Farmer’s Return Not All That Pretty

It was an otherwise meaningless incompletion in the fourth quarter of a blowout, eventually only a slight difference in the final score, but the significance was considerable for UCLA.

Not that Danny Farmer had a touchdown pass go through his hands Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, something that doesn’t happen. It was one of the reasons it went through his hands.

His ankle.

The play with about 10 minutes remaining and the Bruins trailing by 18 points was an indication of how the joint in his left leg, which had kept him out of action for all but the last few days, has been slow to heal. Farmer, slicing left to right across the end zone when Cory Paus delivered the pass a little high but otherwise on target, planted with the left foot to jump and twist his body to turn toward the ball.

No go. He reached for the pass, but it sailed through the end zone.

“I’m not making any excuses,” Farmer said. “I should have caught it. It’s frustrating.”

But it was partly because of the ankle. It didn’t help that he later re-injured the leg and left the field after the game with an ice bag in place of his left shoe, after his three catches for 56 yards.

“It was OK,” he said of the overall strength of the ankle. “There were still some things that I couldn’t do. It felt pretty good, but I was limited in some of the things I wanted to do because of the brace. It’s thick.”

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Life as a third stringer in a two-man quarterback rotation hasn’t been the worst thing for Scott McEwan. Because of blowouts to open the season--in the Bruins’ favor versus Boise State and against them at Ohio State--he has played in both games, if only on the final series. . . . Newcomers continue to have a major impact on defense. Marcus Reese, a freshman linebacker, had a team-high nine tackles against Ohio State, including three for losses, and freshman cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. had eight tackles and broke up two passes. This came a week after senior Joey Strycula was named player of the game for the unit by coaches in his first start and first extensive action besides special teams. Against Ohio State, Strycula had his second interception in as many games.

The Buckeyes appear to be planning a change at quarterback, at the expense of Southern California. Backup Steve Bellisari completed 11 of 16 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns against the Bruins. He will likely become the starter over Austin Moherman of Capistrano Valley High. “No question he was the best quarterback tonight,” Ohio State Coach Jon Cooper said of Bellisari. “We will have to look at the tape, but he will more than likely be our starting quarterback next week.” Moherman was 10 of 19 for 107 yards and one interception.