Morgan Ready to Make Impact

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — Without much fanfare, junior college transfer Kyle Morgan made his UCLA debut in the second quarter of the Bruins’ 31-20 loss to Oklahoma State last weekend.

Morgan, who had arthroscopic knee surgery because of torn cartilage Aug. 16, played at defensive end and failed to make a tackle. He plans to change that today when UCLA plays at Illinois.

“I feel a lot better going into this game,” said Morgan, who signed with the Bruins after two seasons at Pearl River (Miss.) Community College. “I didn’t get a lot of work in before [Oklahoma State].”

After losing four defensive line starters from last season, the Bruins are expecting big things from Morgan, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound junior who originally signed with Miami when he was a senior at San Francisco Galileo Academy.

Morgan said he’s ready for the challenge. “I have two years of junior college ball under my belt and I’m starting to get a better feel at this level,” he said.

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Defensive line coach Don Johnson on senior Eyoseph Efseaff, who is expected to play defense today after being a starter on the offensive line: “I just had to teach him where to line up. ... The first thing we had to do is get him to learn where his alignment is. Then, we started working on him to know what to do when the ball is snapped.”

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Linebacker Spencer Havner, who is on the preseason watch list for the Butkus and Lombardi awards, had a career-high 16 tackles -- 11 solo -- against Oklahoma State. Junior linebacker Justin London, sidelined since Aug. 19 because of an ankle injury, will play today, and so will strong safety Jarrad Page, who suffered a heel injury last week.... A crowd of 50,000 is expected at Memorial Stadium.... UCLA has won three in a row over Illinois. The Bruins lost, 26-7, the last time they played at Illinois, on Oct. 24, 1964.... Illinois quarterback Jon Beutjer ranks second in the nation in passing efficiency with a 213.62 rating after he completed 15 of 18 passes against Florida A&M; last week.