COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Defense Redeems Itself in Scrimmage

After being embarrassed four days earlier, UCLA’s defense gained a bit of retribution Wednesday night during a scrimmage at Spaulding Field that ended two-a-day practice sessions.

That retribution came in the form of hits put on receivers and ballcarriers by Bruin defensive backs, perhaps best exemplified when Donovan Gallatin hit Skip Hicks so hard on a sweep that the ball bounced into the hands of cornerback Teddy Lawrence, who returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

And there was Travis Collier’s hit on Avery Anderson that shook Anderson’s tonsils and broke up a pass from Ryan Fien.

But then there was the next play, Fien finding Anderson open on a pattern over Anderson’s brother, cornerback Aaron. The touchdown play covered 55 yards and showed that there is still work to do before the Sept. 4 opener against California.

“I was pleased with the ‘physicalness’ of the defense for the first time all summer camp,” Coach Terry Donahue said.

Andy Colbert returned two punts for touchdowns, one of them covering 92 yards after he dropped the ball.

The quarterback derby remained just that, with no one taking charge. Wayne Cook did not play, nursing a thigh bruise that had held him out of two series Saturday night.

Rob Walker returned after sitting out Saturday and completed 12 of 16 passes for 83 yards, including a six-yard touchdown to Avery Anderson.

Fien hit five of 13 passes for 91 yards and the touchdown to Anderson, but he also fumbled once and threw two interceptions.

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Marring the scrimmage was an injury to reserve offensive tackle Paul Kennedy, who might have broken his left leg. . . . Other injuries included those to safety Marvin Goodwin (bruised arm), tight end Brian Allen (bruised knee), safety Donovan Gallatin (pinched nerve), linebacker Phillip Ward (hip pointer) and running back Ricky Davis (ankle). . . . Shawn Stuart, a freshman from Saugus, will sit out the fall semester to rehabilitate his left knee, which was injured for the third time in Saturday’s scrimmage at the Rose Bowl. He will enter UCLA during the winter term and save a year’s eligibility.