Foster Breaks Hand; Status Uncertain

UCLA suffered a bad break early in the second quarter when leading rusher DeShaun Foster left the game because of a broken right hand. He did not return to the game and will be reevaluated this week.

Foster, who came into the game with 471 yards and six touchdowns, had 30 yards in nine carries. He fumbled once, in the first quarter. It was recovered by Arizona State safety Alfred Williams, who hit Foster and forced the dropped ball.

UCLA officials said they weren’t sure when Foster was injured. He did not appear injured during his one carry in the second quarter. But Foster did spend the rest of the game watching from the sidelines, his injured hand tightly wrapped.

Jermaine Lewis and Akil Harris shared the Bruins’ tailback duties in Foster’s absence.

Foster’s 1999 season was hampered by injuries, notably a sprained right ankle against Stanford in the Bruins’ fourth game. Last season he rushed for only 375 yards, but led all UCLA tailbacks with six touchdowns.

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Before Saturday’s Bruin victory, Arizona State had won five of the previous six meetings and three in a row. UCLA’s last victory was in 1994, when the Bruins rolled to a 59-23 victory.

Arizona State was also the fifth consecutive UCLA opponent this season that played in a postseason bowl last season.

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Freddie Mitchell’s two touchdown receptions in the third quarter marked the first time he has scored more than once in a game as a Bruin. Mitchell had scored single touchdowns against Alabama, Fresno State and Oregon.

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With this week being its bye week, UCLA will slightly alter its practice schedule. The Bruins will stick to their regular routine Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; Coach Bob Toledo will modify practice on Thursday, and the coach has yet to decide what the team will do Friday.

Toledo and coordinators will run the practices while the rest of the coaching staff will be recruiting. UCLA already has nine oral commitments for next season. Players cannot sign letters of intent until February.

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Toledo took the blame for the Bruins’ unsuccessful fake punt in the second quarter. Punter Nate Fikse’s pass attempt was overthrown. Arizona State took the ball at their own 48 and scored in seven plays to give them a 21-0 lead.

“I thought I saw something there that wasn’t there,” said Toledo. “It was a bad call on my part and I apologized to the team. We’re going to have to work on that one.

“Sometimes trick plays backfire on you. And that one backfired.”