Gloves Catch On With Receivers

UCLA may not have any All-American candidates at receiver this season, but that doesn’t mean that the Bruins don’t have play-makers at the position. Of the six receivers who have a catch this season, four have touchdowns.

One reason behind the Bruins’ catching success is their gloves. Although UCLA has a sponsorship contract with Adidas that provides school teams and coaches with free shoes and apparel featuring the three-stripes logo, most of the receivers use Cutters, the first athletic gloves to feature grip used by glass handlers.

“I started wearing Cutters last year in our bowl game and I really liked them,” junior Marcus Everett said. “I wore them all summer, so I have just kept with them. The Adidas gloves that we have now are pretty good, but I still take the Cutters.”

Some of the players said UCLA does not push Adidas products on them. It’s just that sometimes it’s the only option available.

“That’s kind of the protocol,” senior Andrew Baumgartner said. “They want you to wear Adidas. But we watch Notre Dame on film a lot and even though that’s an Adidas school, all of those guys wear Cutters. I’m sure it’s the same thing with Nike schools too.”

The Cutters company, which has been around since the mid-1990s and produces gloves for every position, even quarterbacks, provides gloves for the NFL but this year certain models were banned by the league, which has major licensing deals with Nike and Reebok.

But although NFL players are not allowed to wear Cutters gloves that feature the latest gripping material, college players are permitted to do so.

“I wore all types of Nike gloves in high school,” said freshman Terrence Austin, who played at Long Beach Poly, a Nike-sponsored school. “But I’m wearing Adidas in games now because they are a little limited on the Cutters. I think the seniors get the first cut at them.”

Junior Brandon Breazell, who made a couple of impressive catches in UCLA’s 27-7 victory over Arizona on Saturday, wears Adidas gloves during games and said that most brands are the same to him.

“I’ve always wore gloves,” said Breazell, who leads UCLA in receptions with 14 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. “They provide protection for your hands and I’m just used to wearing them. So to me, it really doesn’t matter.”

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Sophomore quarterback Patrick Cowan on making his first college start this week at Oregon: “Every week, I’ve been preparing to play, but now I’m just taking snaps with the [first team] in practice and I know that I will be playing. But I still have the same focus and same mind-set.”

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Sophomore middle linebacker Kyle Bosworth, who replaced injured starter Christian Taylor in the second half against Arizona, worked with the No. 1 defense. Taylor, who suffered a left ankle sprain against the Wildcats, did not practice but was expected to play against Oregon, Coach Karl Dorrell said.... Dorrell said senior receiver Joe Cowan, Patrick’s brother, and junior cornerback Michael Norris, who have not played because of knee injuries, did more individual work in practice and are closer to returning but probably not this week.... Sophomore defensive tackle Chase Moline, who did not play against Arizona because of a back injury, could return to practice this week.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com