AROUND THE NATION

The subterfuge that is part of the UCLA offensive make-up is not lost on Texas A&M;, and it shouldn’t be. The Aggies were once the beneficiary of Bob Toledo’s active imagination.

And Thursday, they will try to keep from becoming the victims in the Cotton Bowl.

“You can’t practice against all of those trick plays, because if you do you won’t have time to get in all the reps you need against the normal plays,” Texas A&M; defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz said.

“You just hope your defensive concepts hold up.”

Hankwitz has seen the Bruins’ trickery firsthand. He was defensive coordinator at Kansas when the Jayhawks beat UCLA, 51-30, in the 1995 Aloha Bowl. In that game, UCLA used the “swinging gate,” a formation in which the entire offensive line is on one side of the center.

When Toledo was offensive coordinator at Texas A&M;, he was given free rein by Coach R.C. Slocum. Toledo claims to have used the swinging gate nine times in a season.