COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Ayers Rarely Suffers From Boredom

Busiest Bruin? It might well be Derek Ayers, who is a slot receiver, still takes an occasional turn at tailback in practice and is on the kickoff, kickoff receiving and punt receiving teams.

“It makes you keep your head in the game,” Ayers said. “You have to know the down and the distance, because when it’s third down you have to be warming up and ready to go in.”

Ayers returns kickoffs, and his 23.1 yards per return this season is second in the Pacific 10.

The last UCLA player with a better average was Darryl Henley, who had a 23.3-yard average in 1983.

Ayers usually works in tandem with freshman Jim McElroy on the kickoff team.

“I’m the call guy and he’s the backup guy,” Ayers said of the division of duties. “Most teams like to kick to the right corner, so the ball seems to come my way a lot.”

McElroy has yet to return a kickoff.

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Left guard James Christensen returned to full-contact practice after sitting out three games because of a partial tear in a knee ligament. . . . One reason for UCLA’s slide: After six games last season, the Bruins were plus-16 in turnovers and this year they are minus-6. . . . More reasons: Only Daron Washington has a run of at least 30 yards, and he did that in the opener against Tennessee. The Bruins went from the Tennessee game to the California game, six weeks, without a run of 20 or more yards. Only Kevin Jordan has caught a pass for at least 25 yards. He has three catches of 50 or more yards, but none since the Nebraska game four weeks ago. . . . Of the 13 field goals Bjorn Merten has tried this season, 10 have come from 40 or more yards. He is four for 10 from that distance, six for 13 overall.