Looking at the Rest of the Story, Bruins Give Opponents an Edge

The Bruins say that USC has an advantage in having had an extra week to prepare for Saturday’s game. The Trojans were off last weekend while UCLA was playing at Washington.

“That’s a huge thing in their favor,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “They had the opportunity to heal up and rest up, and that gives them an opportunity to prepare for us.”

Added defensive end Kenyon Coleman, “I definitely think it’s an edge. They got to rest up. Usually, you don’t necessarily want to get a bye because you don’t want to get rusty, but I don’t think that’s going to happen in this case.”

UCLA’s only bye is unscheduled. The Bruins were supposed to go straight through the season, ending against USC, but the weather-related postponement of the Miami game moved it to Dec. 5,

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Five Bruins were named to the Pacific 10 Conference all-academic team. Punter Chris Sailer, who has a 3.33 grade-point average in communication studies, was honored for the third consecutive year. Center Shawn Stuart, 3.61 in sociology, and receiver Danny Farmer, 3.01 in history, were second-time selections. Guard Andy Meyers, 3.37 in political science, and linebacker Ramogi Huma, 3.15 in sociology, are on for the first time. Brad Melsby was honorable mention. . . . Stuart and Meyers were selected game captains, along with season-long choices Larry Atkins and Cade McNown, choices that were not surprising given the opponent and the stakes. “They’re the heart and soul of this football team,” Toledo said.