Nerves Don’t Shake Up Tevaga

In his first start, last week at Arizona State, freshman offensive guard Shannon Tevaga struggled early. Not because he didn’t know his assignments or was being overmatched.

It was because he was nervous. “Real nervous,” he said.

But Tevaga settled down, and by the end of the game he was dishing out a lot more than he was taking. Coach Karl Dorrell credited Tevaga’s play for sparking the Bruins’ running game.

“After the first series or two, I settled down and started rolling,” said Tevaga, who will start at strongside guard today against Stanford. “I ended up having a pretty good game.”

One of Tevaga’s main jobs will be working with tackle Paul Mociler and center Mike McCloskey to try to control Stanford’s 3-4 defensive front. The Cardinal starts Babatunde Oshinowo, a 6-foot-2, 320-pound nose tackle; Julian Jenkins, a 6-4, 275-pound tackle; and Scott Scharff, a 6-5, 283-pound end.

“The 3-4 is a little bit different than the 4-3, but we’ve worked on it enough that I think he’ll be all right,” McCloskey said about Tevaga, the fifth first-year freshman to start this season for UCLA. “He’s picked up things pretty fast.”

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In training camp, junior linebacker Justin London said that he expected to lead the team in tackles and have a breakout season.

That was before he suffered a high left ankle injury on Aug. 19. After a couple of roller coaster weeks rehabilitating the injury, London returned to the lineup full time against California two weeks ago but has been less than 100% sound.

“It’s a very difficult injury to play with and not a lot of people can play with it,” Dorrell said. “But he’s chosen to help the football team in the best way that he can. Gutting through it and being a positive factor for our defense. That’s something to commend him about.

“We know that he’s frustrated because he’s not playing the style of defense that he’s accustomed to playing, and we understand that. He’s hanging in there.”

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In the 25 times the Bruins have been inside their opponent’s 20, they have 15 touchdowns and five field goals. Opponents are 26 for 30 -- 18 touchdowns and eight field goals.... UCLA’s game against Washington State at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 6 will start at 12:30 p.m. and will not be televised.

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Different Direction

After rushing for more than 100 yards against Illinois (142), Washington (322) and San Diego State (161), UCLA tailback Maurice Drew has struggled in his last three games:

*--* Date Opponent Att Yards TD Oct. 9 Arizona 11 22 0 Oct. 16 at California 14 42 0 Oct. 23 at Arizona State 15 54 1

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