UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell stands at the podium, stares
ahead at the cameras and says with a smile, “Pressure’s
on me, or what?”
Dorrell’s opening comment at Monday’s press
conference, although in jest, echoes the feeling surrounding the
UCLA football program this week.
With the upcoming rivalry game against No. 2 USC this Saturday,
Dorrell and the Bruins are feeling the pressure of any normal
rivalry week coupled with the special circumstances of the team at
this point in the season.
The Bruins are 6-5. A win assures UCLA will end the season above
.500, an important feat for a team that went four games without a
win at one point in the season.
But perhaps more importantly, the win would give the Bruins
their first win over USC in the last eight years.
The Trojans are riding a seven-game winning streak in the series
and one more win would match the longest winning streak (eight wins
by the Bruins, which came immediately before the Trojans’
current run).
Redshirt senior center Robert Chai, for one, has had enough of
losing. The native of Newport Beach has been hearing it from his
neighbors and friends since he started at UCLA.
“I’ve been taking crap all four years since
I’ve been here (because of the losses),” Chai said.
“‘SC is the biggest game of the year. A lot of people
say, don’t worry about these (early season) games, you just
want to win this game at the end of the year.”
And this may be the opportune time to beat the Trojans. USC is
in what can liberally be described as a rebuilding year ““
losing their starting quarterback, their top two running backs and
their tight end from last year. They lost to unheralded Oregon
State earlier this year.
But they are also probably the second-best team in the nation
and have barely missed a beat after losing in the title game last
year.
All the same, the Trojans’ offense is not as high-powered
as it was last year, with USC averaging 32.3 points per game.
UCLA’s defense, which has limited teams to 18.7 points per
game, should have a slightly easier time limiting the
Trojans’ offense this year than it has in the past.
The trick for the Bruins will be scoring. The offense has had
issues putting forth a consistent effort throughout the year. And
the Trojans have one of the premiere defenses in the country,
allowing just 15.1 points per game.
“Offensively, defensively, special teams,” Dorrell
said. “We can’t give up anything cheap. We need to play
our best game of this season. Our offense is going to have to play
their best game of the season. Our defense is going to have to play
as well as they’ve been playing the last two
weeks.”
OLSON UNKNOWN: Quarterback Ben Olson, who has
been out since the Oct. 7 game against Arizona with a knee injury,
has been listed by Dorrell as “98 percent” physically
ready, but Dorrell has stopped short of naming him the starter.
According to Dorrell, he wants to see how Olson responds
mentally to the preparation for Saturday’s game before naming
either him or his replacement Pat Cowan the starter.
Cowan and Olson have been splitting repetitions thus far in
practice. Dorrell expects to name the starter sometime toward the
middle of the week.
Earlier in the year, Dorrell stipulated that he did not believe
a quarterback should lose his starting spot permanently because of
injury.
CONFERENCE AWARDS: Freshman cornerback
Alterraun Verner tied for Freshman of the Year honors in the Pac-10
on Monday. Verner has had an instant impact this year, returning
two interceptions for touchdowns while recording 44 tackles.
Defensive end Justin Hickman was named to the first-team defense
while his counterpart, Bruce Davis, was named to the second team.
Strong safety Chris Horton was also named to the second team. The
Bruins had no players on either the first or second teams for
offense. Place kicker Justin Medlock earned first-team place kicker
status.
Earning honorable mentions for the Bruins were cornerback Trey
Brown, running back Chris Markey and offensive guard Shannon
Tevaga.