One of the best athletes on the team will have his hands on the
football a lot more on Saturday against Arizona, as junior strong
safety Jarrad Page will be the primary punt returner. “Jarrad
is really excited about this,” coach Karl Dorrell said.
“He’s been wanting to do this for a while.” Page
takes the place of senior Craig Bragg, the usual punt returner, who
is still out with a shoulder injury. Starting tailback Maurice Drew
returned punts last week, but UCLA coaches want to protect him from
the types of vicious hits he received against San Diego State. Last
week Drew was leveled by the Aztec defense immediately after the
catch. “It is scary when that happens,” Dorrell said.
“(Drew) is a great value to our offense, and you want to keep
your best players in the best possible condition.” Dorrell
also announced that freshman tailbacks Chris Markey and Derrick
Williams will return kickoffs. Drew and senior receiver Tab Perry
had started the season as the first unit.
INJURY UPDATES: Junior center Mike
McCloskey’s sprained ankle will likely keep him out of
Saturday’s game meaning sophomore backup Robert Chai will
receive the start. “McCloskey’s X-rays are
negative,” Dorrell said. “We’re trying to take
every precautionary measure to keep the pressure off of the
joint.” Chai does come in with experience. He started eight
games last year at center. On the positive side for UCLA, junior
linebacker Justin London has been making steady progress with his
sprained ankle and will probably receive his most significant time
this season. “He’s going to play; how much, we’ll
determine,” Dorrell said. “We want to be smart. We
don’t want to set him back, so we’ll give him some
time, but it won’t be anything like a starter would
play.”
GIVEAWAY: The first 10,000 fans to show up to
the Rose Bowl on Saturday wearing Bruin Blue will receive True Blue
Fan Towels.