Defense suddenly seems less safe

  EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior strong safety
Jason Stephens celebrates after a

defensive stop in a victory over Washington earlier this
season.

By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter

Soldier down. UCLA suffered its first crucial defensive injury
of the season in the 38-28 loss to Stanford.

Bruin strong safety Jason Stephens suffered a case of turf toe
in the first-half last Saturday that will keep him out of
commission for 2-4 weeks.

Turf toe is a severe hyper-extension of the big toe and the
ligaments surrounding it. Unfortunately for Stephens, the healing
process is slow.

Stephen’s injury is unfortunate for the Bruin defense as
well.

“Jason is quarterback of the secondary,” UCLA head
coach Bob Toledo said.

As the strong safety, Stephens has to make checks based upon how
the offense lines up. Stephens has four years worth of experience
making these types of checks, making sure that every eligible
receiver is accounted for before the opposing quarterback snaps the
ball.

The secondary is now without its quarterback. Backup freshman
strong safety Ben Emanuel will have to step in.

“I’m ready to play every week,” Emanuel said.
“I’m going to do my best so that the coaches
don’t see a difference in how our secondary plays.”

The coach with the watchful eye will be UCLA defensive
coordinator and safeties coach Phil Snow.

“Any time you lose a player of Jason’s caliber, it
hurts your team, but I have full confidence that Ben Emanuel will
step up and do just fine in a starting role,” Snow said.

Emanuel will be thrown into the fire for his first start. His
starting debut will come against Jason Gesser and Washington
State’s high-octane passing game. Gesser averages 268 yards
per game, and Washington State will throw five receivers at the
thin Bruin secondary that now features two freshman starters.

In the game against Stanford, Coach Toledo noted that the
secondary missed some key checks and assignments in Stephens’
absence.

Senior free safety Marques Anderson will try to make
Emanuel’s job easier by making some of the checks to
WSU’s complex passing offense.

As for Stephens, his role will change over the next four
weeks.

“Coach Snow told me that I should be more like a
coach,” Stephens said. “I’m going to sit with Ben
all week and do everything I can to make sure that he’s
mentally prepared for Saturday’s game.”

The loss of Jason Stephens is large for an already thin Bruin
secondary, so any help he can offer will soften the blow of losing
one of our defense’s best soldiers.