It didn’t matter how many anxious coaches were opening up
their first training camp with the team or which players were
showing the rust of an offseason, all eyes and expectations were
fixated on the left arm of Ben Olson On the first day of training
camp for the UCLA football team on Monday afternoon, Olson opened
practice with the expectations of a star quarterback, even if his
coach has yet to name him the starter. UCLA coach Karl Dorrell has
maintained that Olson has not secured the top spot and will evenly
split snaps with redshirt sophomore Pat Cowan until closer to the
season opener against Utah on Sept. 2. Some speculate the move is
merely a coach’s motivating ploy. Olson was the No. 1
quarterback recruit coming out of high school but transferred to
UCLA after redshirting a year at BYU and completing a two-year
mission in Canada. “I have prepared myself to be the starter,
I expect to be the starter, and I view myself as the starter until
told otherwise,” Olson said. Showcasing a build as well as an
outlook that is far more mature than a typical sophomore, Olson
welcomes the competition. Even without the official endorsement, he
has assumed a leadership role on an inexperienced team. “You
always have to compete, no matter what. It brings out the best in
people. If you don’t like to compete you’re in the
wrong sport.” A year ago, Olson nearly won the starting job
against Drew Olson (no relation) before a hand injury at the end of
training camp ended the competition. Drew Olson went on to set the
UCLA single-season touchdown record for passes. If some perceive
the quarterback competition to be nothing more than a farce, Cowan
is not letting that affect his outlook for the year. “The
coaches have told us that we’re both No. 1 and we both want
to play. It’s just going to raise our games.” Does
Cowan come into camp with added motivation, looking to prove that
he has a legitimate shot to be the starter? “I can’t
really look at it that way. I just have to focus on the next
play,” Cowan said. There is no timetable in regard to when a
No. 1 quarterback will be named, Dorrell said. The snaps with the
first team will be divided as such: three for Olson, three for
Cowan and one for Osaar Rasshan, the redshirt freshman who is a
distant third on the depth chart. “We have some pretty
athletic quarterbacks, so we’ll see how things develop from
this point in time,” Dorrell said.
BRUINS RIDING SHOTGUN: Known for bringing the
West Coast offense to the program, Dorrell has not run a play from
the shotgun formation during his three-year tenure. But on Monday,
the Bruins ran several plays with Olson and Cowan taking snaps from
the center. All but two of the offensive plays run in practice were
new ones put in place by Jim Svoboda, the first-year offensive
coordinator promoted from quarterbacks coach when Tom Cable took a
job with the Minnesota Vikings in the offseason. “All the
shotgun we were running today was short routes, so it’s hard
getting the ball and throwing it,” Olson said. “It
takes that extra time to look at the field. … I like shotgun.
“I have told coach (Svoboda) that I like it, we’ll see
what happens.”
BROWN AND TAYLOR: Kevin Brown and Junior Taylor
were counted on to be major contributors to last year’s squad
before suffering season-ending injuries early in the season.
Taylor, a redshirt senior who is competing for the starting split
end job with Marcus Everett, is coming back from a torn ACL in his
left knee. Brown, a redshirt junior at defensive tackle, missed the
entire 2005 season with a broken ankle he suffered at the end of
training camp. Viewed as potential impact players, both practiced
Monday with a clean bill of health. “Once you are back out
there it fills almost new,” Brown said. “Those first
steps back, you’re a little nervous.”
HALE AND WARD: Dorrell said he will make a
decision soon on whether sophomore John Hale and redshirt freshman
Jess Ward will face suspension after pleading no contest to charges
of assault after an altercation on Wards’ parents’
property in Running Springs in March. Hale started 11 of 12 games
at inside linebacker in 2005, and he is penciled in as the strong
side starter.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE: UCLA practices from 3-5 p.m.
on the IM fields every day this week. Friday’s practice is
the first day in full pads. A full team scrimmage is held at Drake
Stadium on Aug. 19. All practices are open to the public.