Knee Injury Will Keep Gaston Green Out of Bruins’ Home Opener

UCLA tailback Gaston Green will miss the Bruins’ home opener against San Diego State Saturday because of strained ligaments in his left knee. Green was injured in practice Tuesday when a teammate was blocked into him.

Green, a sophomore who was coming off his best game ever (194 yards against Tennessee), will be out indefinitely. UCLA Coach Terry Donahue has not yet decided who will replace Green. It will be either redshirt freshman Eric Ball or sophomore James Primus.

Because Green has been the starter this season, and because he has averaged 124.5 yards in the first two games, neither Ball nor Primus has had a chance to play much.

Ball has carried the ball six times for seven yards. Primus, who started three games last season (when he carried 78 times for 316 yards), has carried just three times this season for 12 yards.

Primus did not play against BYU because he was recovering from a broken nose.

Green came on strong at the end of last season, rushing for 134 yards against USC to earn the starting spot for the Fiesta Bowl, in which he gained 144 yards. His rushing performance at Tennessee was the fifth-best ever at UCLA. And, yet, Donahue says that Green has not yet come close to his potential. After the Tennessee game, Donahue said: “He has a long way to go to improve. He’s going to get better and better each week.”