College Insider: Out for redemption, Neuheisel has UCLA thinking big

 As time ticked away and the tension built late in UCLA’s season-opening game against Tennessee on Monday, an official sauntered up to Rick Neuheisel on the sideline.

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“You having any fun?” the zebra asked Neuheisel, who was making his debut as the Bruins’ coach.

“I told him, 'I can’t even believe how much fun this is,’ ” Neuheisel said later. “And that was before it was even over.”

When it ended, UCLA had earned a 27-24 upset victory in overtime, and the task that Neuheisel is charged with — restoring football glory at the school he quarterbacked to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl — was off to a rousing start.

Win or lose, however, nothing happens quietly with Neuheisel, a graduate of Tempe McClintock High School who, in a college coaching career now in its third stop, has been a consistent winner but a lightning rod for controversy.

“Coaching is what I do,” Neuheisel said. “And I am grateful to the people (at UCLA) who gave me a chance to do it.”

The resumé has been well-documented. Four seasons at Colorado, 33 wins, 51 recruiting violations uncovered. Four years at Washington, 33 wins, a Rose Bowl victory, and more trouble in his participation in a basketball tournament pool that the NCAA determined was illegal.

While an assistant with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens from 2005-07, Neuheisel longed to return to the collegiate level. However, at least one program with a vacancy would not return his calls.

In December, the chance at redemption arrived in the form of an offer from his alma mater — five years at $1.25 million per season.

“I’m unbelievably grateful on a number of fronts,” Neuheisel said. “A lot of people (at UCLA) stuck their necks out to give me another chance. It would have been a lot easier to go in another direction and not take the slings and arrows that go with hiring someone with a few blemishes.”

Befitting his confident — or brash — nature, Neuheisel aimed for the stars after being named coach. He appeared at functions with Norm Chow and DeWayne Walker, the Bruins’ respected offensive and defensive coordinators, to suggest that three musketeers were about to take over the Pac-10.

At the conference’s football media day in July, Neuheisel said that it was a matter of when, not if, the Bruins would reach the level of crosstown rival Southern California, the six-time defending league champion.

Recently, UCLA’s marketing department took out a full-page newspaper ad featuring a pointing Neuheisel under the words, “The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over.”

Say what you want about Neuheisel, but he coaches players up. With a thin offensive line and the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart sidelined with injuries, the Bruins were not given much of a chance against Tennessee.

And in the first half, quarterback Kevin Craft, a junior-college transfer, threw four interceptions. Running back Kahlil Bell, tight end Logan Paulsen and receiver Marcus Everett went down with injuries.

“He’s a great motivator,” defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said. “In his meetings, everyone is sitting up. He’s so emotional. In the hotel, he told us to keep fighting for four quarters. It went to overtime, but we kept going.”

Suddenly, the bumbling Craft became accurate as a caliper, leading two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. And when a Volunteers field-goal try sailed wide left in overtime, UCLA fans went into euphoria.

Neuheisel savored the moment. He had talked big, and for the first night at least, he delivered.

One of his postgame duties was resuming a tradition he had at Washington, an appearance before the fans.

“At Washington, we called it the 'Fifth Quarter,’ ” Neuheisel said. “They asked me if I wanted to do it here. At first, I was a little leery. Coaches do not like to go and face the firing squad if they are not successful. I thought it might be a good way to defuse things (after a loss).”

There were no such worries on Monday.

“It happened that it was a good place to be,” Neuheisel said.

BCS BAROMETER

• Southern California: Yes, the win at Virginia was a clinic, but the Trojans were already pretty high on the ladder. And the big test is next week, when Ohio State visits.

• Fresno State: While Brigham Young is the popular pick to be a BCS crasher, the Bulldogs are capable of making it three bids in a row for the WAC. Next week’s game against Wisconsin is a biggie.

• Wake Forest: Suddenly, the Demon Deacons are the standard-bearer in the ACC. Is that saying much?

HEISMAN WATCH

Chase Daniel: A big performance (323 yards, three touchdowns passing) in a high-profile season-opening victory against Illinois is a good start for the Missouri quarterback.

