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Bruins Still Have Some Fight in Them

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Times Staff Writer

Although UCLA did not practice in full gear Saturday, that did not stop the Bruins from getting after each other in their first team practice since a 66-19 loss to USC two weeks ago.

With many key recruits in attendance on the last weekend before the NCAA implements a period during which in-person contact is prohibited, UCLA had a couple of heated skirmishes.

“It was fun out there with guys flying around getting fired up,” running back Maurice Drew said about the Bruins, who will face Northwestern in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30. “You get angry when you get beat.”

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For Coach Karl Dorrell, Saturday’s practice was productive in many ways.

“You could see a lot of spirit out there,” said Dorrell, whose players participated in conditioning and informal seven-on-seven passing drills during their time off. Finals are over and the guys can just concentrate on football.

“It’s going to take a little bit for us to get back into a groove with the pads on and getting that type of work in, but I was very pleased with the effort today.”

UCLA, which already is thin on the offensive line because of injuries, suffered another possible setback when center Robert Chai left the field limping late in practice.

“He tweaked his [right] knee and we don’t think that it’s anything significant, but he did hurt it, which means he’ll miss some practice time,” Dorrell said about Chai, who started the final four games in place of senior Mike McCloskey, who has been sidelined for the season because of a shoulder injury.

“We’ll see what the doctors say, but we think he just tweaked it.”

Chai has had problems with both knees since he has been at UCLA, which will turn to redshirt freshman Aaron Meyer if Chai is unable to play. Meyer played well when he stepped in for McCloskey after he was hurt against Oregon State on Oct. 22.

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Non-scholarship freshman kickers Brian Malette and Jimmy Rotstein got a chance to work with the field-goal unit Saturday and neither player stood out as they compete for the job left open because of the suspension of junior Justin Medlock.

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“Sporadic,” Dorrell said about their performance. “For the first time, we had a kicking rush for them and they haven’t had that at all since they’ve been here. So, they were a little bit nervous.

“But we wanted to put some fire under them now, so they could get used to it two weeks from now.”

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Dorrell on McCloskey, who will not travel with the team to the Sun Bowl: “His shoulder is not healthy enough for him to get back to contact work. He’s disappointed and it’s unfortunate for him, being a senior, not to be able to finish up his career the way he wants to.”

Receiver Gavin Ketchum (leg), defensive tackle Chase Moline (ankle) and offensive tackle Brian Abraham (ankle) did not practice because of injuries....

A large collection of recruits at practice Saturdayincluded Colton linebacker/running back Allen Bradford, Covina South Hills linebacker Tobi Umodo and Compton Dominguez lineman Sonny Tevaga (brother of UCLA starting offensive guard Shannon).... The Bruins will practice daily at Spaulding Field until Wednesday. UCLA will leave for El Paso on Christmas Day.

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