The reports of the demise of the UCLA running game may have been
exaggerated.
With junior running back Maurice Drew’s early entry into
the NFL Draft, it appeared at first glance that there were bleak
times ahead for UCLA football.
Drew, a Heisman candidate at one point during the season, is the
UCLA record holder in all-purpose yardage after only three seasons.
Filling the void left by his departure would be a prospect
difficult for any one man. So how about two?
As Drew’s announcement of his entry into the draft came
after the Sun Bowl, the audition for his vacated job began there.
After Drew went out with an injury in the first half, his backups,
sophomore Chris Markey and freshman Kahlil Bell, combined for 297
yards on 43 carries.
Drew, in limited time, managed just 14 yards on three carries.
As a preview for Bell and Markey, it could not have been much
better, or much timelier.
“They played at a high level during the Sun Bowl,”
said running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
“They did a great job filling in for Maurice and making our
running game successful.”
Markey, who filled in for Drew last year in a late-season game
against Oregon and rushed for 131 yards, is not new to the playing
field.
The same cannot be said for Bell, who as a freshman saw limited
time this year before being thrust into the spotlight against
Northwestern. Bell, in his first sustained action of the season,
performed above and beyond expectations, rushing for 136 yards on
19 carries.
“What kid’s not going to be ready for that kind of
opportunity?” Bell said. “When the coach calls you,
it’s time to go to work and fulfill those dreams. The
importance of the game made it much more special.”
Both Markey and Bell will be looking to sustain that success
next year when the Bruins will be without their starting running
back of the past two seasons. As Bell sees it, what Drew brought to
the table is irreplaceable.
“When you lose a player like that, you’re never
going to get better (the next season),” Bell said. “It
gives you much more motivation to go out there and hopefully
replace some of the things he brought to the team. It’s sad
because Maurice is a great teammate and a great player. We’re
going to have to step up and fill his role.”
The combination of Markey and Bell should provide two different
types of running backs for opponents to contend with. Bell, at 5
feet, 11 inches and 206 pounds, is a power type of running back,
whereas Markey is more of a slashing type.
Sophomore Derrick Williams, who had only five carries this year,
is also expected to compete for more playing time.
“Derrick kind of gets lost in the shuffle,” Bieniemy
said. “He’s kind of a combination of those two. All of
those guys are blessed with their own unique abilities.”
None of them have displayed the explosiveness that set Drew
apart from the crowd, at times from a crowd of tacklers. Without
Drew the Bruins will lose much of their big play-making
ability.
It is the hope, though, that with this combination of backs, the
Bruins will add consistency and durability to their rotation of
backs. Drew suffered injuries throughout his career as a Bruin that
limited his effectiveness late in the season.
“Obviously Maurice is a great player,” Bieniemy
said. “We’re going to miss his explosiveness, but we
have guys who are ready to step up. While I can’t say who
will be the starter out of those three guys next year, I can say
that those three will be the reason we win the Pac-10
Championship.”
For Bell, that kind of pressure is what he thrives on.
“It doesn’t matter what the game is ““ I get
nervous,” he said. “I think it helps. It makes you
concentrate and make sure you’re doing everything right. Even
if it’s a scrimmage and I’m heading out there, I get
nervous.”
For the younger running backs on the team, Drew leaving for the
NFL will provide playing time that would not have been there
otherwise, and with that playing time comes a chance for them to
showcase their skills.
But at the same time, they realize that to equal the qualities
that Drew brought to the team, they will need to work.
“We have the talent to go out there and (fill Drew’s
role), but we have to work at it and show we can do it
consistently,” Bell said.
Having the opportunity to go into spring practice competing for
the starting job for his sophomore year was something Bell did not
expect when he came to UCLA, but that was mostly because he came in
with no expectations.
“I just wanted to come here and evaluate myself against
the other running backs,” he said. “I had no
expectations ““ I just wanted the opportunity to go out there
and play.”
Bell has that opportunity, and perhaps sooner than either he or
the coaching staff thought.