Edwards, Schager
shine for football
Jordan on pace
to pass Stokes’
receiving marks
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA football team may have dropped its sixth consecutive
game Saturday in Arizona, but two Bruins managed to find their way
on to the Oct. 22 list of Hertz/Pacific-10 Players of the Week.
Outside linebacker Donnie Edwards was named co-defensive player
of the week with Oregon cornerback Kenny Wheaton, while punter
Darren Schager was named the special teams player of the week.
Arizona wide receiver Richard Dice was the offensive player of the
week.
Edwards, a mainstay for the UCLA defense this season, made a
career-high 16 tackles against the Wildcats, including 14
primaries. Six of his tackles went for a combined loss of 27 yards,
and three were sacks (20 yards). In addition, he caused both
Arizona fumbles, the first of which set up the Bruins’ first
touchdown, the other stopping a Wildcat drive at UCLA’s eight
yard-line.
Schager, meanwhile, averaged 47.9 on his seven punts, two of
which pegged Arizona on its own three yard-line. On the season,
Schager is averaging a career-high of 43.2 yards  which leads
the Pac-10 Â and only 19 of his 43 kicks have been returned,
for a total of 66 yards. As a result, UCLA ranks sixth nationally
in net punting.
* * *
UCLA has fallen off in the statistical area of turnovers. After
eight games last year, the Bruins were +20 in turnovers. Currently,
they are -5. In 1993, UCLA had caused 32 turnovers, eleven of which
led to touchdowns and nine of which resulted in field goals. This
season, the defense has forced 10 turnovers, two of which were
converted for touchdowns and one of which led to a field goal.
* * *
The Bruins remain in the lower end of the Pac-10 team
statistics, ranking eighth in scoring offense, third in passing
offense, sixth in total offense, and tenth in scoring offense. On
the other side of the ball, UCLA is tenth in rushing defense,
eighth in passing defense, ninth in total defense, and eighth in
scoring offense.
The good news for the Bruins is that Stanford  which will
visit the Rose Bowl Saturday  is ranked ninth in rushing
defense, seventh in passing and total defense, and last in scoring
defense. The bad news: the Cardinal is at the top of the conference
in passing, total, and scoring offense.
* * *
Sophomore running back Sharmon Shah has rushed for 802 yards in
eight games this season, the most by a UCLA player since Kevin
Williams ran for 1,141 yards in 1991. Shah’s numbers rank him
fourth in the Pac-10 and 30th in the nation.
***
Junior flanker Kevin Jordan continues to impress, ranking fourth
nationally and first in the Pac-10 in receiving yards per game with
an average of 108.6.
Against Arizona, he caught eight balls for 111 yards and one
touchdown. On the year, Jordan has 55 receptions for 869 yards and
5 touchdowns.
His numbers project to 76 catches for 1195 yards by the end of
the season. Last year, J.J. Stokes had 68 catches for 1,003
yards.
***
Speaking of Stokes, the senior All-American returned to action
Saturday after a three-week absence and made one catch for 18
yards. On the season, he has eight catches for 115 yards.
"I think the return of Stokes helped us, particularly
emotionally," Donahue said. "J.J. was real rusty, and hasn’t
practiced or played for six-and-a-half weeks. The fact of the
matter is, you don’t get any better by not practicing and playing
for six-and-a-half weeks, no matter who you are or how good you
are.
"But it was nice to have him back on the team, and from what
I’ve been told, there doesn’t appear to be any ill-effects from the
game. I expect that he’ll get a full week’s work in and be able to
have three real good games for us here at the end of the
season."
* * *
Sophomore halfback Derek Ayers is averaging 20.7 yards on 13
kickoff returns, good enough for a fourth-place ranking in the
conference in that category. His 42-yard kickoff return against
Washington Oct. 1 was the longest by UCLA since the ninth game of
the 1990 season.
* * *
The UCLA Athletic Department announced last week that former
safety Tommy Bennett is being disciplined by the university after a
review of his legal proceedings.
Bennett, whose absence has no doubt hurt the UCLA secondary this
season, pleaded no contest to felony counts of forgery and fraud
last month, and was sentenced Oct. 3 to three years probation and
300 hours of community service.
He was suspended from the university for Fall quarter by Senior
Associate Dean of Students Cary Porter, and will be readmitted to
school for the Winter quarter so long as he fulfills the conditions
of his university probation.
"I regret any embarrassment I may have caused my family, the
university and especially my teammates and coaches with my
actions," Bennett said in a statement. "I made a serious mistake
and I hope that everyone will consider this sincere apology my
first step in making amends for that mistake."
* * *
Saturday’s Homecoming game against Stanford is scheduled to
begin at 3:30 p.m., and there will be no live telecast. Former
college basketball player of the year Marques Johnson is the Grand
Marshal of this year’s homecoming game.