Spring 2005
Dynamic Duo
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Leading the defensive charge in 2005-'06 will be senior linebackers Spencer Havner (left) and Justin London.

Spencer Havner and Justin London are teaming up to lead the Bruin defense into what football Coach Karl Dorrell asserts will be a season of renewal

by Wendy Soderburg '82
Photography by Scott Quintard, UCLA Photo

The Bruin football team is kicking up mud during practice on a soggy February afternoon. Head Coach Karl Dorrell ’87 is taking notes from the sidelines of Spaulding Field, watching as his players run through their drills. Despite the chill, there’s optimism in the air.

“Our program has all the pieces and everything’s in place,” he says. “We’re going to bounce back.”

Also watching from the sidelines are two of the most important pieces in Dorrell’s game plan for a UCLA comeback season, linebackers Spencer Havner and Justin London. And like the rest of the squad they, too, are looking to bounce back. However, these young men still have a ways to go before they put on their pads and hit the gridiron; Havner is in a sling and London’s on crutches, both recovering from surgery earlier in the month.

Still, they are expected to be back at full strength when fall practice starts, and that prospect has some college-football pundits envisioning a big season for the Bruins in 2005. Internet sports guru Pete Fiutak, of collegefootballnews.com and foxsports.com, has written in his column, “Conference Call,” that he expects the Bruins to come back strong in the Pac-10 this season, and Havner and London will be a big part of that success.

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