In a terse statement, running back Maurice Drew summed up the
way he’s performed over the past two games.
“I just haven’t been doing my job,” the junior
from Concord said. “I take full responsibility for our
team’s struggles.”
Though the No. 20 Bruins (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10) have jumped off to
their best start since 2001, Drew has seen his numbers tail off
since UCLA’s second win over Rice one month ago.
Drew, who is averaging 77.8 rushing yards a game, ran for a
combined 209 yards and three touchdowns on over nine yards a carry
in the opening two contests. In the past two games against Oklahoma
and Washington, though, Drew’s output on the ground has
decreased each game, rushing for 83 and 33 yards, respectively.
“I haven’t been getting to my landmark and making my
cuts at the right time,” said Drew, who ran for 1,007 yards
last season and averaged over 91 yards a game. “There are
holes out there, and (running back) Chris Markey is finding them.
I’m not.”
Both the backs and offensive line have taken their share of
responsibilities for a sputtering run offense that was ranked 27th
last season in rushing yards per game at just over 184 yards, but
this year, UCLA is 58th in the nation at 148 yards on the
ground.
“We’re just not playing as hard as we have been
before,” senior offensive tackle Ed Blanton said. “We
need to get our tempo the way it was before. I don’t think
we’re as intense and set on running the ball.
“We’re getting sloppy, and we’re all pretty
pissed about it.”
Senior quarterback Drew Olson sees the sputtering run game as
just missing blocks here and there.
“I wouldn’t say (the run game) is in trouble.
It’s not successful,” Olson said. “I’m not
too worried about it. The execution is just not there right
now.”
To rebuild the running game, offensive coordinator Tom Cable has
harped on four things for his backs during practice this week:
efficiency, avoiding mental errors, hitting landmarks and making
reads.
Cable also has attributed the decrease in carries and yardage in
the past two games to the scenarios that UCLA has been in.
“We’ve seen success throwing the ball. We
didn’t need to run it,” Cable said. “And (last
game at Washington) we were behind and we were more apt to throwing
the ball.”
Against Cal, UCLA has a huge task in front of it. The Bears are
ranked 21st in the nation in run defense, giving up 92 yards per
game. Cal also tends to put eight men in the box, trying to slow
down both Drew and Markey.
Markey’s production will be especially key, as the No. 2
running back has averaged 4.4 yards per carry, 37 yards per game,
and has tallied three rushing touchdowns.
In Markey’s mind, going up against Cal will be a
challenge, but he expects the run game to be back in shape.
“The last two games have been ridiculous,” the
sophomore said. “When defenses put eight in the box,
that’s going to affect us, but we should be doing better than
we are. We’re going to run no matter what, we pride ourselves
on that as a backfield.”