COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Sidelined Kennedy Seeks Eligibility

After knee surgery and on the road to recovery, Paul Kennedy made his first appearance at UCLA practice Wednesday and said that he would ask the NCAA for another season of eligibility.

Kennedy, who was injured in the season’s second game, against Southern Methodist, had worked for four seasons to get playing time. In his fifth year at Westwood, he finally achieved his goal: starting at right tackle.

About 100 plays later, it was over. Now he wants some more plays.

“I’m not sure how, but I want to try for one more year,” he said.

“I’m not sure what the NCAA will do but I’ve got to try. If I’m meant to play football at UCLA, I’ll play.”

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J.J. Stokes has resumed running pass patterns at full speed for the first time since the week after his injury in the season-opening game against Tennessee. He is expected to line up for at least a few plays Saturday against Washington State at the Rose Bowl.

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When defensive back Tommy Bennett pleaded no-contest to charges of forgery in West Los Angeles Superior Court, it was the first of several steps toward his possible reinstatement in the UCLA program.

After Bennett is sentenced Monday, the issue will be turned over to the Dean of Students, Kerry Porter, and Pete Dalis, UCLA’s athletic director.

Bennett was arrested on campus in the spring and suspended from the athletic program.

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A recent Time magazine report ranked the Associated Press top 25 of the first week of September by the most recent graduation report by the NCAA. It showed that Penn State was No. 1, graduating 92% of its players, with UCLA No. 2 at 85%. In UCLA’s case, that represents 17 of 20 scholarship athletes from the freshman year measured--1987-88--giving students six years to graduate, regardless of whether they finished their careers at UCLA. Others in the poll: Michigan 81%, Stanford 76% and USC 42%.