COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT / UCLA : Mitchell Is Ready and Raring to Go

“I’m at 125.3%,” Freddie Mitchell said of the strength of his right leg, proving that his level of confidence likewise remains above capacity, if not beyond calculation.

He’s not alone in his medical assessment, though. Coach Bob Toledo has noted that “he’s as healthy as I’ve ever seen him,” which means that Mitchell, the game-breaking receiver/return man/option passer, is a major factor again as his sophomore campaign approaches.

Mitchell broke his leg Sept. 19 at Houston, in the second game of the season, and underwent surgery later that night to have pins and a plate inserted.

He made it back for the Rose Bowl, a surprising recovery that even optimistic team doctors did not expect, then played 11 downs and threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Durell Price on a fake reverse.

That was at about 85-90%. Now, Mitchell is either at full strength or better than that, depending on whom you ask, and erasing any concerns about his speed and cutting abilities.

“I don’t think people are worried about that,” Mitchell said. “People just want to know, ‘What’s he going to do next?’ They know I already came in and in my first game in college was named Pac-10 player of the week [after the opener against Texas].

“I just want a lot of eyes on me again. I want to have people wondering, ‘What’s Freddie going to do next?’ ”

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The Bruins, after two weeks of practice, got Saturday and Sunday off and now begin the game-week routine. In this case, that means a rare night workout Wednesday because the opener against Boise State is under the lights, and it may not be the last such session since the two contests that follow are also at night.

Most UCLA practices end between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., but Wednesday is set for 7-9 p.m. It was originally scheduled to start at 6, but even that was pushed back to ensure complete darkness for the entire session.

“That’s just mainly to get us used to playing under the lights,” Toledo said. “We haven’t done much of that.”

They will now. Kickoff is 6 p.m. against Boise State, 8 p.m. the next week at Ohio State, and then 7 p.m. back at the Rose Bowl versus Fresno State on Sept. 18.

Other night games could follow later in the season, depending on decisions by television outlets.

The 8 p.m. start in Columbus won’t seem as unusual to the Bruins as the Buckeyes. It will be 5 p.m. on the body clocks for UCLA personnel, who won’t leave for Ohio until the day before the game, opting against going in Thursday because the late start means players will be able to sleep in on that Saturday.