For a defense that has had its share of struggles this season,
one of the areas that has been a disappointment has been the
linebacker position. At the beginning of the season, the three
seniors making up the position, Justin London, Spencer Havner and
Wesley Walker, were supposed to be the glue of the defense.
However, the reality has been that the three have rarely been able
to play together. Walker underwent surgery on his knee in August
and was forced to miss the first three games. London, meanwhile,
has missed the last two games of the season with an ankle injury
and has been limited in practice leading up to the weeks before the
USC game. “It has been a struggle, there has been no doubt
about it,” Havner said. “But the guys have stepped in
and done their job.” The only constant during that time has
been Havner, who leads the team with 84 total tackles and two
interceptions on the season. Havner has appeared in all 10 games
and leads the Bruins in tackles for loss with 15. “It has
just happened that way,” Havner said. “I wouldn’t
want that I’m making so many tackles, but that is just the
way it has turned out.” The person who stepped in for the
Bruins during their injury struggles has been John Hale, who was a
pleasant surprise for the Bruins this season. The 6-foot-4 freshman
out of Seal Beach stepped in for Walker at outside linebacker when
he was injured at the beginning of the season and has recently been
playing for London with his injury. “I certainly didn’t
want to get my position the way I did,” Hale said. “But
I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I’m glad
I’ve had the seniors around to help guide me.” Hale
will now probably go back to a reserve role as London is expected
to be back for the USC game, but the Bruins will definitely need
his resources as the Trojans are second in the nation in scoring
offense at 48.4 points per game. Regardless of whether Hale starts,
however, the Bruins’ linebackers will definitely have to play
at the top of their game if they are slow down the offensive
juggernaut that is USC. “Its going to be a challenge, no
doubt about it,” Hale said. “They have some extremely
gifted athletes, but we do too, and it’s going to be a great
match-up.”
LIMITED ACTION: The Bruins are mostly doing
personal drills during practice this week. They will start
preparing and installing game plans against USC in the next two
weeks. The players, for one, are happy that they have some time off
from their usual routine. “We’ve had a very emotional
season, and some of the guys needed this,” Havner said.
“But no need to worry, we’ll be plenty ready in time
for USC.”
SENIORS GOAL: The Bruin seniors accomplished
one of their major goals last Saturday by going undefeated at home
(6-0), but the ultimate goal they still haven’t accomplished
is beating USC. The Bruins’ best chance was last season, when
the Bruins fell 29-24 to USC, but this year the Bruins don’t
just want a close game ““ they want a victory. “We were
close last year, but that’s not enough,” senior safety
Jarrad Page said. “One of the things we haven’t done is
beaten them, and trust me, I want to beat them before I leave
UCLA.”
EXTRA POINTS: Offensive guard Chris Joseph was
named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 8 football
team Tuesday with a 4.0 GPA. The sophomore is out for the season
after undergoing knee surgery a few weeks ago.