Second chance for Olson
Ben Olson in, Patrick Cowan out.
If there is a silver lining for UCLA to its revolving door at quarterback, it is that the injuries have been spaced out.
Cowan, who started Saturday night in place of an injured Olson, will be out at least three weeks after suffering a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Olson, meanwhile, has been pronounced physically fit after experiencing headaches and nausea last week, though the Bruins will have to wait until Saturdayâs game at Oregon State to find out whether his game has mended.
Behind Cowanâs erratic yet at times effective play, the Bruins scratched out a 44-31 victory over Washington on Saturday. Cowanâs creativity pushed the Bruins along on scoring drives until he was injured early in the fourth quarter.
âWe definitely need to see that from Ben, from an improvement standpoint,â Coach Karl Dorrell said. âI know he is disgusted with how he played in the Utah game. I know heâs working hard already, trying to get himself ready to have a great game.â
Olson followed up a tremendous opening game at Stanford with two mediocre performances, one in the 44-6 loss to Utah on Sept. 15. He threw five touchdown passes in the 45-17 victory over Stanford but none in his two games since and ranks 69th nationally in passing efficiency.
âNow is his chance to get back in there and keep leading this group,â Dorrell said. âHe understands to bring up his game a little bit.â
But, Dorrell said, âHeâs not, âOh Iâm worried about it.â Heâs more excited, âHey, this is my chance again. I saw what happened, letâs go get it fixed.â â
As to how Bruins players will react to yet another change at quarterback, running back Kahlil Bell said, âWe got to protect him, we got to believe in him, we got to trust him. You got to know heâs your leader, so whether itâs Ben or Pat, whoever the guy is taking the snaps and breaking the huddle, we need to look at him like this is our guy, this is who weâre going to ride with.â
Olsonâs job could be made easier if the running game is as effective this week as it was against the Huskies. Chris Markey gained 193 yards and Bell had 109 as the Bruins rolled up 333 yards on the ground.
But approximating that level of productivity may prove difficult against Oregon State, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation against the run, giving up only 29.5 yards per game.
âRight now, theyâre playing as good a defense as there is in the conference,â Dorrell said.
The Beavers, though, are not the issue, according to Bell.
âIf we can go out and establish ourselves and be physical from the jump, we can just grind teams,â said Bell, who is third in the Pac-10 in rushing at 110.5 yards per game. âThen we come back and throw the ball, too. Thatâs pretty hard to stop.
âItâs all in the mind-set. Once we get the mind-set that we are the best team in this conference, that we can run the ball, that we can pass the ball, that we can do anything we want to do at will, then weâre going to be a pretty good team.â
This will be the Bruinsâ first game in Corvallis since 2002. Dorrell has not gone there as a UCLA head coach or player.
âThe last time I was there was 1999, when I was the offensive coordinator at Washington,â Dorrell said. âWe won.â
UCLA has lost five of its last seven road games, a disturbing trend that is somewhat understandable to Bell.
âWhen you go into other peopleâs houses, youâre going to get their best shot,â he said. âWhen you go in someone elseâs house, youâre not just going to go eat in their refrigerator and take their TV. Thatâs how those teams feel. Weâre coming to disrespect them in their own house.â
Wide receiver Gavin Ketchum is out this week, though X-rays on his sprained right ankle were negative.
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