Tevaga to miss trip, needs 'to do some soul-searching'

UCLA football right guard Sonny Tevaga was held out of practice Thursday and won’t be making the trip to Washington for Saturday night’s game. Coach Rick Neuheisel said the sophomore from Compton Dominguez High needs "to reevaluate how important football is in his life."

The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Tevaga started the first two games of the season for the Bruins, and filled in during Saturday’s loss to Oregon State when starting guard Nick Ekbatani was fallen by injury. Tevaga was listed at No. 2 on the depth chart before Neuheisel’s move.

The coach said his handling of Tevaga was "not discipline" but a response to something in Tevaga’s "personal area" that requires the player "to do some soul-searching."

Neuheisel declined to identify any incident in which Tevaga, 20, slipped. The player’s older brother, Shannon, was a Bruin from 2004-07.

"It’s a combination of things," Neuheisel said.

—Lance Pugmire

Photo: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times