Houston Showing the Wear and Tear

It has been a rough five weeks for Houston, which has lost three of four games, and a rough 10 days for the Cougars, who will have traveled 5,448 miles to play games at Minnesota and against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

All the traveling and games against Alabama, California, Pittsburgh, Minnesota and UCLA should help Houston prepare for its Conference-USA schedule, “if we have enough players left to play it,” Coach Kim Helton says.

The Cougars have lost five players to broken bones or surgery, including sophomore running back Ketric Sanford, who had an emergency appendectomy.

He has been replaced by junior Vaughn Innis, who has run for 108 and 129 yards in the last two games--and senior Jay McGuire, who scored two touchdowns at Minnesota.

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Look for Helton’s son, Tyson, to get time at quarterback today in a backup role for starter Jason McKinley. . . . UCLA quarterback Cade McNown has thrown 83 passes over 11 quarters without an interception. . . . Bruin safety Larry Atkins is tied for the lead nationally in interceptions with four. He is averaging 35 return yards a game with those four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. . . . UCLA linebacker Danjuan Magee has forced three fumbles. . . . Backup roverback Eric Whitfield leads the Bruins in tackles with 21. . . . UCLA is second in the nation in turnover margin, averaging plus 3.25 a game. Texas A&M; leads at 3.33.

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NEXT FOR UCLA

WHO: Houston

WHERE: Rose Bowl

WHEN: Today, 3:30 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports West 2

RADIO: AM 1150