COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT / UCLA : Bennett Is Set for Dry Run in Opener

Game week has arrived, and so have the butterflies.

Right on schedule, Drew Bennett is battling nerves as he also prepares to battle Boise State on Saturday night, aided by the knowledge that at least he has expected these emotions since being named starting quarterback Aug. 23.

“I just hope my palms stay dry enough to throw the ball,” Bennett joked as he contemplated starting a game for the first time in nearly four years, since high school in the Bay Area. “I think I’ll be OK.

“I feel like I’ll be comfortable. Obviously, there will be some butterflies, but I don’t think any more than my first start in high school.”

And how did that go?

“I threw three [interceptions]. But we won.”

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Starting strong safety Jason Stephens has been practicing with braces on both knees but said he will play in the opener. The right knee, twisted in a scrimmage Aug. 21, had been the primary concern, but a similar injury to the left knee has been lingering four days longer.

“It feels fine,” Stephens said of the right leg that late last week had the Bruins doubting whether he would be ready for Boise State. “I have full range of motion and everything. Without [the brace], when I’m at home, it’s sore, but other than that it’s fine. When I’m out on the field, it doesn’t bother me at all.”

Meanwhile, flanker Danny Farmer, hoping to make it back in time for Boise State, did some jogging and ran light drills Tuesday, but did not practice. Still, that was his first football activity since spraining his left ankle in the same scrimmage in which Stephens was hurt.

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After using four prominent offensive players on defense during the previous weeks of practice, Coach Bob Toledo said he probably will use only two of them against Boise State in an attempt to add depth to the secondary: tailback DeShaun Foster at safety and flanker Freddie Mitchell at cornerback.

Farmer would have been another, and Bennett also got time in nickel and dime packages during workouts, but he will be left to concentrate solely on offense.