Sept. 29, 2008

To watch video of head coach Rick Neuheisel's Monday news conference, click here.

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GAME 5 - UCLA (1-3, 0-1 in Pac-10 play) returns to Pac-10 Conference play when it hosts to Washington State (1-4,0-2) on Sat., Oct. 4 at 7:15 p.m. in the Rose Bowl. The game will be televised regionally by FSN Prime Ticket with Bill Macdonald and James Washington in the booth and Dain Blanton and Jackie Pickering on the sidelines. The UCLA/ ISP Sports Radio Network (KLAC 570 AM is the Los Angeles flagship station) will broadcast the contest with Chris Roberts, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook calling the action. The game also will be carried live on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 125). In addition, UCLA will produce a Spanish-language broadcast of the game which can be heard on the Bruin website at uclabruins.com.

SERIES WITH WASHINGTON STATE - The Bruins and Cougars will meet for the 55th time on Saturday. UCLA leads the series by a 35-18-1 count. Washington State has won the last two meetings (2007, 2006) and the last three meetings played in the Rose Bowl (2006, 2004, 2002). In fact, dating back and including the 2004 season, the Cougars, with two wins, are the only opponent to own more than a single win over the Bruins in games played in the Rose Bowl. UCLA's last win in the series came in the 2005 meeting, played in Pullman. Coach Rick Neuheisel owns a 5-0 record vs. Washington State, 1-0 at Colorado and 4-0 at Washington.

The two teams met in game eight of the 2007 season and WSU emerged with a 27-7 win in Pullman. UCLA opened the scoring on a 50-yard scoring jaunt by running back Kahlil Bell on the third play from scrimmage. However, Bell would be lost to the Bruins with a knee injury shortly thereafter. WSU took a 13-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but added a couple of touchdowns in the last 7:31 of the contest to secure the victory. The Cougars racked up 545 yards of total offense on the day, including 274 on the ground. Linebacker Kyle Bosworth led the defense with 19 tackles and safety Chris Horton added 16 stops.

In the last game of the series held in the Rose Bowl, WSU outscored the Bruins 23-0 after halftime to earn a 37-15 decision in game eight of the 2006 season. The Bruins held a 15-14 lead until a scoring pass put the Cougars in the lead for good at the 4:25 mark of the third quarter. A late third quarter field goal and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs sealed the Bruins' fate. The Cougars threw for 405 yards in the contest and totaled 516 total yards of offense.

UCLA ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME - Eight new members will be inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday night, October 3. Invitation-only ceremonies will be held in the Hall of Fame, located in the J.D. Morgan Intercollegiate Athletics Center, and in Covel Commons. In addition, the new inductees will also be introduced during halftime of the October 4 UCLA-Washington State football game at the Rose Bowl.

The UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame was dedicated in 1984 with 25 charter members. The Class of 2008 inductees are: Traci Arkenberg, soccer; Peter Dalis, athletic director; Leah Homma, gymnastics; Kurt Krumpholz, water polo/swimming; Robert Seaman, track and field; Jackie Tobian-Steinmann, golf; Eric Turner, football; and Todd Zeile, baseball.

ROSE BOWL ADVANTAGE

• The Bruins have captured wins in 17 of the last 22 games (.773) played at home in the Rose Bowl.
• Over the last six seasons, UCLA's home record is 25-9 (.735).
• UCLA has won 17 of its last 21 (.810) non-conference matchups played in the Rose Bowl (2008: L Fresno State / W Tennessee; 2007: L Notre Dame / W BYU; 2006: W Rice / W Utah; 2005: W Oklahoma / W Rice; 2004: W San Diego State / L Okla. State; 2003: W San Diego State / W Illinois; 2002: L Colorado / W Colorado State; 2001: W Ohio State; 2000: W Michigan, W Fresno State, W Alabama; 1999: W Fresno State / W Boise State; 1998: W Texas).
• UCLA's 10-game home winning streak in 2005-06 was its longest since 1997-1999, when it won 13 consecutive home games.

