COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’95 : No More Gray Area : Ryan Fien Moves to a New Level as Bruins’ Starting Quarterback

Everybody warned quarterback Ryan Fien. Everybody told him: Royal High is not UCLA. The Marmonte League is not the Pacific 10.

And sure, Fien was smart enough to know, deep down, that they were right. But when you come out of high school on top of the mountain, as Fien did, it’s hard to believe you have to start all over again at the bottom of the depth chart.

After all, he had a gun for an arm, a record book for a legacy and enough colleges on his trail to boost his confidence level sky high.

Then he met Carlton Gray.

Gray was a UCLA teammate in Fien’s first season at Westwood, a cornerback headed for the Seattle Seahawks after the Bruins’ 1992 season.

Fien doesn’t remember the exact date or the receiver he was throwing to. All he remembers is that the receiver, racing down the field in practice, had a step on Gray.

Fien had been in that situation many times while at Royal High in Simi Valley and usually made the most of it, completing more than 50% of his passes for 4,545 yards and a league-record 52 touchdown passes in his three years as quarterback.

But this time, as he released the ball, he watched as Gray made up the step and pulled down the pass for an interception.

“That was a wake-up call,” Fien said, smiling.

The realization that he had lots to learn has made the last three seasons of enforced inactivity at Westwood a little easier for Fien. But it has still been a frustrating time for him.

As a freshman, Fien got into only two games. The second was a start against Arizona State. But after completing four of seven passes for 18 yards through three quarters, Fien’s game and season ended when he broke a bone in his left foot.

The next season was even worse. It consisted of one snap against Cal in UCLA’s season opener. That’s all it took to re-injure that same bone.

Fien sat out that season, saving a year of eligibility, and came back in 1994, appearing in five games as the backup to starter Wayne Cook.

In some ways, that was even more frustrating.

“Usually, you come in when we’re behind,” Fien said. “We’re down by maybe 20 points with three minutes to play. The other team knows you’re throwing and they drop seven guys back.

“When you come into the huddle, everybody’s exhausted. You’re trying to get everybody up by saying, ‘Hey guys, let’s go.’ ”

That act doesn’t play in a lost cause with only a few minutes to play.

Now, though, as a junior, Fien is the leading man rather than a supporting actor. It doesn’t figure to be easy, though. Cook started his first game against Cal State Fullerton. Fien draws Miami on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

But he’s not complaining. With Cook gone, this is Fien’s time, Fien’s huddle, Fien’s game to enter with the score 0-0.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself and the game the last few years,” Fien said. “It’s made me appreciate the situation I’m in.

“I feel like, for the first time since I’ve been here, I have the confidence I had in high school.”

He doesn’t figure to get overconfident, as long as Bob Toledo is around. Toledo, UCLA’s offensive coordinator, was a quarterback at San Francisco State. He has worked with such quarterbacks as Chris Miller and Bill Musgrave, who went on to the NFL.

And now he has Fien.

“I remember I hit 90% of my passes in one practice,” Fien said. “And when I came in, [Toledo] said, ‘Why did you do this? Why did you do that? Your fake wasn’t good.’ I respect him. He’s going to stay on my butt and get me ready.”

Two things Fien does still drive Toledo crazy. One is a habit of taking the football with his right hand and hitting the heel of his left hand before he throws, a la John Elway. That’s wasted motion in Toledo’s mind.

Fien also throws more sidearm than straight over the top. That could cause him problems, since tall linemen can bat down or intercept passes that start with low trajectories.

Donahue is not as concerned about Fien’s motion.

“With quarterbacks, they are all different,” he said. “As long as he is delivering, who gives a darn? It’s much more important with a young quarterback that he doesn’t have tunnel vision, that he sees his options.”

Donahue knows that Fien has a strong arm, but he also knows that young quarterbacks sometimes think they can overcome double or triple coverage by simply throwing harder.

“I don’t want him thinking he can throw the ball through a car wash without getting it wet,” Donahue said.

Donahue is expected to let Fien develop slowly. After all, the Bruins have a strong offensive line and, in Karim Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Sharmon Shah), a tailback who rushed for 1,227 yards last season. So don’t look for Fien to pass 25 times a game.

Still, Donahue knows he can protect his young quarterback only so much.

“The quarterback has to make plays,” Donahue said. “He touches the ball on every play.”

That’s fine with Fien. This is what he has always wanted.

Recruited by nearly 30 colleges, he made an oral commitment to Texas. The Longhorns turned his head when he visited Austin, getting out the school band, handing him a jersey with his name on it and putting his name up on the scoreboard.

But when he got home, Fien realized this was where he wanted to play, in front of family and friends. And now he’ll get his chance.

“I’m excited,” he said. “This is finally my team. It’s hard to explain, but the guys are finally looking up to me in the huddle, instead of seeing me as some young guy trying to take charge.”

And the best part is, he no longer has to throw against Carlton Gray.