Karl Dorrell Gives UCLA a Lift : Bruins Braced by Return of Their Oft-Injured Receiver

Working his way up the UCLA all-time receiving charts once again, after stalling briefly, Karl Dorrell caught five passes against Arizona last week even though he was running on a flat tire.

Actually, Dorrell’s right knee wasn’t exactly flat, but neither was it entirely sound. So, after the Bruins’ 32-25 victory, Dorrell reflected on his performance and said he hadn’t played too badly, all things considered.

“It was a pretty good game for a guy wearing a leg brace,” he said.

Dorrell wore a brace in each of the two games he has played since he strained ligaments in his right knee during the Bruins’ season opener at Oklahoma.

For the fifth-year senior, it was hardly the first time he had been injured at UCLA, only the most current and perhaps the most maddening.

“Nobody even touched me,” Dorrell said. “I just planted my foot wrong on an out pattern and stretched the ligaments. Right when I broke out on that turn, I knew something was wrong. It was a weird feeling.”

But it is not an altogether unusual one for Dorrell. He missed nearly all of what would have been his junior season in 1984 when he dislocated a shoulder at Nebraska in the third game.

Dorrell was granted an extra year of eligibility, but he could not even begin this season without another injury. He missed all of UCLA’s spring drills because of shoulder surgery, then started off the season with the knee mishap against Oklahoma.

At the same time, Dorrell said, the Sooners were severely damaging the Bruins’ confidence, 38-3.

“It was a rough start,” Dorrell said. “We felt really down because we had such high expectations. And I was particularly down because I was injured.

“When you’re a senior, you want to help the team as much as possible because it’s your last chance,” he said. “I sure started off on a bad note.”

That note appears to be changing. For the first time since the opener, Dorrell won’t have to wear the brace when the Bruins play California Saturday at Berkeley.

Maybe UCLA’s passing game, which showed signs of coming to life against Arizona, will at last be sound, too.

Quarterback Matt Stevens was ineffective until Dorrell caught his five passes last week, one a key 11-yard throw on third and five from the UCLA 44. That kept alive the Bruins’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

Stevens finished with 22 completions and 284 yards, both career highs, in UCLA’s comeback victory.

It may be no accident that the resurgence of Stevens and Dorrell coincided.

“We always had confidence in our passing game, but it never really showed anything before,” Dorrell said. “Matt’s getting to know me better all the time.”

The sixth-leading receiver in school history, Dorrell should soon become No. 4. He has 84 receptions, one behind Paul Bergmann and three behind fourth-place Kurt Altenberg.

Mike Sherrard is UCLA’s all-time leader with 128, and Dorrell has no shot at him. But he could become the fourth Bruin to catch at least 100 passes.

Dorrell does not know how high he will climb on the school’s record list, but at least he knows he won’t be running a one-legged race, as he was doing before.

“It seemed as though my left leg had a good striding movement and my right leg was trying to catch up all the time,” he said. “I just couldn’t cut right. Then, after a while in the Arizona game, I didn’t even notice my brace, at all.

“We needed a game like that, and I needed a game like that, too,” he said. “Finally, I feel a lot better about myself.

“Before, I thought I had a double load on me. One, I had to deal with the injury. And two, we had to get the passing game going. Finally, it looks like both of them have been taken care of.”

Bruin Notes Cal set a record by selling more than 26,000 season tickets for this season, and a crowd of 65,000 is expected for the game. Kickoff is 1 p.m. . . . UCLA’s 32-25 victory over Arizona was made possible by 25 fourth-quarter points, but in four previous games, UCLA scored a total of 14 points in the fourth quarter. Arizona had not allowed a point in the fourth quarter of its other four games. . . . The 78-yard pass play from Matt Stevens to Paco Craig for a touchdown against Arizona was the Bruins’ longest scoring pass play since Rick Bashore completed one for 79 yards against USC in 1979.