UCLA receiver killed by a car in his hometown

UCLA receiver Nick Pasquale was hit by a car and killed while walking in San Clemente (Orange County) early Sunday morning.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department reports that Pasquale, 20, was struck about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

It wasn’t immediately clear if he was trying to cross a street. Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Strachan says the car’s driver stopped, called authorities and stayed with Pasquale until they arrived.

The accident is under investigation. Strachan says no one was arrested.

Pasquale, a redshirt freshman, walked on at UCLA last fall after playing at San Clemente High School, where he was a three-year starter. The 5-foot-7 receiver earned the nickname “Pacman” while participating on the scout team in practices.

“This is a tragic loss,” UCLA head coach Jim Mora said. “Nick was an outstanding young man who had a positive impact on everyone who knew him. He was a great teammate who was loved and respected by his entire team. Our thoughts are with the Pasquale family.”

UCLA said Pasquale played in its season-opening victory over Nevada on Aug. 31, although his name and No. 36 jersey didn’t appear on the participation report. The No. 16 Bruins were off Saturday. Polls: Stanford stayed at No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the USA Today coaches’ poll after its 34-13 win over San Jose State on Saturday.

USC and Texas fell out of the AP poll after ugly losses, and Miami entered at No. 15 after its victory over Florida, which dropped from No. 9 to No. 20. The Hurricanes are ranked for the first time since November 2010.

Alabama is still No. 1 after an off week, heading into a much-anticipated rematch with No. 6 Texas A&M on Saturday.

Oregon is No. 2. Clemson moved up a spot to No. 3 and Ohio State, which plays at Cal on Saturday, slipped one to No. 4.

UCLA (No. 16) and Washington (No. 19) are the other ranked Pac-12 teams.

The Longhorns came into the weekend ranked 15th, but lost 40-21 at BYU. The Trojans were No. 25 before a 10-7 loss at home to Washington State. Texas fires coordinator: Texas fired defensive coordinator Manny Diaz less than 24 hours after one of the worst defensive performances in the history of the program. BYU ran for 550 yards, the most ever allowed by Texas, in its win over the Longhorns.

“Our performance on defense last night was unacceptable, and we need to change that,” head coach Mack Brown said.

Brown announced that former Texas defensive coordinator and Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson will take the job. QB out: Duke quarterback Anthony Boone is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone sustained in the Blue Devils’ 28-14 win over Memphis. Head coach David Cutcliffe said that Boone does not need surgery.