Graham Harrell: Eye-popping numbers from the Texas Tech quarterback, who passed for 536 yards and two scores against Eastern Washington, will be a frequent sight this season.

P.J. Hill: The Wisconsin running back ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns against Akron.

Pat White: The West Virginia quarterback threw for 208 yards and five TDs and rushed for 63 yards against Villanova.

Shun White: After galloping to 348 yards and three scores against Towson, the Navy running back has to be here, right? Move over, Roger Staubach.

BIG GAINER

A neutral-site victory — albeit an impressive one — against Clemson sent Alabama rocketing up the polls, as the previously unranked Crimson Tide went to 13th in the Associated Press rankings and 17th in the USA Today (coaches) ballot.

They don’t call Nick Saban the most powerful coach in sports for nothing, right? While poll voters gave Alabama respect because it plays in the ultra-tough SEC, Saban is not prepared to declare his squad among the nation’s elite.

“We have to continue to focus on the future,” Saban said. “It’s like (Jamaican Olympic sprinter Usain) Bolt said, 'I don’t compete against the other runners, I compete against myself.’ If we would look at it that way, we would make a lot of progress.”

There was a lot to like in the win over Clemson, from quarterback John Parker Wilson’s accuracy and leadership to the one-two running back punch of Mark Ingram and Glen Coffee to a defense that allowed just 188 yards. “Football is a team sport,” Coffee said. “If everybody is playing good, everybody gets carries.”

LESSONS FROM LAST WEEK

• How bad is the ACC? The conference went 1-4 in significant matchups, with the biggest indignities suffered by Virginia Tech, which was upset by East Carolina, and Clemson, whose national-title hopes were buried by an Alabama squad that was 6-6 last season. When the conference expanded in 2005, it had designs on supplanting the SEC as the nation’s top league.

But bigger has been badder, and that is not meant as a compliment. The 12-team ACC has not won a Bowl Championship Series game.

• One of the ACC losers was Virginia, but these days, there is not much dishonor in getting clobbered by Southern California, which deservedly took over the No. 1 spot in the polls from Georgia. The Trojans look scary good.

• The Tyrone Willingham watch should be in high gear after Washington was stampeded in the second half at Oregon. Brigham Young and Oklahoma are next on the schedule, so things are likely to get much worse. Willingham’s fate could be decided by the time ASU visits in November.

THREE AND OUT

• Another Pittsburgh season full of BCS promise threatens to circle the drain right out of the gate, with a loss to Bowling Green — at home.

Running back LeShon McCoy said of coach Dave Wannstedt choosing to punt twice inside the 35-yard line: “It would have been nice to get a touchdown, but, you know, we follow the leader.” Not exactly a profession of faith, huh?

• It is a shame what has happened at San Diego State, which was beaten by championship subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) Cal Poly last week. The Aztecs, 37-69 with no bowls since the start of the 1999 season, cannot compete for attention in their market and cannot compete with the Pac-10 for recruits.

• The pregame parachuters that were hired to touch down before North Carolina’s game last week instead landed eight miles away, where Duke was about to play. As Arthur Staple of New York Newsday wrote, “Luckily, it was Duke football, so no one noticed.”

PENALTY FLAG

So far, Steve Kragthorpe’s tenure at Louisville has been tumultuous. A Cardinals team that was expected to compete for the Big East title won just six games a year ago, and Kragthorpe has dismissed more than 20 scholarship players for various transgressions.

The start of the 2008 season brought no relief, as Louisville was drilled, 27-2, by Kentucky.

“This team will bounce back, I’m confident of it,” Kragthorpe said. “This coaching staff will bounce back. You put it behind you and learn from it. You certainly don’t forget it. If you forget this loss, you’re not that much of a man, in my opinion. This should stick in your craw.”

The Cardinals have become a reclamation project, but Kragthorpe has some experience with those. Tulsa lost 22 of 23 games before he took over in 2003 and led the Golden Hurricane to 29 victories and three bowls in four years.

Kragthorpe’s staff includes three former Arizona State assistants: Ron English (defensive coordinator), Bill Miller (linebackers) and Brent Myers (offensive line).

This report contains information from other news sources.