Injured Claridge will miss finale

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004 | 11:15 a.m.

Another day, another key injury for the UNLV football team.

Just one day after head coach John Robinson said that All-American safety Jamaal Brimmer was doubtful for Saturday night's season finale at San Diego State, it was disclosed that linebacker Ryan Claridge also will miss the game.

Claridge, the Mountain West Conference leader in both quarterback sacks (9.0) and tackles for loss (15.0), is scheduled to undergo surgery today for ligament damage in his right shoulder.

"Hopefully, it's something minor," Claridge said. "You can assess something but until you get in there and look at it you don't know what's really wrong. The information given to me is that it's supposed to be minor."

Claridge said he was injured near the end of UNLV's 63-28 loss at fifth-ranked Utah on Oct. 23, a game in which he had three quarterback sacks. But he continued to play in some pain with the injury against both Wyoming and Colorado State.

"It's a weird thing," he said. "Certain motions hurt. It's a little tough to wrap up and tackle, too."

Claridge, who is expected to be ready in time to take part in a postseason all-star game or two, said the toughest part of the surgery was not being able to play in Robinson's last game as a coach.

"I'm having trouble dealing with that," he said. "But the focus should be on UNLV and winning that game, whether I'm out there or not. That's my goal."

Claridge started as a true freshman on UNLV's 2000 Las Vegas Bowl winning team.

"I have no regrets," he said. "I had the best time of my life here."