FULLERTON “”mdash; With less than two weeks to go before the
season opener, the most important question surrounding the UCLA
football team remains unanswered.
Who will take the job of starting quarterback?
In a battle that began last spring, sophomores Drew Olson and
Matt Moore have remained closely tied with neither taking a
commanding lead. But while first-year coach Karl Dorrell continues
to leave the question unanswered until later this week, the hopes
of the starting quarterback position appear to be quickly fading
away from Olson after Saturday’s scrimmage at Fullerton.
“Obviously Matt’s the one in the driver’s
seat,” Dorrell said of Moore, who earned the start after
a week’s worth of better performances, “We’ll see
what happens the rest of the time in camp.”
But Olson hasn’t really done anything wrong. He started in
five games last season, was the quickest of the quarterbacks to
adapt to the new offense in spring, and in Saturday’s
scrimmage was six of nine for 144 yards, directing two field goal
drives. It wasn’t even him who threw the only interception of
the game.
Unfortunately for Olson, his competition looked better. With a
commanding presence, Moore was eight of 11 for 118 yards, directing
a touchdown play on his first possession and following with a field
goal drive on his second.
“There was no pressure out there today,” Moore said.
“I came to school to play football, and that’s what
I’m doing. But I don’t think I did anything to shoot
myself in the foot.”
The coaching staff insists they aren’t ready to make a
decision and that one will not come until later this week.
“I see two guys that are battling pretty good, and I
don’t see any huge discrepancies between them,” Dorrell
said. “Their numbers are pretty close.
“But I don’t like to go by stats but rather by
mannerisms.”
While the team has unilaterally said it doesn’t have a
preference and have left the decision to the coach’s
discretion, Saturday’s audience saw an undeniable connection
between Moore and tight-end Marcedes Lewis, who caught three passes
for 71 yards.
“I can’t really call it; when I get the ball, Matt
just happens to be there under it more,” Lewis
said. “But I wouldn’t say there’s any less
of a connection between me and Drew; it just happens that I catch
the ball a little more with Matt.”