BREAZELL SHOWS THAT BAD CAN BE SO GOOD RECEIVER DISPLAYS TOUGHNESS IN WIN.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

Staff Writer

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- UCLA receivers coach Eric Scott usually gives his receivers a test before each game, but he changed that Friday.

Instead of a test, he asked each of his guys to write an essay detailing what they would do the next afternoon at Oregon State.

Brandon Breazell's original version is too graphic for a family newspaper, but the gist was that he wanted to show everyone how tough he was. As if getting a few teeth knocked out in a game but not missing any time, as he did earlier this season, wasn't enough.

But the 162-pound Breazell took it further by turning the tide of UCLA's 40-14 win Saturday at Reser Stadium with a blockbuster play.

With UCLA's offense stalling because of penalties, and unable to take advantage of prime field position time and again, Breazell made the big play by taking an inside screen pass, breaking a tackle, and splitting the Beavers' secondary for a 69-yard touchdown.

"He's as tough as piano wire," Scott said. "Somebody needed to make a play. We said it over and over and over again. He said he was due.

"In his essay, he was saying he was going to make plays, and he said he was going to be the baddest (receiver) that was out there. And he showed up when it was time. That's what veteran leaders do. They show up in a time of need, and he did that."

Breazell's score gave UCLA a 19-14 lead with 9:12 to play.

"I just wanted to break a tackle," Breazell said. "All I had to do was break one tackle and it was over. That was all I was focusing on. It meant a lot. You can see the crowd was quiet afterward."

Breazell only had two catches against the Beavers, but his other reception capped a 21-point scoring spree during a two-minute, 45-second stretch midway through the fourth quarter.

Breazell beat his defender and quarterback Ben Olson delivered a perfect pass for a 30-yard score as UCLA went ahead 33-14.

"I wrote what I felt," Breazell said. "It was basically that I was the baddest ... that you can know."

Breazell, a 6-foot senior receiver from Fresno Edison High, is UCLA's leading receiver and resident dental expert. His 22 catches are more than double UCLA's second-leading receiver (Joe Cowan and Marcus Everett each have 10).

But it was the toughness Breazell displayed earlier this season that has his teammates raving.

Breazell was leveled by an errant tackle attempt by teammate Logan Paulsen after an interception Sept. 8 against BYU. He had two teeth knocked out, a third cracked, and underwent one dental surgery and several root canals.

He pressed his nose earlier this week and said he still felt the pain, but it hasn't kept him off the field.

Breazell did not even miss a practice because of the injury.

"I wouldn't be upset if he came and suited up with the offensive line and got in the trenches," said UCLA's 6-foot-8, 298-pound right tackle, Brian Abraham. "He's tough. He's a football player. That's how it should be."

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UCLA's Brian Abraham lifts up Brandon Breazell to celebrate Breazell's first touchdown of the fourth quarter. Breazell scored twice in the quarter.

Ryan Gardner/Associated Press