UCLA hopes to rise against BYU and thin air in Utah

UCLA's mantra for its game against Brigham Young University on Saturday?

Take a deep breath . . . then another and another.

There are two things that will be thin in Provo, Utah, this weekend: the Bruins' offensive line and the air.

Playing at 4,850 feet above sea level, chasing around a Cougar offense that ranks third nationally in passing, will be a challenge.

"It's not about playing BYU, it's about playing in Utah with the altitude," defensive end Korey Bosworth said. "We got two weeks under our belts with the bye week, where we've really been conditioning and getting used to getting that oxygen in our blood. I think we'll be all right."

The Bruins have seen games go up in thin air before. A year ago they faced Utah in Salt Lake City and came back with sore lungs and a 44-6 loss.

"It was tough; you can definitely tell the difference," Bosworth said. "You have to deal with it. If you get out of breath, you have to take a couple breaths, drink some water and get back out there."

Coach Rick Neuheisel has been downplaying the idea that thin air could put the Bruins on thin ice. He pointed out that while coaching in Colorado, he never felt opposing teams had trouble with the altitude in Boulder.

Said Neuheisel: "The teams that didn't pay attention to the altitude were better off than those who came in and drank 68,000 bottles of water and kept a thumbtack in their left pocket and used all those different formulas that were suppose to make you play better."

Of course, Colorado had a 23-7 home record during Neuheisel's five seasons at the university -- one as an assistant, four as head coach.

Bruins on TV

The Bruins were able to make a big splash with their victory over Tennessee on Sept. 1, pulling off the upset in front of a national TV audience. This week, they are merely a drop in the television bucket.

The main event Saturday will be USC against Ohio State; the UCLA game will be televised on Versus, the cable availability of which will leave many Los Angeles-area Bruins fans glued to their radios.

"If we're the undercard this week," Neuheisel said, "that's not what we want to be. But if the nation's attention is elsewhere, so be it. We're not hoping the national tent is somewhere else and we want to work to where everyone loves to watch us play. We want to become a well-oiled football team that plays with great passion. We'll deal with the TV ratings later."

chris.foster@latimes.com