UCLA bearing down on shaky WSU

For some Pac-10 football teams in varying degrees of desperation, the onset of October means looking to modest goals — like improvement, rather than the trinkets they give away at bowl games.

Two of those that seem to qualify, Washington State and UCLA, square off at the Rose Bowl today, and the Bruins (1-3) have a leg up on the Cougars (1-4) in the area of advancement.

UCLA has had an uneven start, nipping Tennessee in a memorable opener for first-year coach Rick Neuheisel, getting trounced at BYU, 59-0, and then competing well before a five-point loss to Fresno State. Meanwhile, the Cougars have endured two Pac-10 losses in which they surrendered 129 points.

"In the offseason, there were two coaching changes in the conference," noted Paul Wulff, the first-year WSU coach. "UCLA and Washington State. And if you just watch film, you can see why."

Each team has had severe offensive-line problems, in large part because of what their previous staff left behind. And both are playing third-string quarterbacks — Kevin Craft of UCLA and Marshall Lobbestael of WSU.

But WSU has played even more poorly on defense than offense, while UCLA has at least parlayed several respected players — with the alignments of coordinator DeWayne Walker — into a workable defense.

"Eventually, we're going to kick in the door," Neuheisel said.

So varied and significant have WSU's problems been that the Bruins are as large a favorite (17 points) as their average points scored.

For WSU, the latest setback was a handful of practice injuries at midweek, particularly at running back, where Chris Ivory hurt a hamstring and Logwone Mitz rolled an ankle. Dwight Tardy is thus likely to start at tailback, and with those two questionable, he might not have many breathers.

Asked whether he saw improvement in any facet this week, Wulff said, "Defensively, kids seem to be executing and playing with more of a purpose in practice, which was good to see.

"Offensively, same thing. On a couple of warm days, the kids came out and slugged through it, just to get better."

Wulff lauded defensive lineman Matt Mullennix and tight end Ben Woodard as veterans who academically "didn't have to come back," but are "making just a great impression with the young guys on the team."

He added that defensive tackle Matt Eichelberger "is playing the best football since he's been here."

The Bruins are 109th nationally in scoring, but WSU is 117th in scoring defense, mostly because of horrendous run defense.

UCLA has had myriad difficulties with the Cougars in recent years. WSU has won the past three at the Rose Bowl and six of the past seven. The only Bruins victory came in 2005 in Pullman, when WSU led by 17 early in the fourth quarter but eventually succumbed in overtime.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com