Football Players

There were two minutes left in Friday night's football game between Garden Grove and host Westminster High School. In Garden Grove's last offensive play -- a long pass -- senior fullback Kevin Telles, 17, charged up from the 30-yard line to block his opponents. Then he abruptly fell, face down and motionless, on the 25-yard line. Several witnesses said he collapsed without sustaining a hit from another player. When he didn't get up, coaches from both teams rushed onto the field with the team physician as Telles began to convulse.

Two NFL players were in a group of four boaters missing Sunday in the choppy seas off Florida's Gulf Coast. Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and defensive end Corey Smith, a free agent who last played for the Detroit Lions, were in a group of friends that left in Cooper's 21-foot boat early Saturday morning for a day of fishing off the coast of Clearwater, Fla., and did not return that evening as expected. Officials did not receive a distress signal from the missing craft.

Even the best-laid plans are subject to the whim of UCLA sophomore linebacker Akeem Ayers. Stanford went with a safe-and-sane pass to receiver Chris Owusu, who was wrapped up by cornerback Alterraun Verner for a short gain. But Ayers swooped in from the left, knocked the ball free and recovered the fumble. Then there is the to-Ayers-is-human side. UCLA had San Diego State stopped on the seven-yard line when a third-down pass fell incomplete. Except that Ayers grabbed a chunk of jersey on the play, giving the Aztecs a second shot, which produced a touchdown.

Richard Brehaut stood in the Rose Bowl tunnel with the rest of the UCLA team, waiting to take the field against San Diego State two weeks ago. Up to the moment, it had been business as usual. Then it hit him. This was his first college game. "I realized this was all I had worked for," said Brehaut, a freshman, who a year ago was playing for Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos High. "This feeling came over me that I can't even describe. I was proud and anxious and ready to get on with it."

University of Washington compliance officials are investigating whether football Coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt violated NCAA rules by allowing a reporter and a high school junior to attend a recruiting meeting that was detailed in a story by The Times.

USC has not won a national title since 2004, but the Trojans finished No. 1 for the second consecutive year in terms of the NFL draft. With six players selected Sunday, USC upped its total to 11, more than any other program. "It was a great two days for the guys," Coach Pete Carroll said. "It's an awesome representation of how hard they work." In 2008, the Trojans had a national-best 10 players selected, four in the first round.

Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree is determined to put his best foot forward. The problem: He definitely has a best foot. Crabtree, widely projected to be a top-10 selection in this spring's NFL draft, is dealing with a stress fracture in his foot that was just discovered by medical personnel at the NFL scouting combine. The injury, which he said he's had for about a year, will require surgery that will sideline him for as long as 10 weeks.

In an upcoming book, a would-be San Diego sports marketer provides new details regarding allegations that he gave Reggie Bush tens of thousands in cash while Bush was still at USC. "Tarnished Heisman" shifts much of the focus from Bush's parents -- who also allegedly received benefits -- to the star running back. However, while the book hints that USC coaches may have known about some of the arrangements, it does not provide evidence that any school official was aware of alleged improper gifts.

USC offensive lineman Chilo Rachal, a fourth-year junior who has started the last two seasons at right guard, will make himself available for the NFL draft, his father said Thursday night. Charles Rachal said his son called him Thursday from an unspecified location and informed him that he would leave USC. "He said, 'Daddy, I made up my mind. I want to go pro,' " Charles Rachal said. "I told him, 'If that's what you want to do, I'm not going to stand in your way.'

A would-be San Diego sports marketer said Monday he laments dragging USC into alleged business dealings between him and former Trojans tailback Reggie Bush, a failed venture that has prompted a civil lawsuit and an NCAA investigation. In a lengthy telephone interview, Lloyd Lake offered no evidence that USC officials were aware of the cash and gifts he allegedly showered on Bush. But when asked if he believed they knew, Lake replied: "I would have to say yeah."