was once a big question mark has been turned into a big
exclamation point with the emergence of Mike Bush and Nakoa McElrath. Bush is a 6-5
basketball player who knows how to use his size. McElrath (6-1½) is a former
junior-college transfer who really has improved his attention to detail and concentration
and seems to have emerged as a big-play maker when operating out of the slot. The Bruins
also have great size at the WR position, but they don’t have anyone close to Freddie
Mitchell. Brian Poli-Dixon was supposed to be the guy this year, but he had a lot of drops
in September before showing signs of getting his act together. However, from game to game,
you don’t know if you will get the Poli-Dixon who was compared to J.J. Stokes or the
player who dropped three balls vs. Alabama. At tight end, Bryan Fletcher has become a
pass-catching threat for UCLA this year.
Offensive linemen — On paper, they don’t look so good. But
on the field, they generally have gotten the job done.
Defensive linemen — Kenyon Coleman is not as good as his press
clippings, but having him healthy has been a big plus for UCLA. On paper, he looks like
the prototype defensive end, and he plays hard and is generally solid to good. But he is
not a dominating player because his instincts are a little off, and he does not translate
his strength well on to the field and plays like he lacks lower-body strength. At
defensive tackle, Anthony Fletcher shows flashes of skill, and Ken Korcher is a big kid
who will give you all he has. The Cougars have a smaller, quicker line, and UCLA may be
tempted to run right at them like Oregon did last week.
Linebackers — UCLA’s Robert Thomas is healthy, being
protected by the defensive tackles and making big plays vs. both the run and pass. Ryan
Nece (Ronnie Lott’s son) is active and aggressive and has good vision, but he is
really undersized and must go around blockers. Raonall Smith, who has tremendous speed and
great overall numbers, was finally developing into a playmaker for Washington State and
may have been the best player on the defense. But he hurt his knee last month, and his
status for the game is up in the air. When he’s healthy, in some ways he reminds you
of Mark Fields, who was the last Washington State linebacker to be drafted in the first
round. However, Fields was more instinctive and explosive and came on like gangbusters as
a senior.
Defensive backs — Washington State has one of the better
secondaries around with all-star candidates Billy Newman and Lamont Thompson at safety and
Marcus Trufant at cornerback. Newman is a very smart and tough player with limited speed
and range. Thompson is the most gifted athlete from a size-speed standpoint and once was
considered a rising star, but at times, his instincts appear a little off. Trufant is
questionable for this game while still recovering from a broken wrist, and without him,
the Bruins are hurting in the coverage department. UCLA is improved but still somewhat
inconsistent in this area. The Bruins’ lack of size at cornerback was exploited by
Stanford and could be exploited again big time this week. SS Marques Anderson is a big
hitter with speed who is playing the pass somewhat better this year but still tends to be
erratic.
Special teams — UCLA has an edge in the kicking game. Washington
State has big-play people both returning and looking to block kicks.
Prediction: UCLA 26, Washington State 24 |
