By Scottie Bricker
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 9, 1997

Bruins making all the right changes as season turns around - PAC-10 notes

When UCLA started the season 0-2 with losses to Washington State and Tennessee, most Bruin fans donned their life jackets and prepared to jump ship.

Now the Bruins have gotten their vessel back on course with three straight explosions.

"We've got a lot of weapons right now," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said. "I'm excited about our team and what we're doing."

The Bruins can do no wrong on defense either, forcing 24 turnovers, an average of almost five per game. The 24 turnovers are two more than UCLA forced all of last season.

They also lead the nation in turnover margin at 3.8 per game.

The nationally-ranked Bruins offense has scored 66, 40 and 66 points in its last three wins over Texas, Arizona and Houston - the most a Bruin team has scored in any three-game stretch.

Quarterback Cade McNown leads the second-ranked scoring offense and has thrown for 563 yards in the past two games, despite throwing only six passes in the second half against Arizona and sitting out the entire second half versus Houston.

McNown is fourth in the nation in passing efficiency with a 175.2 rating.

Just think where the Bruins could be if they hadn't lost their early contests against the Cougars and Volunteers.

"I think about the Washington State game all the time," linebacker Brian Willmer said. "We should have won that game. And the Tennessee game , too.

" But.....you can't look back too much. It's time to move on."

Trojans pump up the volume

Southern Cal is preparing for two tough opponents this week.

The Trojans are readying themselves for Arizona State's tough ground game as well as the sometimes unruly Sun Devil Stadium crowds.

USC has faced four pass-oriented teams in opening the season with two wins and two losses.

The Trojans won back-to-back games against Cal and Nevada-Las Vegas after suffering tough home losses to nationally-ranked Florida State and Washington State.

ASU is averaging 200 yards per game on the ground and presents the Trojan defense with the difficult task of slowing down two outstanding running backs.

J.R. Redmond and Michael Martin are fifth and ninth, respectively, overall in the conference in rushing.

"Three out of the nest four weeks, we're going to have to stop the run," USC head coach John Robinson. "We're playing teams that are very physical and run right at you."

The Trojans also play at Notre Dame and Washington in the coming weeks.

"I think the top three (noisy stadiums) are Arizona State, South Bend and Washington," Robinson said. "And that's where we're going to be three of the next four weeks.

"Our next four games are extremely tough. I think we'll prove our mettle in the next four weeks."

Beavers on record-setting pace

The Oregon State Beavers are on pace to record the most victories of any OSU team since the 1971 season when they went 5-6.

At 2-2 and a home game against less-than-formidable Utah State, the Beavers look to go above .500 for the first time since their 1995 season-opening win against Idaho. The Beavers have not been above .500 this late in the season since the 1989 squad which was 4-3-1 after week eight.

OSU is averaging 243 yards per game through the air, a far cry from past years when the Beavers relied strictly on the run.

First-year coach Mike Riley has installed a balanced attack which has led to near upsets over Stanford and Arizona State.

OSU is still winless in the conference and will gets its next chance to break into the Pac-10 win column in next week's contest at UCLA.

The Beavers have been the perennial doormat of the Pac-10, winning just 20 conference games over the last 20 seasons.

AP Top 25

The Top Twenty Five teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 4, total points based on 25 points for a first place vote through one point for a 25th place vote and previous ranking:

		    Record	Pts    Pv	  


1. Florida (35)    	5-0	  1,704	   1	  
2. Penn St. (26)	4-0	  1,672	   2	  
3. Nebraska (6)	     	4-0	  1,606	   3	  
4. Florida St. (1)      4-0	  1,540	   4	 
5. North Carolina (2)   5-0       1,464	   5	  
6. Michigan		4-0	  1,401    6	 
7. Ohio St.		5-0	  1,334	   7	  
8. Auburn		5-0       1,227	   8	  
9. Tennessee		3-1	  1,158	   9	 
10. Washington	        3-1	  1,143	   10	 
11. Michigan St.	4-0	  1,065	   12	 
12. Washington St.      5-0	  980  	   15	 
13. Georgia		4-0	  814	   18	 
14. LSU			4-1	  770	   13	 
15. Texas A&M 		4-0	  750	   21	 
16. Stanford		4-1	  714	   19	 
17. Iowa		4-1	  702	   11	 
18. UCLA		3-2	  560	   22	 
19. Air Force		6-0	  416	   23	 
20. Oklahoma St.        5-0	  321	   -	 
21. Brigham Young	3-1       309	   24	 
22. Kansas St.	        3-1	  227	   17	 
23. Virginia Tech	4-1	  174	   14	
24. Colorado		2-2	  140	   16	 
25. Georgia Tech	3-1	  125	   -	

Others receiving votes: West Virginia 72, Clemson 65, Alabama 46, Wisconsin 43, Southern Cal 31, Kentucky 29, Toledo 27, Wyoming 26, New Mexico 18, Miami, Ohio 17, Arizona St. 16, Kansas 14, Purdue 14, Marshall 5, N. Carolina St. 5, Virginia 2, Cincinnati 1, Colorado St. 1, Ohio U. 1, Oregon St. 1.