Finally home after a two-year Mormon mission, quarterback Ben
Olson, perhaps the nation’s top recruit, will be in
attendance Saturday for UCLA’s game against Washington State
on an unofficial visit. Olson, no relation to junior quarterback
Drew Olson, is the Bruins’ top recruiting prospect. Coming
out of Thousand Oaks High School, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Olson was
the 2002 top-rated quarterback in the nation, throwing for almost
3,000 yards and over 30 touchdowns his senior year. He originally
signed with Brigham Young, but once there, he decided to leave
during his redshirt year to fulfill his Mormon mission in Canada.
Olson still has four years of eligibility remaining and is looking
to enroll in school in time for spring practices. The Bruins did
not sign a top quarterback last year, but do have an oral
commitment this year from another highly-rated quarterback,
Pomona’s Osaar Rasshan. A commitment from Olson would be a
significant boost to the program.
INJURY REPORT: Junior center Mike McCloskey
will likely not play on Saturday against Washington State,
according to coach Karl Dorrell. The three-year starter has been
suffering headaches all week after taking a knee to the head last
week against Stanford. Doctors believe it may be a mild concussion.
“He still has symptoms of a headache,” Dorrell said.
“I won’t say he’s definitely out, but I’ll
say it’s unlikely right now.” McCloskey was optimistic
all week, but he hasn’t practiced. He was to have a CT scan
on Thursday night and would be reevaluated once more on Friday.
“I’m planning on playing, but I’m trying to get
there,” McCloskey said Wednesday. “We’ll see. I
think it will be a close finish to whether I can play or
not.” As a whole, though, the Bruins enter their ninth game
as healthy as they have been all year. Senior wideout Craig Bragg
is back starting, and junior linebacker Justin London’s ankle
that kept him out of some early games has been getting better every
week. McCloskey would be the only starter unavailable on Saturday.
“We’ve been fortunate,” Dorrell said of his
team’s health. “And it couldn’t happen at a
better time.”
USC GAME TICKETS GONE: The UCLA-USC game on
Dec. 4 at the Rose Bowl is sold out. The rivalry game typically
sells out every season.