Nece Feeling Good About Switch

It was first and 10 for Washington State at its 20 yard line, about midway through the opening quarter Saturday at the Rose Bowl. UCLA’s Ryan Nece blew in from the left side and leveled Cougar quarterback Steve Birnbaum, temporarily sidelining Birnbaum with a hyperextended knee.

“You don’t want to hurt the quarterback,� Nece said later, “but you do.�

Yep. He’s a linebacker now.

Having already earned the praise of coaches for his work in practice and previous games, the transition from safety to inside linebacker made its most obvious strides yet during Game 3 in the Bruin career of the redshirt freshman. Scheduled to again be a backup, Nece instead got first-string responsibilities when Ramogi Huma was forced out in the second defensive series because of a sprained hip, then responded with a major contribution to the 49-17 victory.

Nece had eight tackles--four solo and four assisted--second only to Larry Atkins among the Bruins. He also had the near sack, delivered just after Birnbaum had gotten rid of the ball, forced a fumble on the next Washington State possession and broke up a pass.

“I’m feeling more instinctive,� he said of the new position. “I’m reading things a lot faster.�

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The impressive victory caught the eye of voters. The Bruins went from No. 4 to No. 3 in both polls, even though no team ahead of them lost, a move that comes a week after they dropped from third in the Associated Press rankings after the cancellation of the Miami game.

Arizona, this week’s opponent, climbed from No. 14 to No. 10 in the AP balloting after beating Washington on the road.