They Haven’t Forgotten Bragg

Cory Paus always had Craig Bragg on his radar screen. Drew Olson and Matt Moore have had trouble finding the sophomore receiver’s coordinates.

Bragg leads UCLA with 44 catches for 738 yards and eight touchdowns. But since Olson and Moore replaced the injured Paus at quarterback, he has only seven catches for 105 yards in three games.

“I know what kind of weapon Craig is,” Olson said. “He’s a huge part of the offense. But if the defense takes him away, we go somewhere else.”

Bragg needs five receptions to pass Mike Sherrard (48 in 1983) and become the UCLA single-season sophomore leader. He also ranks third in the Pacific 10 Conference with a 12.2 punt-return average.

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Depth at defensive tackle could be a problem. Rodney Leisle is expected to sit out his sixth game in a row because of a broken foot and frequently used freshman C.J. Niusulu is out after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.

Sean Phillips, a fifth-year senior, will make his first start in two years. Ryan Boschetti is the only experienced backup for Phillips and senior Steve Morgan.

A strong effort can be expected from Phillips, whose girlfriend, Kecia, is a USC graduate student

“We want to give him the opportunity to start,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “He’s been here five years and this is a nice, little reward.”

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Paus plans to do more walking today than he has done since breaking his fibula against California.

The senior quarterback will walk with his teammates from the bus to the Rose Bowl through the tailgate crowd and take the field for the coin flip with the other 13 Bruin seniors.

“It’s all I can do, but I’m going to make the most of it,” he said.

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UCLA senior tackle Bryce Bohlander has been selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic team.... Mike Seidman is a semifinalist for the Mackey Award as college football’s best tight end.... Oklahoma will play UCLA in Norman, Okla., next season. The Sooners tried to cancel the game, but UCLA insisted on playing. Oklahoma will play UCLA at the Rose Bowl in 2005.