COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT / UCLA : Coleman Makes an Impression

It doesn’t seem possible given the preseason buildup, but Kenyon Coleman is quietly off to a very good start.

The junior defensive end, whose play in training camp was one of the highlights of the three-week session, has carried that into the first three games, even though he has yet to record a sack and is 12th on the Bruins in tackles.

“I think he’s gotten off to a great start,” said John Pearce, the assistant coach in charge of the defensive ends. “When you see Kenyon go out there, you see a lot of the glamorous things but you miss some of the blue-collar work that he has to do. He is double-teamed a bunch. The ball has been run away from him quite a bit too.

“I’ll give you an example. There was one play against Fresno State where on the same play he took on three blockers--a tackle, a tight end and a pulling guard--didn’t give up any ground at all, held his ground at the line of scrimmage and occupied all three blockers.”

“I think I’m doing my job,” Coleman said. “I’d like to get more sacks, but I think I’m playing hard and I’ve just got to keep doing my job. My opportunity to have a big game will come.”

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The Bruins ruled quarterback Cory Paus out for Saturday’s game at Stanford, making official what had been a foregone conclusion and setting their sights on a return Oct. 2 at Arizona State.

“They think he might be able to come back next week,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “But we’ll have to wait and see.”