It’s a three-year itch that quarterback Ben Olson is ready
to scratch any week now. He just is not sure when he will get the
chance. “I can’t tell you when it will come,”
Olson said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve
played in an actual game.” Almost too long for the redshirt
freshman. The last time Olson threw a pass in an actual game was in
January 2002, at Thousand Oaks High School for the Lancers. He
could have conceivably seen playing time last Saturday against
Washington if UCLA had jumped out to a big enough lead, but the
Bruins required a last-minute touchdown to defeat the lowly
Huskies, which Olson watched from his thus-far permanent spot on
the sideline. “We want to blow every team out, and it’d
be nice (if I got into a game like that),” Olson said.
“I want to get out there, I want to get experience, and I
want to play. But as long as it means that it’s best for the
team, if that means I don’t get to play all season and we go
undefeated, awesome.” Though prior to this season Olson
““ as well as coach Karl Dorrell ““ certainly thought the
freshman would have played at some point in the team’s first
four games, circumstances so far have kept Olson on the sideline.
The former No. 1 recruit has gone from a possible starter at the
onset of fall camp, to a third-stringer after breaking his hand,
finally arriving at his current position as Drew Olson’s main
backup. “Of course the competitor in me wants to be out
there,” Ben Olson said. “It’s tough just standing
on the sidelines.” As he waits his turn, however, Ben Olson
is sharpening whatever skills he can until his time comes. Since
the 6-foot-5-inch freshman returned to practice nearly three weeks
ago after recovering from a broken hand he suffered on Aug. 24, the
expected velocity and snap on his passes, greatly reduced because
of the injury, have gradually returned to him. “Physically,
he’s back,” offensive coordinator Tom Cable said.
“Mentally, he’s still playing catch-up to some of it.
Unfortunately, he was caught up and moving along with everyone
before the injury, but then he missed two weeks, so he’s two
weeks behind again. But I think he’s pretty close now.”
Yet while Ben Olson has perfected his practice routine, he
acknowledges he doesn’t know what to expect when he actually
sees the field, and is anxious to find out if the timing and the
speed of the game are what he remembers them to be. “There
are certain things that you can’t learn except by doing
it,” Ben Olson said. “You can watch it, but until you
do it on a continual basis, you can’t simulate it. Until you
go out there (in a game) and take the rep, there’s nothing
like it.”
FILLING THE SEATS: Last week, the UCLA athletic department doled
out free tickets to freshmen and first-year transfer students, and
the result was the largest student section of the season. Over
65,00 thousand people packed the Rose Bowl after more than 54,000
attended the UCLA-Oklahoma game. According to UCLA Marketing
representative Cassidy Moore, the student section will be even
larger this week. It is expected that the crowd will be close to
70,000 for this Saturday’s game.
EXTRA POINTS: Redshirt sophomore Derrick Williams suffered a
concussion in practice on Wednesday, and was taken in for
observation. Williams will not play this Saturday and will be
replaced on kick-return duty by freshman Kahlil Bell … Matt
Slater will be the seventh receiver on the traveling squad, taking
Williams’ spot on the roster. This weekend’s game will
be the first time UCLA hosts a team ranked in the top ten, other
than USC, since November of 2002 when Washington State came to the
Rose Bowl. The game is the Bruins’ last of a four game home
stand since opening the season on the road against San Diego State.
They play their four of their next six games on the road, with the
season concluding back in Los Angeles. However, the game is
officially a road game that will be played in the L.A. Coliseum
against USC.