COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Shah Will Start in Season Opener

Sharmon Shah will start at tailback for UCLA in its season opener Saturday at the Rose Bowl, “and will go as long as he can,” Bruin Coach Terry Donahue said.

How long is that?

“As long as it takes,” said Shah. “If the running game is going, we usually stick with it.”

That’s how he got 40 carries for 187 yards at Stanford last year before going out for the season because of knee problems that earned him redshirt status.

“I think I have it down now,” he said of a practice regimen that will allow him to play with chronic knee problems.

Whether he can handle the load Saturday is open to question. UCLA will seek to test a new Tennessee defensive line, and Shah and backups Daron Washington and Shaun Williams will be called upon to do the testing, along with fullbacks James Milliner and Greg Ford.

*

Running back Derek Ayers will be tested in a light workout today, but Donahue said that he didn’t expect Ayers back until next week, at the earliest. Ayers strained a knee ligament early in practice and has been sidelined since. . . . Troy Aldrich, who was moved from tight end to fullback in the spring, is out for the season because of a broken vertebra, and Donahue said Aldrich probably was through with football.

Injury report: tight end Jamal Clark probably will not play in Saturday’s game because of knee problems. Linebacker Jeff Ruckman is sidelined because of a back strain.