Los Angeles schools falling
UCLA fell out of the top-25 rankings in both the AP and
Coach’s Poll for the first time since the start of their
season, which they began with a victory over then-No. 3 Alabama.
The fall in the rankings comes on the heels of a 1-3 conference
stretch for the Bruins, in which they lost to Oregon, California,
and Oregon State.
The scenario marks the second season in a row in which the
highly-touted Los Angeles schools will be struggling to gain a bowl
berth in December. Last year, neither USC nor UCLA qualified for a
bowl, despite being considered top contenders in preseason polls.
The Trojans, who started the season with three wins, have lost
their last four games and trail the conference with a last place
standing.
The Bruins, who also started the season with three wins, will be
pushing hard to attain the two wins necessary to become bowl
eligible. Three of their remaining games will be played against
tough teams, two of which will be on the road, where UCLA has not
won since the 1998 season. Next Saturday’s contest will be at
Arizona (5-2), a team that nearly toppled Pac-10 leader Oregon on
the road last week. Two weeks from that the Bruins will make a trip
to Washington (6-1), followed by the USC contest, which always
presents a challenge regardless of record.
Coleman likely to sit out season
Coach Toledo made it clear this week that All-America candidate
Kenyon Coleman will likely miss the rest of the season due to his
inability to recover from a knee injury he sustained against Oregon
on Oct. 23. The senior, regarded by many to be one of the top
defensive ends in the nation, will have the opportunity to redshirt
this season and come back next year.
Coleman’s injury seems to have jump-started a plague of
recent injuries to the faltering Bruin defense, particularly among
members of the defensive line.
“Ricky Manning and Jason Zdenek are the only two guys on
defense that have been relatively healthy over the course of the
season,” Toledo said. “I think if we were healthy,
things would be different.”
The assault continued Saturday, as defensive end Mat Ball broke
his hand, linebacker Robert Thomas sprained his foot, and defensive
tackle Ken Kocher sprained his knee against the Beavers. Kocher
will miss 2-4 weeks, but Ball and Thomas are both listed as
questionable against Arizona. Tailback Jermaine Lewis reinjured his
sprained foot against Oregon State as well, and his status is
doubtful for play on Saturday.
Among other injuries, defensive backs Jason Stephens and Jason
Bell are still nursing sore hamstrings, Sean Phillips is out with a
high ankle sprain, and Rusty Williams remains questionable with a
stress fracture in his foot.
Bruin recognized in Butkus Award
Linebacker Robert Thomas was recently named one of 11
semifinalists for the Butkus Award, which is awarded annually to
college football’s top linebacker.
As a true junior, Thomas leads the Bruin defense with 48
tackles, six more than No. 2 Jason Zdenek. He ranks second with
seven tackles for a loss and leads both the Bruins and the Pac-10
with five forced fumbles.
Thomas is joined in the competition by two other Pac-10
linebackers- Adam Archuleta of Arizona State and Matt Smith of
Oregon.
Notes compiled by Josh Mason, Daily Bruin
Contributor.