UCLA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: BREAZELL MISSING IN ACTION.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer Brandon Breazell is a forgotten man in UCLA's offense. Breazell hasn't had a catch since the Notre Dame game, and he had just one in South Bend. Sure, Breazell has battled a ribcage injury, but the past two weeks he's been available to play and didn't catch any passes. ``We've got to get him going,'' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said of Breazell. ``He's been a little dinged up a couple of weeks ago, but he's much better -- probably close to 100 percent. He's practicing full-speed, so we need to try to get him back in the fold. He's one of our guys that's been a big production guy at receiver. We need to get him some opportunities.'' Dorrell has only two regular-season games left to get Breazell more touches. UCLA (5-5) plays at Arizona State on Saturday and against USC at the Rose Bowl on Dec. 2. Breazell, who recently hasn't been made available to the media after practices, began the season as UCLA's starting flanker and had three catches against Utah in the opener. Breazell had just one catch against Rice, which went for a touchdown, and had at least two catches or more until the Notre Dame game. He had a career-high five receptions for 57 yards at Oregon. Breazell has 18 catches for 220 yards and one score. At this rate, he won't be as productive as last year, when he caught 24 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns. Marked man: Tailback Chris Markey said he's had fresh legs all season with the exception of after the Cal game. He's still wearing a no-hit red jersey in practice this week at Dorrell's request. ``I'm 100 percent,'' Markey said. ``This is just to get some rest. ``I've taken a beating all season. You get banged up a lot as a running back and it's that time of the season. But I've been feeling great all season.'' Markey tied a season-high with 23 carries in last week's win over Oregon State. He had a season-low eight carries against Washington State, but had 20 against the Bears, so he hasn't had durability issues. Also: Robert Chai (shoulder) didn't practice much Wednesday, but he's expected to start. -- Linebacker Christian Taylor didn't practice much Wednesday but he will play against Arizona State as well. -- Linebacker Aaron Whittington (ankle) had an MRI on Wednesday. -- Tailback Kahlil Bell (ankle) practiced Wednesday, although he was hobbling around a little. ``It's good to see him out there practicing, but he's not 100 percent,'' Dorrell said. Bell was the backup before he injured his ankle at Notre Dame. He's fallen behind Derrick Williams and Chane Moline on the depth chart. jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 |
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