Bruins Pushing Paus After Hitting Reverse

Bob Toledo believed it during training camp and repeated it this week: “As the quarterback goes, so go the Bruins.�

And so the UCLA coach handed the Rose Bowl hopes and dreams of his team to Cory Paus this week, placing the future in the hands of a talented but oft-injured quarterback and all but declaring the Bruins could not win with his backup.

Toledo dumped the pressure of tonight’s must-win game against Arizona State--a loss virtually eliminates the Bruins from Rose Bowl contention--atop the fragile shoulders of Paus. Toledo did not label Paus a savior, but the implication looms like smog above the Rose Bowl.

“He likes the pressure,� Toledo said. “He thrives on pressure. That’s why he’s a good quarterback.�

There is no disputing that, not when Paus beat out Drew Bennett last season and beat out Ryan McCann this season. But no sooner had Paus won the job than he got hurt again--this time, a separated right shoulder on the season’s first play from scrimmage.

As a redshirt freshman last season, Paus started seven games. He left one with bruised ribs, another with a separated left shoulder and a third with a broken collarbone. He returns tonight, in search of his first complete game in 11 months.

“I’ve got to keep it out of my head that I was injured,� he said.

Does he consider himself injury-prone?

“I don’t want to think that,� he said. “If you look at the facts, any statistician is going to say, yeah, he’s injury-prone. I can’t think like that or I’m never going to be successful.�

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or a statistician, to suggest the Bruins might need McCann again this season. The Bruins defeated Alabama, Fresno State and Michigan with McCann at quarterback, ascending to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll.

“I’d like to think Ryan was a savior,� tight end Gabe Crecion said. “He came in as a second-string quarterback and took us to a 3-0 start.�

Then the Bruins lost at Oregon last week, amid a litany of errors too numerous for this paragraph. Suffice it to say, as offensive lineman Brian Polak did, that the mistakes extended beyond the quarterback position.

“The last game was just a debacle as far as execution,� Polak said. “That’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen it. It hurt to see how poorly we played.�

Toledo made one change in the starting lineup, at quarterback. He explained that doctors had cleared Paus to return and that McCann had not played well enough to take the job away.

Fair enough. But then Toledo talked about all the receivers McCann missed and all the plays the coaches were afraid to call for him, so emphatically that one wonders whether McCann will lose all confidence in himself, at least for now.

“It could happen,� said assistant coach Ron Caragher, a former UCLA backup quarterback. “That very well could happen.

“He’ll bounce back. It’s not an easy thing to take, whenever you’re told you’re No. 2. It’s not fun to face up to. I’m confident he’ll be ready to go when his number is called.�

Maybe Toledo was simply being honest. Maybe Toledo, who suggested to McCann earlier this season that he could not handle pressure, was trying to motivate him again.

But, when asked whether he believed Toledo was using him as a scapegoat for the Oregon loss, McCann paused, thought hard and said, “No comment.�

Toledo raves about the improvements made by Paus during spring practice and fall camp, progress invisible to fans who have not seen him since last season, save for that first series against Alabama. The coach is not lacking for confidence in Paus, and the quarterback is not lacking for confidence in himself.

Said defensive lineman Rusty Williams, who rooms with Paus: “If he says we can win, people believe him. If he says he’s going to complete this pass, people believe him. It’s just the way he presents himself.

“We can’t lose this game. He knows that.�

Indeed he does. Pressure? Bring it on.

“That’s why I came here,� Paus said. “That’s what I live for.�

*

ALSO

Ferocious hits have become trademark of Sun Devils’ Alfred Williams. D11