Keep it up, Karl. No, really, keep it up. Never mind that UCLA
barely beat bottom-dwelling Arizona 24-21. The bottom line is, the
Bruins won, and a win is a win is a win is a win.
The more important achievement that came out of this game was
that UCLA coach Karl Dorrell was able to take a step, albeit a baby
one, toward resolving the Bruins’ quarterback controversy,
err, situation.
It was gutsy on Dorrell’s part to stick with the script
and let gimpy quarterback Matt Moore enter Saturday’s game in
the second quarter, in the midst of a catfight.
No, not the one involving Moore, temporary starter Drew Olson,
Miller Lite and a mud bath.
The outcome of the contest, to everyone’s surprise, was
actually undecided at the point when Moore checked into the game.
Moore got in for two series, fumbling the ball away on one because
a blitzer came unblocked, and overshooting his man for an
interception on the other.
It’s OK, people. Nothing to see here. Olson thinks so
too.
“This team has two good quarterbacks,” Olson said.
“Both need to get some experience in and to be ready to go. I
don’t disagree with what the coaches are doing.”
Dorrell showed indecisiveness during last Monday’s press
conference about the quarterbacks, and it was understandable. On
one hand, he couldn’t afford to lose the Arizona game with
Moore at starter and face second-guessing. Then again, he must know
that he can’t continue to start Olson if he eventually wants
to open up the offense.
Moore, who has missed four games since severely bruising his
left knee during the season-opener against Colorado, needs all the
playing time he can get. The sophomore has only played one complete
game in his career ““ a home win over Stanford last season
““ and only one full season in high school.
Dorrell named Moore the starter right before the season for many
reasons ““ his strong arm, his leadership and, most
importantly, his knowledge of the complicated West Coast offense
playbook.
Olson, also a sophomore, has played competently in Moore’s
absence, leading the Bruins to three straight wins and going
13-of-20 for 182 yards and an interception. But he also has
admitted to slacking off on learning the playbook in the
off-season, and he doesn’t have Moore’s fiery nature in
him.
“I felt we moved the ball great in the first half,”
Olson said after Saturday’s game. “There weren’t
many times where we went three-and-out.”
While this Prussian-Conservative philosophy might be stable in
Dorrell’s current offense, it will ultimately have to go.
As the Arizona game showed, all the cakes of makeup on this ugly
pigskin offense ““ the defense, the running game and Craig
Bragg ““ can’t hide the fact that the Bruins need a
dynamic quarterback under center to beat Arizona State, Washington
State, Oregon and USC.
So get on with it already. Play Moore more. Put a couple steaks
into his Kate Moss-like body, and he’ll be fine.
This Saturday’s game against Cal offers a chance to go up
against a team that had a similar problem and overcame it due in
large to quarterback guru and coach Jeff Tedford.
Junior college transfer Aaron Rodgers came into the program as
the bigger talent, while Reggie Robertson had experience on his
side. Robertson started at first, but Rodgers was given all the
playing time he could get, and is now entrenched as the Golden Bear
starter.
Dorrell must do the same, and it’s tricky. He has to find
a way to get Moore into the game, without throwing him into the
fire, at any cost (except losing).
The Arizona game was a good start. The outcome wasn’t
exactly Dorrellian, but then again, maybe it was.
Leung was a football writer in 2002. He can be reached at
dleung@media.ucla.edu.