Harris, White Get Big Chance Saturday

Akil Harris and Manuel White are not Heisman Trophy candidates. They aren’t among the Pac-10’s rushing leaders.

And they probably aren’t NFL first-round draft picks.

But Saturday against Oregon they could do a credible job replacing tailback DeShaun Foster, who is ineligible to play after committing an NCAA violation.

Harris, a sophomore, is a quick, elusive back who has runs of 54 and 48 yards in limited playing time.

White, a redshirt freshman, is powerful at 240 pounds and is a good receiver.

However, in last year’s 29-10 loss to Oregon, the Bruins were held to minus-nine yards rushing.

“I’m just going to stick to the game plan and keep working hard,” Harris said.

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In contrast to the Foster-less Bruins, Oregon has the best one-two running tandem UCLA has faced.

Onterrio Smith and Maurice Morris have put up better numbers than even Brian Allen and Kerry Carter of Stanford. Smith and Morris are coming off injuries, but are expected to play against UCLA.

Smith, who has rushed for 933 yards with a 6.8 average, was poked in the eye Saturday against Arizona State and has been held out of most drills in practice.

Morris, who has 729 yards and a 5.2 average, did not play in the game because of a hamstring injury.

“We are blessed to have two great running backs,” Coach Mike Bellotti said.

“They will do some form of rotation in the game.”

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UCLA had been doing a good job of avoiding penalties at the start of the season.

But in their last three games, the Bruins have committed 32 penalties, a far cry from their penalty-free game against Alabama in the season opener.

“For some reason this year, we’re making some stupid penalties,” middle linebacker Robert Thomas said. “I can understand the aggressive penalties, but we’re making stupid ones that really hurt us. We need to stay mentally with it.”

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“Bruins for Relief,” a fund-raising effort for families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11 tragedy, will take place Saturday at the football game against Oregon.

Student-athletes and coaches will collect donations at the Rose Bowl.