Paus recovers
Quarterback Cory Paus’s arm is fine. After 10 months without
playing an entire game, Paus says his arm is sore, but no more sore
than it would be after any game.
Paus missed four weeks with a separated shoulder that he got on
the first play of UCLA’s opening game against Alabama.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty
good,” he said. “I really had to step in to some of the
longer throws, but I should be 100 percent by next game.”
The next game is two weeks away at Cal. This Saturday is the
Bruins’ bye week.
Timely rest
The bye week comes at a perfect time for the Bruins.
“We’re a beat up football team right now,”
head coach Bob Toledo said. “We’re going to use this to
rest some of the guys who are hurt, and build quality depth with
our backups.”
Some key Bruin starters will use the time to recuperate from
injuries. Among the players who will miss all or parts of practice
over the next two weeks are Paus, running backs DeShaun Foster
(broken hand), Jermaine Lewis (tweaked ankle), defensive lineman
Kenyon Coleman (knee surgery), Ken Kocher (sprained ankle) and
Rusty Williams (shoulder sprain), as well as defensive backs Jason
Bell (pulled hamstring) and Marques Anderson (undisclosed shoulder
injury).
Despite loss of Foster, offense remains the
same
For the third year in a row star running back DeShaun Foster has
sustained an injury that will force him to miss action.
“He’s one of the great backs in the country,”
Toledo said. “Without him, we’re missing a lot from the
team.”
Toledo said that he will not change his offense at all.
“We recruit players to the system and I think you guys saw
that on Saturday with Jermaine (Lewis) and Akil (Harris) each
gaining over 100 yards.”
Toledo and Paus both said that they expect teams to stack eight
men on the line of scrimmage, as they have done all season, despite
Foster being out.
“I was real excited to come back and get a chance to play
with DeShaun,” Paus said. “But I know how he feels,
because I just came back myself.”
Polls unkind to Bruins
“I can’t really get caught up in that,” Toledo
said about this week’s polls.
Despite a 38-31 win, UCLA dropped a spot in each poll, even
though teams ranked ahead of the Bruins have lost to them. ESPN has
the Bruins ranked No. 17, and the AP ranks them 16th.
“Michigan is 10 spots ahead of us?” Toledo asked at
Monday’s news conference.
UCLA beat the Wolverines 23-20 two weeks ago at the Rose
Bowl.
“Maybe the game was on too late, and (they) voted when we
were down 21-0,” Toledo said.
The Pac-10 now has five schools in the Top 25, with Oregon at
No. 9, Washington at No. 13, USC at No. 18 and Oregon State No.
23.
Further examination of poll logic yields the following:
Washington and Miami both have one loss, Washington has played a
tougher schedule, Washington beat Miami two weeks ago, but the
Huskies are ranked seven spots lower than the Hurricanes.
Lewis to start … for now
The saga of running back Jermaine Lewis continues. This will be the
third time in his four years that he has the starting spot.
“He’s a good player who’s had his place taken
from him by some great players,” Toledo said.
Skip Hicks was the first back to take over the starting role
from Lewis, and now Foster has supplanted him as the No. 1 running
back.
“Skip Hicks is in the NFL now, and DeShaun Foster will be
playing in that three-letter league too,” Toledo said.
Notes compiled by Greg Lewis, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.