Catch-27

Few could stop him on the field, so don’t expect some questions to slow him.

Aren’t you kicking yourself about coming back for your another year? You must have more regrets than catches!

“No,” Danny Farmer says without hesitation. “Not at all.”

Even the way things turned out? You’ve had more injuries than wins!

“Not at all,” the UCLA receiver says. “I really don’t [have regrets]. This is the best situation for me. I love it here.”

But you could have been catching passes in the NFL, instead of grief in college. People must be slapping Kick Me signs on your back in every class! Whatever happened to good moves being one of your strengths on the field?

“People kid around about it. But I think they understand that I’m having a good time here and I’m happy here. I walk around on campus and see a lot of people I know. It’s like home to me. It’s something that I’m really glad that I did.”

He cannot be shaken into retreat. Danny Farmer could have left after his junior season with the Bruins. He had, after all, been named first team All-Pacific 10 Conference, had become only the fourth player at a school with a history of great receivers with 1,000 yards in catches in one year, and had the second-best yards-per-catch average in the country among players with at least 1,000 yards. But he barely considered it.

He was enjoying his college years. More specifically, he was enjoying UCLA. So Farmer came back for his senior season, geared up for a season that was supposed to include at least a chance at a second consecutive conference crown and . . .

Watched a lot.

He watched from the sidelines, because a sprained ankle suffered in a training-camp scrimmage knocked him out of the season opener, against Boise State, and the third game, against Fresno State. A strained groin limited his impact near the end of the season.

He watched from the field, because after having caught a pass in 29 consecutive games in which he played, he was shut out in the fourth contest, at Stanford. A month later, he was shut out at Oregon State. The next game, at home against Arizona, he had only two receptions, one of which went for eight yards.

Often, he watched in disbelief.

“I was in my best shape this summer, coming into the season,” Farmer said. “That’s the thing that’s most frustrating. It’s difficult, but you have to deal with it. It really shows your character.

“When you lose six games in a season and you had only lost four the last two seasons, it’s obviously difficult. You’re not used to losing.”

And games with no catches?

No way.

“That’s what I would have thought,” Farmer said. “I was training hard during the summer. Things were clicking and things were going well, and then I got hurt and other situations happened. I would have never thought it would have happened this way, but it’s something you have to live with.”

Inexperienced quarterbacks had to learn on the job how to deliver the ball downfield. In five of Farmer’s eight appearances, as tight ends and backs sometimes got most of the throws, especially early on, Farmer had three catches or fewer. So much for being a preseason All-American and Biletnikoff Award candidate.

By the end of the 10th game, with Saturday’s against USC his college finale, one of the Bruins’ best weapons had caught 27 passes for 555 yards and three touchdowns, good enough to lead the team outright in only one category, yardage. That a year after he had caught 58 passes for a school-record 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns. The obvious difference, injuries aside, was the absence this season of Cade McNown at quarterback.

Said Ron Caragher, UCLA’s receiver coach, “I really haven’t seen a big frustration on his part. . . . I don’t even see it in body language. I just know deep down he must be frustrated, coming into a year with such high expectations--higher expectations for the team because Danny’s a team guy, and higher expectations for himself, although I don’t know if Danny Farmer sets personal goals. Everything is a team goal. That’s the type of person he is. I don’t see the frustrations on the outside. I know he must be frustrated inside.”

Farmer is, because of the injuries. That will not, however, be his lasting legacy at UCLA. Not after a career so spectacular that he went from walk-on to the first freshman to lead the Bruins in receptions to a star in big games as a sophomore and a record-setter as a junior and senior, earning praise from coaches the entire way for his selfless approach.

He leaves as the school record-holder for single-season yards, set in 1998, and for yards in a career, and only Kevin Jordan, with 22 more, ranks ahead of him in receptions. Along the way have come the second-best day ever for a Bruin, the 196 yards against Oregon the individual highlight for the senior year, and the chance to move up to at least third place on the all-time Pac-10 list with another 199 Saturday at the Coliseum.

Farmer may leave without having been named all-conference in a senior season that began with the possibility of All-American. He leads the Pac-10 in yards per reception--20.6--but is seventh in yards per game and not even in the top 10 in catches. Dennis Northcutt of Arizona and Troy Walters of Stanford are locks to be selected, so Farmer will need some understanding coaches to even get on the second team.

But there are no regrets.

“I think college is probably the most important experience of someone’s life,” Farmer said. “There’s no other time in your life where you’re spending time with people your age. That’s something that’s the most fun. Friendships are built here and your life starts over in college. How you come out of college is based on what you do in college.”

Not only on what you did in the final year.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE RIVALRY

USC vs. UCLA

Saturday, Coliseum

12:30 p.m., Channel 7

HACKETT RESPONDS

USC Coach Paul Hackett says both teams will experience pressure going into the game. Page 7

TOLEDO REMEMBERS

UCLA Coach Bob Toledo reminds his players of bold comments by some Trojans. Page 7

Farmer’s Crop

Danny Farmer’s statistics (* one game remaining):

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Year Receptions Yards Average TD 1996 31 524 16.9 4 1997 41 649 15.8 3 1998 58 1,274 22.0 9 1999* 27 555 20.5 3 Totals 157 3,002 19.1 19

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