Harris Has Handle on Problem

Akil Harris understands better than most what he needs to do.

Just hang onto the ball.

He watched DeShaun Foster’s reputation take a hit last season when Foster fumbled four times against Ohio State. And he remembers how Foster’s fumble against Stanford helped the Cardinal on the way to an upset of the Bruins.

“DeShaun had problems putting two hands on the ball on traffic,” Harris said.

“When you fumble, it’s a sudden change. It creates momentum for the defense and can change the whole outcome. You can lose the game.”

Harris, a junior expected to lead the way for UCLA’s committee of tailbacks after finishing last season with a 138-yard performance against Arizona State, fumbled twice in a scrimmage Saturday when the Bruins had seven fumbles.

But he says he understands loud and clear what needs to be done.

“You have to just grip onto the ball and think about ball first,” he said. “The ball is more important than yards, anyway. We’d rather have the ball than the yards.”

He attributed his fumbles Saturday to over-eagerness. “I never looked in the ball on the handoff. I was thinking about a cut or a big play before even getting the ball.”

Kelly Skipper, the Bruins’ offensive coordinator and running back coach, wasn’t overly alarmed.

“The thing about his fumbles was they were on exchanges with the quarterback,” Skipper said. “He made a move, he saw a hole and he made a move before he got the ball. He didn’t cough the ball up. That’s the worst. This is on the exchange. It can be corrected quickly.”

Skipper put the running backs to work Monday morning with an extra-hard session on the gantlet, the anti-fumble drill where a player must hold onto the ball while his arms and legs are battered by the equipment as he runs.

Skipper is confident the Bruins can take care of the problem. (Freshman Tyler Ebell also fumbled twice in the scrimmage, dropping a kickoff and a punt.)

“All of a sudden guys are a little tired,” Skipper said. “Now you’ve got to concentrate more. It’s that point in camp where fatigue is getting the best of us.”

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Patrick Pierre-Louis, a junior transfer from Glendale College who had been battling Spencer Havner at weakside linebacker, will be sidelined four to six weeks with a dislocated shoulder.

This is the Bruins’ first significant injury of the fall and is particularly troublesome because they were already thin at weakside linebacker.

Havner, a redshirt freshman, has been a pleasant surprise--Coach Bob Toledo singled him out after Saturday’s scrimmage--but there is no experience behind him. Wesley Walker, from Bishop Amat High, is the only other scholarship player at the position.

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Defensive lineman C.J. Niusulu must appear in court for a preliminary hearing on a felony battery charge today in his hometown of Barstow and will miss practice.

The charge stems from a July 17 incident at a Barstow drive-in theater. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Niusulu was in a fight and the victim required medical treatment for facial injuries.

Niusulu has been free since his arrest on a $50,000 bond and has participated in fall camp.

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UCLA’s scrimmage Wednesday will be closed to the public.... Fullback Pat Norton, who sprained an ankle in Saturday’s scrimmage, is expected to be back for the first game Sept. 7 against Colorado State.

Times staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this report.