Washington St. to Make a Run at UCLA Today

PULLMAN, Wash. —  Odds are good that UCLA will win its game this afternoon against Washington State, but odds are not so good that UCLA will be able to defend its No. 2 ranking in rushing defense.

The Cougars may not be a winning team, but they are one tough running team.

And even Coach Terry Donahue of UCLA admits that the Bruins have yet to be tested by a team with running backs like Rueben Mayes and Kerry Porter. Mayes won the Pacific 10 rushing title last season, and Porter won it the year before.

Sharing the ball this season, Mayes is averaging 89 yards a game, Porter 52.

UCLA ranks second in the nation, behind Oklahoma, in rushing defense, having given up an average of just 51 yards a game on the ground.

Part of the reason for that impressive rushing defense statistic is that UCLA has faced some of the best passing teams in the country in its earlier games, among them BYU and Stanford.

UCLA beat BYU and Stanford.

The problem facing the Bruins this afternoon, however, will not be just switching concentration from stopping the pass to stopping the rush. WSU attacks with a balanced offense.

Washington State quarterback Mark Rypien ranks eighth in the nation in total offense. Last week in beating Oregon State, the Cougars rolled up 460 yards in total offense.

“This is going to be the biggest test for the defensive team because it is the first really, truly balanced team we’ve faced all season,” Donahue said. “WSU has always rushed the ball on UCLA--very consistently and very effectively.

“Two years ago, they had 440 yards against us. That’s a lot of yards.”

Last season, WSU rushed for 244 yards against UCLA, and Mayes had 156 of them.

Mayes is going into the game today needing just 13 yards to become the school’s all-time leading rusher. He has 2,818 yards.

“Their backfield has earned its notoriety,” Donahue said. “They deserve it.

“They are able to use two extremes in their offense--both the option and the run-and-shoot. . . . You have to prepare for the option, but then they come with the play-action stuff, all the passing plays. It stretches your defense to the breaking point.

“This will be the biggest challenge for the defense since the BYU game, and Washington State has a more balanced attack than BYU.”

Bruin Notes Today’s game will be televised on Channel 4 through the Lorimar Network and will be broadcast by KMPC (710). Game time is 1 p.m. . . . UCLA is 4-1-1 overall, 2-1 in the Pac-10. Washington State is 2-4 overall, 2-2 in the conference. . . . WSU, which has not played at home since Sept. 7, snapped a three-game losing streak with its victory over Oregon State last Saturday. . . . UCLA leads the series with WSU, 26-8-1, and has won the last three. Last season, a bad snap on what might have been the game-winning field goal for WSU led to John Lee’s 47-yard field goal in UCLA’s 27-24 victory. . . . Jim Walden is in his eighth season as coach at WSU. He has a record of 1-4-1 against UCLA.

UCLA tailback Gaston Green, who has missed four games because of sprained knee ligaments, made the trip and is expected to play, but UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said that he would not make that determination until game time. . . . Donahue said he was not concerned about risking Green’s knee on the artificial surface at Martin Stadium. Donahue does not think that artificial turf is any more likely to cause injury than natural grass. “He hurt it in the first place on grass,” Donahue said. “Actually, Gaston is great on artificial surface. His speed is magnified.” . . . Even without Green, UCLA is leading the Pac-10 in rushing offense with an average of 219.8 yards a game.

Lee is closing in on the NCAA field-goal record for most in a career, 78, set by Arizona State’s Luis Zendejas. Lee has 71, including a streak of 17 straight, and is 13 for 13 this season. Also approaching the record is Luis’ brother, Max Zendejas of Arizona, who has 67. . . . Donahue has no complaints about his field-goal team, of course, but he has been disappointed with every other phase of his team’s kicking game. He said that he was making no lineup changes but may do so if things don’t look up.

Expect action early in this game. UCLA has scored first in every game this season and is outscoring its opponents in the first quarter, 58-13.