Once-potent rushing game has met with trouble in the last two games. Drew takes the responsibility.
By Jim Thomas
Daily Breeze
Three weeks ago, no one worried much when Maurice Drew gained only 69 yards on 15 carries and UCLA gained only 83 yards on 30 carries in a 41-24 victory over Oklahoma. After all, that was Oklahoma. And no one doubted the quality of the Sooners' defense, especially their front seven. A week ago, however, eyebrows were raised and alarms went off when UCLA's star tailback gained 33 yards on 14 carries and the Bruins stumbled to 65 rushing yards in a come-from-behind 21-17 win over rebuilding Washington. Oklahoma was one thing. But Washington, a team ranked last against the run in the Pacific-10 Conference, shutting down Drew? What's happened to the UCLA running game that was a team strength through two games and features one of the nation's better one-two punches in Drew and Chris Markey? There are a number of plausible explanations. Teams are bringing eight men into the box to stop the run and daring Drew Olson to beat them, which he's basically done. Drew is trying too hard to break big runs and missing his reads. The Bruins' offensive line includes three true sophomores who aren't quite mature enough to get the job done on a consistent basis. Or perhaps after the bye week, the Bruins just lost their edge against Washington and played a mistake-riddled game. Offensive coordinator Tom Cable, who doubles as the Bruins' line coach, thinks there's plenty of blame to go around. "The big issue is just consistency," Cable said. "And I mean everywhere. One or two mistakes here and there, whether it's a missed block or Maurice not hitting the hole, or whatever. "We're pretty good. We shouldn't lose sight of that. We all need to pay attention to our jobs and get back to what we are." What the Bruins are, Cable believes, is a balanced offense. Drew and Markey need to be a constant threat for the Bruins to contend in the Pacific-10 Conference. "In this league you need to have some semblance of balance,'' Cable said. "And that's what we need to be at our best anyway. We have to take what the defense gives." The alarming thing for the Bruins is that the Huskies didn't scheme to take away the run. They didn't resort to an eight-man front to stop the run, but the Bruins still couldn't open any holes for Drew and Co. "They usually had only seven in the box," Olson said, when asked how much he changed the play at the line of scrimmage. "There was no need to check out of the play."
Whatever the problem, the No. 20 Bruins need to find solutions in a hurry if they want to defeat the No. 10 California Bears Saturday in the Rose Bowl. The Bears rank first in total defense in the Pac-10 and second against the run. "This is definitely a major challenge for us,'' senior center Mike McCloskey said. "They played really good defense." Nevertheless, McCloskey is confident the Bruins will turn things around this week. "It's definitely a unit thing,'' he said. "It's not any one guy. We've all been guilty of mistakes. But I think we've had a great week of practice and we're headed back in the right direction." Tackle Brian Abraham, one of the three sophomores the Bruins start, thinks a little more intensity will do the trick. "I just think we came out real flat against Washington,'' he said. "I'm not sure why. But as long as we're intense we can block anybody. There's no limitation. "We have good strength up and down the line. I don't think that's an issue. It's a matter of being intense enough to make the blocks." Senior tackle Ed Blanton agrees with his teammate. "We're just not playing as hard as we (were) before," he told the Daily Bruin earlier in the week. "I don't think we're as intense and set on running the ball. We're getting sloppy and we're pretty (upset) about it." Drew said he's going back to the basics this week in an effort to rebuild the consistency the running game lost. "It's all on me," he said. "I'm not hitting the hole, but Chris Markey is breaking free, so it's something I'm doing. "I'm going to be looking to make four yards every carry. That's it. Find the hole and go from there." Too bad it's not that simple, Cable said with a smile. "Maurice is such a great guy he's always going to put things on his shoulders," Cable said. "He's a great back and he'll get his yards when we execute the running game the way it needs to be. "He can do some things better, but it's about everyone." Olson summed up the Bruins' attitude going into the Cal showdown. "The running game is going to be huge," he said. "It's definitely something we need to have working for us to beat Cal. That's a really good football team. "But I wouldn't say the run game is in trouble. It's just not successful right now. The execution hasn't been there, but that doesn't mean it can't be again."
No comments:
Post a Comment