Less than 24 hours after their biggest win of the season, the
Bruins received some sobering news Sunday when they found out
senior receiver Junior Taylor would be out for the season with a
torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The date of the surgery has not been set, but it is likely that
Taylor will be out for spring practice in 2006 and not be fully
healthy until next fall.
“We just have to step up in his absence,” tight end
Marcedes Lewis said. “We did it (on Saturday), and we can
continue to do it the rest of the season.”
Taylor, the Bruins’ only senior receiver, will be able to
redshirt this season, because he played in fewer than three games,
which is the maximum game play allotted by the NCAA to players if
they wish to take a medical redshirt.
Although Taylor finished last season with only 32 receptions,
his total was more than the Bruins’ three junior receivers,
Andrew Baumgartner, Joe Cowan and Matt Willis, had all of last year
(20).
Taylor was the Bruins’ primary deep threat, veteran
leader, and the Bruins will now have to look to sophomore wide
receiver Marcus Everett to pick up the slack. Everett proved he
could fill the role, at least for one week, recording a career-high
six receptions for 66 yards against Oklahoma.
Everett, who missed the first two games of the season with a
separated shoulder, realizes the increased role he now has as well
as the opportunity he has been given.
“You know we play together as a team, we pick up for each
other,” Everett said. “When Junior (went) down, we all
just knew we had to pick up the slack for him.”
Behind Everett, the Bruins have Baumgartner and Cowan, both of
whom have made impressive strides so far this season. Cowan
finished Saturday’s game with five receptions and 49 yards,
while Baumgartner scored his first career touchdown with a
19-touchdown catch from quarterback Drew Olson in the first
quarter.
Perhaps Baumgartner’s biggest catch of the day was in the
third quarter, when on third-and-13 on UCLA’s own 14-yard
line, Baumgartner caught a 22-yard strike down the middle that kept
alive the Bruins’ longest drive of the game.
Both receivers will have to now up step up greatly, as the
Bruins now only have one receiver, Cowan, on the depth chart that
caught a touchdown pass last season.
RECRUIT COMMITS: UCLA received a commitment on
Sunday from defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski, of Reed High in
Sparks, Nevada.
According to rivals.com, the defensive tackle was ranked No. 42
in the nation at his position and was one of the top-rated players
in the state of Nevada.
Siewierski, 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, finished his junior season
with 80 tackles, four sacks, and one interception. He also handled
the punting duties at his high school.