Rick Neuheisel and Tyrone Willingham might steal spotlight on sideline in UW-UCLA game

Washington fans will say hello to one former Huskies coach tonight, and goodbye to a coach soon to be a former Husky.

And while each coach said this week he'd rather the focus be on what happens on the field, they'd have better luck asking for their jobs back at Washington, considering the combined 3-15 records of the UCLA Bruins (3-6) and Huskies (0-9).

So with little intrigue on the field, the focus will inevitably shift to the sidelines, where UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel will make his first appearance at Husky Stadium since being fired in 2003, and UW's Tyrone Willingham his last.

Kickoff is 7:15 p.m.

Neuheisel said he's expecting a mostly hostile reaction. Willingham said he wasn't sure what his emotions will be, only that he knows he'll have some strong ones as he leads the Huskies out of the tunnel for the final time.

Each has a chance to exorcise some demons.

Neuheisel has spent the week reliving what he termed a "messy ending" to his UW career. He hasn't set foot in Husky Stadium since June 2003, when he was fired as coach for his involvement in an NCAA college basketball pool and initially lying about it. After this week, he said, he hopes the issue will be considered dead.

"It's time to move forward," Neuheisel said on several occasions, adding, "It'll be best" when the week is over.

Willingham will soon have no choice, having been told late last month he would not be retained as UW's coach, though he was asked to finish the season. With UW on the road for its final two games, this marks his final home contest.

He doesn't have a lot of happy memories to reflect on. One of the biggest reasons Willingham was shown the door is that he was unable to perpetuate the team's long history of winning at Husky Stadium. The Huskies are just 6-17 at home under Willingham and losers of seven in a row. His highlight home victory might have come against these same Bruins in 2006 when UW overcame an early 16-0 deficit to pull out a 29-19 win, part of a 4-1 start to that season.

Washington is just 2-14 at home since that game.

But Willingham — as well as 19 seniors — could at least leave with one last happy memory of Husky Stadium.

"Whatever we can do to salvage something out of it to feel good about this is all we are focused on," said senior tight end Michael Gottlieb.

Players say that's a bigger deal than anything Neuheisel-related.

"We're not focused on that," said quarterback Ronnie Fouch. "We're focused on UCLA coming into our house and getting a win for the seniors in their last home game."

This looms as UW's most winnable game since it hosted BYU in week two, a 28-27 loss that helped turn the tide of the season. BYU beat UCLA at home 59-0 the following week.

UCLA and UW each rank near the bottom of the Pac-10 statistically. In many key stats — such as scoring offense and scoring defense — UCLA ranks eighth and UW ninth.

And bad as UW has been at home, UCLA has been no better on the road, losing all three tries this year, giving up at least 31 points in each one.

"I think our guys are looking forward to trying to break through on the road," Neuheisel said. "Hopefully this is the week."

The Bruins entered the season with uncertainty due to the arrival of a new coaching staff and some pretty significant turnover from the 2007 team, which went 6-7, resulting in the firing of coach Karl Dorrell.

It began on a high, however, as UCLA beat Tennessee 27-24 in overtime in the season opener, which had many heralding the potential instant impact of Neuheisel.

But BYU slammed the Bruins to reality the following week (and it turned out Tennessee, now 3-7, wasn't any good). UCLA's only wins since have come against WSU (28-3) and Stanford (23-20).

An anemic offense has been largely to blame, with injuries forcing UCLA to go with JC transfer Kevin Craft at quarterback. He has often struggled (Pac-10-high 13 interceptions) behind a patchwork offensive line. Injuries and holes in depth have also forced UCLA to play 11 true freshmen and another 11 redshirt freshmen.

"It's been a difficult season," Neuheisel said. "We are going through some growing pains."

But while Neuheisel tries to focus on a future he hopes is bright, for tonight, anyway, the past figures to be impossible to ignore.

Note

• Justin Mann, an all-state player last year at Woodinville High, is a walk-on at UCLA as a defensive end. He is redshirting this season but has made the trip and will be on the sideline for tonight's game. A recent story in The Los Angeles Daily News featured his battle to play despite suffering from type 1 diabetes.