Marshall Volunteers Some Information

UCLA is turning to a newcomer for some insight into its season-opening game at No. 2 Tennessee.

Steve Marshall, the Bruin offensive line coach, held the same position at Tennessee last season, and the team is making use of his knowledge and experience with the Volunteers.

“We’re talking about personnel,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “We wanted him to evaluate all the people. We’ve talked about their coaching philosophy, what they would do in certain situations, their temperament.

“Those are the things that would be most helpful: personnel and philosophy.”

Toledo and Tennessee Coach Phillip Fullmer apparently went to the same coaching clinics.

“I think Steve Marshall is going to know a lot about our personnel,” said Fullmer. “And he’ll know philosophy-wise what we like on both sides of the ball. But he still doesn’t know when we’ll do what and how much we might have changed.”

Marshall is the fifth UCLA line coach in as many seasons. He worked for three seasons at Tennessee before leaving of his own accord, but under something of a cloud because of his knowledge of the stormy relationship between a lineman and a Knoxville woman, as well as that lineman and a booster in Nashville. The latter brought an NCAA inquiry.

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Tennessee used more than 80 players in its 62-3 victory over Nevada Las Vegas in its season opener. Twenty of them either carried or caught the ball, and 10 freshmen and two junior college transferred played. . . . Volunteer backup safety Shane Begnaud suffered a broken leg against UNLV. . . . Though Jim McElroy and Eric Scott are listed as UCLA’s kickoff returners, don’t be surprised if freshmen Durell Price or Keith Brown are deep when the game begins at Knoxville. McElroy is dealing with back spasms, and regular return man Derek Ayers is not being counted on for special-teams duty because of the lingering effects of his sprained ankle.