Michael Ventre

When Steve Spurrier left the smoldering ruins that represented his stay in the NFL with the Washington Redskins, what guided him was golf. While at Florida, he was known as a coach who didn’t sleep on his office sofa; rather, he liked to get his work done, then hit the links. That didn’t wash in the NFL, where a coach is lucky if he gets a few putts in on the carpet during film sessions. So for Spurrier, it was back to the college ranks, and in the balmy Southeast.

But he didn’t want to return to Florida. Been there, done that, won that. When the South Carolina job presented itself, everyone figured Spurrier was looking more for tranquility and a few challenging par fives in his later years. Coaching football would be a nice respite between rounds.

But perhaps the Ol’ Ball Coach was more rascally than that. Maybe he had it in his head that he could do at South Carolina what he did at Florida, which is build a power that could contend each year for the SEC title.

It might be way premature to say mission accomplished. For one thing, he’ll never have the rich recruiting soil in South Carolina that he had in Florida. But the 12th-ranked Gamecocks are 3-0 and for real, or at least enough so to be taken as a real threat when they travel to take on second-ranked LSU this Saturday.

South Carolina’s emergence might be a true tribute to Spurrier’s adaptability, because the current Gamecocks aren’t flinging the ball the way his Gators did. Blake Mitchell is a serviceable quarterback who helped beat South Carolina State, 38-3, on Saturday by throwing three touchdown passes to go with three picks and a fumble. Mitchell and Heisman won’t be mentioned in the same sentence anytime soon.

But Spurrier is finding ways to win. His defense hasn’t given up a touchdown in the past 10 quarters, and that includes the 16-12 victory over Georgia the week before. All of a sudden Spurrier is Buddy Ryan, or more specifically, he’s whatever he needs to be to win with a program that probably will always have to scrounge for the leftover recruits in the Southeast that Florida, Alabama and LSU don’t get.

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The schedule gets a lot tougher from here. Besides the Tigers on Saturday, the Gamecocks also have road dates at Tennessee and Arkansas. They do get an improved Kentucky team at home, along with Florida and Clemson later. Certainly it’s a longshot for South Carolina to emerge at season’s end as the SEC East champ.

But the mere fact that people are talking about Spurrier’s resurrection of South Carolina rather than his passion for golf is already half the battle.

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UCLA might win the award for most mystifying college football program in the land. One minute the Bruins are high, the next they’re low. Here they’re up, there they’re down. And there doesn’t seem to be a cure. Maybe this is just one of those conditions that has to be accepted and lived with.

The Bruins looked impressive in opening the season with victories over Stanford and BYU. Then, ranked 11th in the nation, they bottomed out, losing to the previously winless Utes on Saturday, 44-6. It marked the first time UCLA hadn’t scored a touchdown in four years.

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Late last season, they pulled a stunner by knocking off USC, 13-9, and preventing their crosstown rivals from participating in the national championship game. Then they flopped against Florida State, 44-27, in the Emerald Bowl.

What gives?

One minute coach Karl Dorrell deserves a contract extension, the next he deserves to be fired.

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There probably isn’t a program in the U.S. that is more difficult to get a grip on. The Bruins have done a better job the past couple of seasons of recruiting in and around their home base, occasionally snatching away a kid that USC covets. It isn’t like they’re stuck with table scraps.

The coaching staff, for whatever reason, has been unable to elicit a consistent effort out of its players. UCLA has been, and perhaps always will be, an enigma.

UCLA plays two improved Pac-10 rivals in the next two weeks. Washington arrives at the Rose Bowl Saturday. Then the Bruins travel to Oregon State.

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A safe bet would be to predict one lopsided victory followed by one massive defeat.

The question is, which will be which?