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UCLA starting center Jake Brendel will be a game-time decision

Injured UCLA center Jake Brendel was sorely missed against Virginia last Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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UCLA Coach Jim Mora started off his Thursday meeting with reporters by saying that he didn’t have any updates and there wasn’t much to talk about.

Accordingly, the status of starting center Jake Brendel, who’s out with a sprained left knee, is going to be a “game-time decision.”

“We’ll see where he’s at,” Mora said. “He got a lot of good practice in this week, which is very encouraging. But we’ll decide on him as we get closer to the game.”

The chatter around UCLA this week has been about the offensive line, and rightfully so. It was the Bruins’ weakest unit against Virginia. Brendel, who started 27 straight games before last weekend, would fix a lot of those issues.

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Brendel was replaced by sophomore Scott Quessenberry, who struggled along with true freshman guard NaJee Toran. Toran missed practice on Thursday to fly home after the death of his grandfather, but is expected to be back when UCLA plays Memphis in the Bruins’ home opener on Saturday.

Even if Brendel is close to full strength, he might be held out just based on the opponent. Memphis lost to Middle Tennessee last year and, frankly, is not very good. Next week’s game at Texas is UCLA’s biggest nonconference game of the season. Having Brendel at full strength for the Longhorns is more important than risking reaggravating his injury against Memphis.

For more Bruin observations, follow Everett Cook on Twitter @everettcook

If you’re not going to the Rose Bowl on Saturday, follow the game on our UCLA Now live blog. We’ll have analysis, updates and loads of fun.

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