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UCLA’s play-calling needs work Sept. 25 As a Bruin football fan for years, I was frustrated by some of the play-calling in UCLA’s loss to the Oregon Ducks this past Saturday. Continuing to run Foster up the middle (with too few play action pass calls) into a “brick wall” Oregon defense that was expecting Foster to do so was hardly imaginative of coach Toledo and offensive coordinator Al Borges. Didn’t UCLA learn from Fresno State, as it wasn’t until late in the game that Foster made a couple of long runs? But Oregon wasn’t ready to fold at home like Fresno State did in the Rose Bowl. Also, why didn’t Toledo take two downs (on third and fourth) to make the 15 yards late in the game for the first down? Why did he have an inexperienced quarterback in Ryan McCann “go for broke” on a longer pass play when all UCLA needed was 15 yards or so to keep the drive alive? Going for long on first or second down is okay in such a situation, but on third-and-15? And then not going for the first down and punting away on fourth-and-15 with just minutes to go in the game? The game was basically lost anyway by that point, so why not go for broke then instead of punting yet again? The UCLA special teams play seemed to be inept as well for the most part. Didn’t coach Toledo know that Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti, who was in charge of the porous UCLA defense that blew the 1998 national title hopes, would be “gunning” for the Bruins? So why didn’t coach Toledo and Borges respond with some imagination in the play calling? Except for the fake option with Drew Bennett’s pass to Freddie Mitchell, there was not much creativity in the play calling, with Foster’s repeated attempts to run up the middle! Granted, there were some dropped balls and Mitchell’s true touchdown catch was unfairly taken away. But Aliotti knows the UCLA offense after practicing against it during his stint at UCLA, and he knew that UCLA would continually try to run up the middle with Foster. So where was the play action to give McCann a chance on some of those first down calls? Not being so predictable on first down might have enabled Foster to break free a little more than he did. Last weekend turned me into a Washington Husky fan for the rest of the season. Washington is No. 6 in the country in the AP poll and has already paid back Miami earlier this season for what Miami did to the Bruins in 1998. After former UCLA quarterback and Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel leads the Huskies to the national title this year (or the Pac-10 title, at least), it will be the right time for him to return to UCLA where he belongs. At least Neuheisel should be able to win on the road, which Toledo can’t get the Bruins to do!

Jim Morris Marina del Rey Bruins should play games later This letter was directed toward football coach Bob Toledo

Sept. 18 I have been a UCLA fan since attending UCLA in 1932. I was sunburned on my face and hands sitting in the rooting section of the Rose Bowl. Today I am more aware of the health consequences of sunburn and heat. The UCLA-Michigan game, played in 110-degree heat, could and probably did cause health problems for many fans, players, coaches and officials because the game started at 12:30. Games at the Rose Bowl in September should start at sundown. The game with Alabama was also a skin and heat problem. I hope that in the future, games in September and early October start in the late afternoon or at sundown – 4:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. Your UCLA fans will thank you and your players. TV has to recognize these hot summer days now go into fall. My 30-year-old granddaughter asked me to leave the game during the second quarter. We were able to watch the second half when we returned home. TV did us a big disservice when they switched to a commercial a split second after your players pumped a victory of ice water on you. The flavor of victory was lost.

Edward Kapitanoff Los Angeles Sports Letters to the Editor can be sent to sports@media.ucla.edu. Please note “Letter” in the subject, and include location, contact number, and UCLA affiliation, if any. Letters will be edited according to length and grammar.