Defensive Star Coleman Hurt, Scheduled for Knee Surgery

First Cory Paus, now Kenyon Coleman.

UCLA lost its starting quarterback in the season opener and now the undefeated Bruins have lost their “best player” in the estimation of Coach Bob Toledo.

Coleman, a senior defensive end, tore cartilage in his left knee during Saturday’s game against Michigan at the Rose Bowl. He is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery at the UCLA Medical Center today. At best he will be gone three to four weeks; at worst Coleman is lost for the season.

“Right now I don’t know how serious it is,” Toledo said.

He said Coleman was hurt early in the game after being hit by another player. “He played most of the game with the torn cartilage,” Toledo said. “You could see him grabbing his leg.

“We knew he was hurt; we just didn’t know how serious.”

Sophomore Sean Phillips will replace Coleman at left end, Toledo said. Freshman Matt Ball will back up Phillips.

“The one good thing about Sean is he got a lot of reps during spring practice because Kenyon had mononucleosis,” Toledo said. “He’s a big, strong kid who has improved tremendously.”

Coleman’s injury took the sheen off UCLA’s victory over the third-ranked Wolverines, which improved the Bruins’ record to 3-0 and vaulted them to sixth in the Associated Press poll.

A preseason candidate for the Bronco Nagurski defensive-player-of-the-year award, Coleman had recorded six tackles (one for a loss) in the three games. He was considered the anchor of the Bruins’ defensive line.

“His loss is not as devastating as it would have been in the past,” Toledo said. “But any time you lose a starting player it creeps into your depth.

“Our defense is playing well. And I feel we have more quality depth than we’ve had in the past. But you hate to lose a kid like Kenyon.”

Also injured in the Michigan game was junior fullback Matt Stanley, who suffered a dislocated shoulder. He, too, is expected to be out four to six weeks. Ed Ieremia-Stansbury, a junior, will increase his workload at fullback and Toledo said sophomore Chris Jackson will get some playing time there as well.

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Toledo said he will close practices this week to everyone except the media and professional scouts.

The reason? Modern technology.

“There’s just too much information getting out on the Internet,” Toledo said. “I read some stuff that really disturbed me about our plays. I read things about our personnel and what they’re doing in practice. I don’t think that’s anybody’s business.

“So I decided to close [practice]. We’ll be by ourselves, and there will be less distractions because of it.”

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Oregon running back Maurice Morris, who has been slowed because of a shoulder injury, is expected to start Saturday, Coach Mike Bellotti said. He’ll need Morris; the 2-1 Ducks, who have won 16 consecutive home games since losing to UCLA in 1997, play UCLA, Washington and USC the next three weeks.

Bellotti sees that stretch of games as “a tremendous opportunity to make a name for yourself and your program.”

Regarding the Bruins, Bellotti said he considers UCLA’s defensive front seven “significantly better” than that of Wisconsin, which defeated Oregon, 27-23, on Sept. 9. “And that’s even with Coleman out.”