Toledo Gets Hot Under Collar

Bob Toledo took a page from the Bob Knight school of motivation.

Toledo threw the whole UCLA football team off Spaulding Field.

“It’s a little hot and they’re a little tired, and it’s going to be hot and they’re going to be tired at Texas and I don’t want them feeling sorry for themselves,” Toledo said. “We don’t concentrate when things get tough, and [we] start feeling sorry for ourselves and I’m not going to accept that. If there wasn’t a 20-hour rule, we’d start practice again.”

The NCAA requires that no more than 20 hours per week be spent on athletic practice and participation.

After almost two hours of work Wednesday, practice was cut 15 minutes short. During those two hours, Toledo chided the offense and defense for their effort, receiving results but not long-lasting ones. Near the end of practice, receivers were dropping balls and a running back ran the wrong route on a screen pass, prompting Toledo’s whistle, a scolding and dismissal.

“This is the worst I’ve seen here,” Toledo said. “Maybe I’m overreacting. They want to win, but sometimes they don’t want to prepare to win. Everybody can talk about winning, but they need to prepare to win. You might as well not practice as do this.”

UCLA is 0-2, with a three-point loss to Washington State and a six-point loss to Tennessee.

“Now we’ll see who the leaders are,” said Toledo, plainly throwing down a challenge and apparently expecting players to meet among themselves.

The leaders weren’t seen Wednesday, period. After practice, players merely went to the locker room, took off their uniforms, showered and left.

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Texas quarterback James Brown, who suffered an ankle injury in the Longhorns’ season opener against Rutgers, has taken the splint off the ankle, but he did not practice Wednesday.

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NEXT FOR UCLA

Who: Texas

Where: at Texas

When: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

Radio: XTRA (1150)