USC's kicker to stand on familiar ground against UCLA
USC FOOTBALL
David Buehler won Pac-10 honors against Notre Dame at the Coliseum. He says he'll also feel right at home at the Rose Bowl against the Bruins.
USC kicker David Buehler played his final game at the Coliseum last week.
But Saturday's game against UCLA at the Rose Bowl also will have comfortable feel for the senior from Anaheim, who will be on the field for the fourth time in his USC career.
"I've kind of got accustomed to it as a home field away from the Coliseum," said Buehler, who was selected Monday as the Pacific 10 Conference special teams player of the week.
College football: A report in Monday's Sports section said the last time the USC and UCLA football teams both wore home jerseys when they played each other was in 1982 when the schools shared the Coliseum. The 1982 rivalry game was played at the Rose Bowl, UCLA's first season at the Pasadena stadium.
Buehler kicked a 35-yard field goal and converted all five of his conversion attempts, and four of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks in the Trojans' 38-3 victory over Notre Dame.
It was the second time this season that Buehler earned conference recognition.
"I definitely feel like I help out the defense by keeping the ball out of the hands of the returners," said Buehler, who has kicked off 73 times this season with 43 resulting in touchbacks. "And it's always nice to help the offense put points on the board."
Buehler has made eight of nine field-goal attempts and 56 of 57 extra points this season.
He hopes for numerous opportunities to aid both the offense and defense against UCLA.
He was on the sideline for the Bruins' 13-9 upset over the Trojans in 2006, but kicked off seven times against Michigan in the 2007 Rose Bowl. He also kicked seven touchbacks and seven extra points against Illinois in the 2008 Rose Bowl.
If the Trojans win Saturday, Buehler will play the final game of his college career in the Rose Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 1.
Klein is a Times staff writer.
gary.klein@latimes.com
