This, as always, from the L.A. Times…
There is good news and bad news concering Bruin cornerback Dietrich Riley, who was feared paralyzed after his collision with Cal running back Isi Sofele in last Saturday’s game:
The good news is that he’s not paralyzed and has full control of all his extemities, getting them back not long after that hit in the Rose Bowl.
The bad news is that Riley hasn’t practiced all week because he suffered a stinger on that play and is out for the Arizona State game this Saturday. “I’m just playing it safe and not in a rush to return,” he said.
With safety Tony Dye out for the season due to neck issues, that means that UCLA will be a bit shorthanded in the secondary against the Sun Devils, which isn’t good news when you have to face a top-notch quarterback like Brock Ostweiler.
In the believe-it-or-not department:
Richard Brehaut, the quarterback who broke his leg in the Washington State game on October 8th, is, according to the Times, “…expected to return to practice next week”.
I don’t know about everyone else in Bruin Nation, but when I saw him limping, falling down, and unable to get up or put his weight down on that leg against Wazzu, I thought “That’s it. He’s done.”
And I’m sure many other Bruin fans thought the exact same thing.
If Brehaut does come back and gets back into the swing of things, what I would do is to play Brehaut and Kevin Prince like a baseball manager would play his pitchers – Prince would still start, since he’s done a good job to this point in place of Brehaut, but if he faltered, I”d get Brehaut ready in the “bullpen”, so to speak, and not hesitate to bring him in as a “relief pitcher”, to coin a phrase.
In other words, while I’d normally prefer one QB to be the main guy, these are special circumstances, and I would have Prince and Brehaut not #1 and #2, but rather #1a and #1b.
Just something to think about.