Farmer Finds Way to Erase the Pain

It was the second-greatest game in UCLA history for a receiver. But Saturday was not one of Danny Farmer’s better days.

He didn’t get much sleep Friday night because he and roommate Brad Melsby kept coughing. Both had colds and sore throats.

Then, just as it appeared he had finally shaken a lingering injury, Farmer aggravated his sprained ankle with about four minutes left in the first half against Oregon.

It made the eventual accomplishments all the more impressive. Farmer caught seven passes, tying his career high, for 196 yards, a number topped in Bruin history only by the 263 of J.J. Stokes in 1992.

“It was a great game, and I think that’s all I was concentrating on,” Farmer said.

That took care of the pain from the ankle and the run-down feeling from the cold. All that remained was to help take care of the Ducks, something Farmer did with a touchdown pass from Cory Paus on a play that covered 65 yards in the third quarter. That turned out to be the clincher.

In all, four of his seven receptions were worth at least 23 yards each, and three accounted for 31 or more. The seven catches also moved him ahead of Sean LaChapelle and into third place on the UCLA career list. Nine more put him in second place.

Farmer has 13 catches, 344 yards (a 26.5 average) and three touchdowns in the last three games after being held back early by the ankle injury, suffered in a preseason scrimmage. Because he missed two games and did not have a reception in another, he hasn’t yet reached the qualifying minimums for NCAA or Pacific 10 statistics.

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Kickoff for the Oct. 23 game at Oregon State has been set for 3:30 p.m. Channel 9 will televise.