Bruins Will Have Full Load of Fury

They have spent two weeks being sidelined, and not allowed on the sidelines. Two weeks watching from living rooms and shouting formations at the TV or sitting in the stands as outcasts.

Until tonight.

Ten UCLA players, their two-game suspensions for the handicapped-parking scam ended, will make their 1999 debuts in a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Rose Bowl. And Fresno State gets them.

“There’s some anger deep down inside of all of us and some frustration you want to get out,” said linebacker Ryan Nece, one of the 10.

Six return as starters: Oscar Cabrera at guard, Durell Price at fullback, Ryan Roques at strong safety, and Tony White, Robert Thomas and Nece in an overhaul at linebacker.

The other four will be key reserves: Keith Brown at tailback, James Ghezzi at guard, Eric Whitfield in the secondary and Ali Abdul Azziz at linebacker.

All will be resurfacing with a vengeance. What these Bruins lack in timing and stamina--they practiced the whole time, but playing is something different--they hope to make up for in excitement.

It’s the season opener, after all.

“I wouldn’t say I’ll be hitting guys harder on blocks than I normally do,” said Price, the senior fullback whose presence should mean a boost for the stagnant running game. “But maybe I’ll be flying around more than usual. Maybe I’ll hit the guy I’m blocking and just keep going and look for someone else. Not being satisfied with just knocking one person down.”

Added Nece, a freshman All-American last season: “You might get a great hit and you might let it all out on somebody. You don’t know.

“A lot of the guys have some frustration they want to get out, to vent, and there’s no better place than on the football field. Fresno State just happens to be our opponent that week. A lot of us want to get out there and show that we deserve to be the starters and you only do that by playing well and making big plays. We’ve got to do that no matter who the opponent is. It’s not going to matter. It happens to be Fresno State.”

Lucky them.

“We’re going to play with our hair on fire,” Ghezzi said.

The Bruins have no problem with that, as long as it’s a controlled burn. Coach Bob Toledo concedes the worry that the 10 will be too hyped to perform properly, the sugar-rush effect could lead to missed blocking assignments by the linemen or blown coverages by the linebackers and defensive backs, the latter a particular concern because of Fresno State’s passing game.

“There’s some rage there,” Toledo said. “I do sense that. And I’ve heard them talk about it. They’re so excited, they’re so happy to be back out and to get their chance again.

“You’ve got to remember what it was like not having it. They didn’t have it, now they’ve got a chance to get it. Remember what it was like not to have it. It was almost like losing a game--’Remember that bad feeling.’ You don’t want that feeling. You only want good feelings.

“Early, you can lose some composure. That can happen. But they’re all old enough where they’ve been to big games that I think they’ll be fine. They’ll settle down real quick.”

Indeed, if the lost experience was evident in the first two games, especially last week’s 42-20 loss at Ohio State that dropped the Bruins to 1-1 and to 21st in the rankings, it turns in their favor this time.

Six of the returnees are seniors. Two are juniors. Nece and Thomas are sophomores, but Nece started last season and Thomas played extensively as a backup.

“We’re lucky--if you could call it lucky--that the guys that were suspended were veterans, so they know how to prepare themselves and go into a game mentally and physically ready to play,” Nece said. “I don’t think anyone’s going to go in hellbent or whatever. I think they’ll be OK.”

The added benefit of the timing is that the infusion the Bruins hope doesn’t lead to confusion comes against Fresno State and then Stanford, before the Oct. 2 trip to Arizona State. The Bulldogs, for example, come to Pasadena with half of the 44 players on the two-deep roster either freshmen or sophomores. Of the 14 players who have gained yards on offense, only three are seniors.

But because one of them is quarterback Billy Volek, and because UCLA remains susceptible in the secondary, the Bruins have worries. On the other hand, they also have all their players back, so someone else could be in trouble for a change.

TIGHT SPOT

Gabe Crecion starts at tight end, but rotation at position continues. Page 8