Despite the fact that quarterback Ben Olson is nearing full
health and might be ready to play this weekend against Arizona
State, coach Karl Dorrell has announced that Pat Cowan will remain
the starter for at least another week. “Pat will start again
this week,” Dorrell said. “(As for) Ben, we’ll
see if he’s ready for any duty. Last week, he was a little
concerned about being (No. 2 on the depth chart). I want to play
him when he’s good and ready to play. I do not want to set
him back.” Cowan notched his first win as a starter on
Saturday in the 25-7 victory over Oregon State. In the game, he
completed two touchdown passes and finished 12 of 23 for 126 yards.
His record as a starter now stands at 1-4. Olson has been out since
the Oct. 7 game against Arizona, when he tore his MCL. He elected
not to have surgery and has rehabilitated to the point where
Dorrell is listing him as having “85 to 90 percent”
mobility in his knee. Still, that is not enough to start him.
“He wants to play,” Dorrell said. “He feels he
just doesn’t quite have the mobility. “(Last week in
practice) he was getting stiff and sore a little bit at times. This
week, we’re hoping he’s in a better range of
motion.” Olson was 4-1 as the starting quarterback; however,
the last win came against Arizona, when Olson went down in the
first quarter.
PENALTIES: The only glaring problem for the
Bruins during Saturday’s game were the penalties. UCLA was
charged with 13 penalties for 155 yards, which they were able to
surmount because Oregon State failed to generate any offense. In
any other game, however, they feel it would have cost them.
“We came away with the win, but when you have the number of
penalties we did, that’s going to come back to hurt
you,” cornerback Trey Brown said. “Sometimes the flags
don’t go your way, but (they’re) called for a
reason.” “It’s on all of us to really stay
focused and not get the yellow hankies out there on the
field,” Brown said. Dorrell said many of the penalties might
have been questionable calls. “After reviewing the tape, it
wasn’t necessarily us,” Dorrell said. “I’m
not going to criticize the officiating; there were some penalties
that were warranted, but there were some that were not. Something I
don’t want this program to be marred with is sloppy play.
We’ve got to coach the fundamentals better.”
OFFENSIVE LINE: The offensive line has
experienced more success of late, allowing fewer sacks in the last
two games and providing better run blocking. Dorrell attributes it
to the benefit of time. “They’re playing with more
confidence, which is good,” Dorrell said. “We’re
healthy. For the first time in my whole career here, we’ve
had five starting offensive linemen for 10 games.”
INJURY REPORT: Linebacker Aaron Whittington,
who suited up for Saturday’s game but did not play, has not
experienced any setbacks with his injured ankle. Dorrell expects
that he will be ready to practice this week. Running back Kahlil
Bell, who also has been nursing an ankle injury, practiced toward
the end of last week, but is still day-to-day while they see how
much he can improve this week. Dorrell listed him at 70
percent.