The decision had been expected for weeks, and on Monday
afternoon, it was finally confirmed. Coach Karl Dorrell named
redshirt sophomore Ben Olson the starting quarterback for
UCLA’s season opener against Utah. The decision was made
after Olson’s superior performance in Saturday’s fall
scrimmage, in which Olson completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards
with two touchdowns and one interception. “It was a good
competition between both guys,” Dorrell said. “It
really came down to Olson having the advantage with his experience,
and (backup quarterback) Pat (Cowan) not being able to overcome
that.” The first two weeks of camp, Cowan and Olson split the
snaps with the first squad. With Olson now getting the starting
nod, he will get the majority of the snaps and start developing a
rhythm with the first team. “I really wanted to get this out
of the way so we could start preparing our offense,” Dorrell
said. “The more reps Ben gets, the better we figure he can
get.” “In the end, we have to tailor our offense around
our quarterback, and Ben was our guy.” Dorrell notified both
quarterbacks of the decision on Sunday night. Cowan was
disappointed with the result, but Dorrell is confident that Cowan,
who completed 10 of 25 passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns in
the scrimmage, can step in if ever needed. “He is definitely
a great asset for our team,” Dorrell said. “He could
play at a variety of Division I schools, and he will keeping
pushing Ben at the quarterback position.” Olson, meanwhile,
was not surprised by the decision, although he not taken a
meaningful snap in nearly five years. “I have been the
approaching fall camp the same way all along,” Olson said.
“I expected to be the starter, and now it’s official. I
just have to spend the rest of camp preparing for our season
opener.”
RAMIREZ, MCGEE SWITCH: Freshmen Christian Ramirez and Jeremy
McGee, both of whom were practicing at running back, were moved to
the defensive secondary on Monday. Ramirez, who was recruited as a
safety and running back, will move to safety to help out with the
lack of depth at the position. McGee, meanwhile, played both
running back and cornerback in high school, and will move to
cornerback to help with depth after injuries to veteran cornerbacks
Michael Norris and Rodney Van. “It was not something we
wanted to do,” Dorrell said. “But with our injuries and
our lack of depth, it gives both players a better chance to
contribute right away.” “Luckily,” he said,
“it was an easy transition for both players to
make.”
EXTRA POINTS: Junior wide receiver Marcus Everett was pulled out
of Monday’s morning practice with a slight hamstring pull.
Redshirt junior running back Derrick Williams sat out the evening
practice with a tweaked hamstring. There is yet no word on the
condition of senior receiver Joe Cowan, who has been walking around
practice with a boot on his right foot.