LINEUPS AND STARTS

• Senior defensive tackle Brigham Harwell leads the team with 33 career starts. Tight end Logan Paulsen (26), linebacker Reggie Carter (24), wide receiver Marcus Everett (20) are the only other Bruins with at least 20 career starts. Junior defensive back Alterraun Verner is the next closest with 16 career starts.
• Junior cornerback Alterraun Verner has the longest starting streak on the team with 13 straight. Senior tight end Logan Paulsen had a 23-game starting streak snapped against BYU when he sat out the game due to a broken foot. Senior center Micah Reed had a string of 10 straight snapped when he did not play versus Arizona (knee). Senior defensive end Tom Blake has the next longest active streak (9).

FRESHMEN

• UCLA has played a total of 11 true freshmen so far this season. The Bruins played seven in the 2008 season-opening game against Tennessee --- LB Sean Westgate; S Rahim Moore; TE Cory Harkey; WR Taylor Embree; S; Tony Dye; WR Antwan Moutra; WR Nelson Rosario. RB Aundre Dean made his debut versus BYU. TB Derrick Coleman, OT Jeff Baca and DE Datone Jones debuted versus Arizona.
• A school-record 12 freshmen played for the Bruins in the 2004 season. (2007-2; 2006-8; 2005-9)

FIRST ACTION

• A total of 26 players (14 offensive and 12 defensive) saw their first action as a Bruin during the first four games of the 2008 season (11 true freshmen - seven offensive and four defensive players (LB Sean Westgate, S Rahim Moore, TE Cory Harkey, WR Taylor Embree, S Tony Dye, WR Antwan Moutra, WR Nelson Rosario, RB Aundre Dean, RB Derrick Coleman, OL Jeff Baca, DL Datone Jones); eight redshirt freshmen - five defensive and three offensive players (DB Courtney Viney, LB Steve Sloan, LB Akeem Ayers, DB Glenn Love, OL/TE Nate Chandler, RB Raymond Carter, DL Justin Edison, WR Ryal Jagd), six redshirt sophomores - three offensive and three defensive players (OL Brandon Bennett, LB Mike Schmitt, DL Reginald Stokes, OL Sonny Tevaga, OL Jake Dean, DB Garrett Rubio), one redshirt junior (QB Kevin Craft).
• In addition to the seven true freshmen listed above, 10 other Bruins saw their first action in the 2008 season-opening win against Tennessee --- redshirt sophomore OL Brandon Bennett; redshirt sophomore LB Mike Schmitt; redshirt sophomore DL Reginald Stokes; redshirt sophomore OL Sonny Tevaga; redshirt freshman DB Courtney Viney; redshirt freshman LB Steve Sloan; redshirt freshman LB Akeem Ayers; redshirt freshman OL Nate Chandler; redshirt freshman RB Raymond Carter; redshirt freshman DB Glenn Love. At Brigham Young, true freshman RB Aundre Dean, redshirt sophomore C Jake Dean, redshirt freshman DL Justin Edison and redshirt sophomore S Garrett Rubio made their Bruin debuts. Against Arizona, true freshman TB Derrick Coleman, true freshman OT Jeff Baca and true freshman DE Datone Jones played for the first time. Redshirt freshman WR Ryal Jagd played on special teams versus Fresno State.

FIRST STARTS

• Fourteen players (10 on offense and four on defense) have made their first starts this season. Six players made their first position starts --- S Aaron Ware; S Rahim Moore; OG Sonny Tevaga; OT Nick Ekbatani; QB Kevin Craft; WR Terrence Austin - versus Tennessee. At BYU, OG Darius Savage, TE Cory Harkey and LB Akeem Ayers made their first starts. Versus Arizona, WR Taylor Embree, C Jake Dean and LB Steve Sloan made their first starts. Against Fresno State, TE Nate Chandler and OT Jeff Baca made their first starts.