UCLA (4-1) defeated Arizona (2-4) on Saturday night 27-7,and did
so mostly without starting quarterback Ben Olson.
Bruin redshirt sophomore quarterback Olson suffered a sprained
left knee during the first quarter on a passing play, lying on the
ground for several minutes as a deafening silence fell over the
65,644 in attendance at the Rose Bowl. Olson hobbled off the field
with the help of team trainers.
The severity of the injury is unclear, and Olson will likely
have an MRI on Monday.
His counterpart on the Arizona side, sophomore Willie Tuitama,
suffered a similar fate when he took a hit from UCLA defensive end
Bruce Davis. Tuitama left the game with a concussion.
But even without the big southpaw Olson, the Bruins were led by
an admirable performance by redshirt sophomore backup Pat Cowan,
who finished with 201 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. On
the very next drive after Olson’s injury, Cowan marched the
Bruins down the field and into the end zone, going 4-4 through the
air, culminating in a touchdown strike to Marcus Everett to put the
Bruins up 7-0.
Tuitama was knocked out early in the second quarter, and the two
backups would trade blows going into halftime. After
Tuitama’s departure, second string quarterback Adam Austin
hit Mike Thomas in the end zone to even the score at seven, after a
late hit penalty by Kenneth Lombard prolonged the Wildcat drive.
The Bruins answered on the very next drive as Cowan found redshirt
senior Matt Willis, putting UCLA up by seven heading into
halftime.
The Bruins’ defense once again was the key as they held
Arizona to negative 13 yards on the ground, the third-straight game
that the Wildcats have failed to gain positive yards rushing. Even
without Christian Taylor, who was forced to leave the game due to a
sprained left ankle in the second quarter, the defense was
dominant, swarming to the ball on every play while also
accumulating three sacks.
A pair of Justin Medlock field goals in the third quarter put
the Bruins up 20-7 going into the last frame. Although Arizona
would put together a string of lengthy drives, twice getting into
Bruin territory, it would come up short on each possession as the
defense had a pair of strong defensive stands to end the game.
With just under five minutes remaining in the game, Austin drove
his squad deep into Bruin territory and was threatening to score.
But UCLA freshman Alterraun Verner dashed Arizona’s hopes for
a comeback when he jumped in front of an Austin pass, sealing the
game with an 89-yard return for a touchdown.