Bret Johnson

Terry Donahue kept his word, creating competition for jobs in practice this week as UCLA prepared to play Washington Saturday at the Rose Bowl. That was good news for Jim Bonds, who was given a second chance to show the coaching staff that perhaps he should be the Bruins' starting quarterback. Unfortunately, for Bonds, though, he remained No. 2 on the depth chart. But, for the first time in almost two months, when they were locked in a preseason fight to succeed Troy Aikman as the Bruins' No.

Lashing out at UCLA's handling of its quarterback situation, former starter Bret Johnson said Wednesday that he plans to transfer to another school because the Bruin coaches had determined that he would not start this season "no matter what" he did in fall practice. After practice Tuesday morning, Johnson was told by offensive coordinator Homer Smith that Jim Bonds was the favored quarterback among the four candidates for the position. Johnson decided to leave the team.

UCLA's new starting quarterback is not easily vexed. Fret? Not Bret. Bret Johnson, in fact, brings to Westwood a trait that some say the Bruins have not always carried in abundant supply: Self-assurance. Cockiness? Well, maybe that, too. "He does not lack for self-confidence," Bruin lineman Scott Spalding said of Johnson, his teammate at El Toro High School.

Bret Johnson gets yet another reminder that you can run, but you can't hide: The television lights snap on and the reporter conducting the live interview for the evening news pops the first question. "Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Todd Marinovich?" she asks. " . . . Well, really, I don't think I'd want to go that route," Johnson manages. "I think she knew she'd made a mistake," Johnson said later. "I think she was just asking me if I wanted to play pro ball."

Quarterback Bret Johnson of UCLA had a forlorn look as he stood on the sidelines, arms folded across his chest. Johnson had been pulled after throwing two interceptions in the third quarter of a game against Oregon Saturday at the Rose Bowl. "I don't know what happened," Johnson said. "I just threw a couple of interceptions. And it came at a bad time." It couldn't have come at a worse time.

The Rivalry Continues, in more ways than one would suspect. At the moment, there seems to be a rivalry as to just how big the rivalry really is. "I've never really thought of it as a rivalry," says Bret Johnson, representing UCLA, El Toro High School and little quarterbacks everywhere. "Obviously, the papers labeled it that. But when we played, I didn't think about competing against Todd. I just thought about a win."

Bret Johnson, UCLA's starting quarterback last year, has left the team and doesn't plan to return, according to sources close to the school. The Bruins began practice Monday and Coach Terry Donahue said he expected to name a starting quarterback quickly. According to a source, Johnson believed until Friday that he would be UCLA's starting quarterback again.

So Bret Johnson is changing schools, changing colors, changing coaches, changing his mind. Apparently, too, he changed his name. For the past two days, it's all you've heard. That Brat Johnson. What did Johnson do wrong? Lose a Rose Bowl? Burn a flag? Get an ear pierced? Admit he listened to Milli Vanilli? As far as I can tell, Johnson committed the worst crime imaginable at UCLA. He quit UCLA. Quit after quarterbacking the Bruins to their worst finish since the 1960s.

Besides the incalculable value of a lucky bounce, Saturday's 10-10 tie between USC and UCLA slammed home the notion that freshmen--despite name, fame and south Orange County breeding--will always be freshmen. They flinch. They fluster. They drop balls and blow calls and try to force passes into crowds larger than their first frat parties.

This year's tiptoe through the talent pool looks at 47 of the top high school football players in Orange County. Included among them are 34 players at the skill positions--12 quarterbacks, 12 running backs, 9 receivers and 1 kicker. Every player listed is exceptional and has been categorized according to talent or special circumstances. Five of the players have stood apart during their prep careers, we'll start with them. THE BEST (EVER?