Injury Frustrates Stuart

The battle with a sprained left ankle has now persisted through three consecutive games for Shawn Stuart, leading to frustration for the senior center and an early look at UCLA’s future there, redshirt freshman Troy Danoff.

Stuart, one of the stars of the best offensive line in the conference, suffered the injury Oct. 24 at California, knocking him out for a few plays and two practices early the next week. It was still with him Oct. 31 against Stanford. And then last Saturday at Oregon State, just as the joint was starting to feel better, guard Andy Meyers inadvertently knocked his man into Stuart’s lower leg.

“It’ll probably be with me until we get that week off,” he said, referring to the open date after USC and before Miami.

Stuart missed only four plays, but they were part of the fourth-quarter drive when the Bruins were headed for a field goal by Chris Sailer and a temporary 34-31 lead.

“It’s tough sitting for three hours and then going in cold,” Danoff said. “But it’s a great situation to be in to get better.”

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Still hoping for a trip to the Fiesta Bowl after moving up to No. 2 in the bowl championship series rankings, UCLA can clinch the Pacific 10 title by winning at Washington. That would guarantee the Bruins a berth in the Rose Bowl at least, no matter the outcome of the USC game Nov. 21. . . . Safety Larry Atkins was named one of 10 finalists for the Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s best defensive back. USC’s Daylon McCutcheon also made the list, as did Arizona’s Chris McAlister.