Bruins quarterback Olson says this is the biggest game of his career.
By Jim Thomas
There's no doubt the No. 20 UCLA Bruins on Saturday will play their biggest game of the season to that point when they face the No. 10 California Bears at the Rose Bowl. But guess what? It's even more than that to senior quarterback Drew Olson. "It's by far the biggest game of my career,'' Olson said Monday. "We haven't really been in position to play this kind of game the past couple of years. "The big thing is, it's a huge opportunity for us to keep raising the bar for what we want out of this season and where we want this program to go.'' Nationally ranked for the first time since 2001, the Bruins almost took the edge off the Bears game with a sluggish, mistake-prone performance against Washington, which came into the game a three-touchdown underdog. Two fourth-quarter touchdowns gave the Bruins a 21-17 victory that kept them unbeaten on the season and in the Pacific-10 Conference. That was critical for the Bruins, who this year have their sights set on a season-ending game with USC that will be for more than just bragging rights in Los Angeles. "As long as we keep winning, the games are going to keep getting bigger and bigger,'' senior linebacker Spencer Havner said. "The way Cal is playing, that makes this game huge. "We haven't had a game like this at UCLA in a while. But that's in the past. All that matters is this week. Right now.'' Win and the Bruins can write off the Washington game as a post-bye, subpar performance against an underrated Pac-10 rival. Lose, and the Bruins (4-0, 1-0) are instantly in a 1½-game hole behind Pac-10 leaders Cal (5-0, 2-0) and USC (4-0, 2-0).
Five days before their first top-10 challenge of the season, the Bruins were busy putting the Huskies game behind them. The close call was good for them, they all agreed. "It was a huge lesson for us,'' Olson said. "I think someone called it a wake-up call. I'd say that's about right. It was a reality check for us. I think it will help us refocus on Cal the way we did our first three opponents. ... "Nobody said this would be easy. It's a tough road, but we did something against Washington we didn't do last year a couple of times, which was win games when we had the chance in the fourth quarter.'' On Monday, the Bruins were well aware the Bears will be not just their biggest game of the season so far, but their toughest as well.
"They're undefeated, their defense flies around to the ball and they're moving the ball with the run and pass on offense,'' Olson said. "This is the best team we've played, by far.'' In his fourth season at Cal, Coach Jeff Tedford appears to have recruited as well as he taught the previous three seasons. Despite losing quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back J.J. Arrington and eight defensive starters, the Bears appear to be at least as good as the team that went 10-2 in 2004 and almost upset national champion USC. The Bears' top two running backs, Justin Forsett (75 carries, 585 yards) and Marshawn Lynch (49-300) have combined for 885 rushing yards and six touchdowns, plus an eye-opening 7.1-yard average per rush. Junior quarterback Joe Ayoob, a transfer from San Francisco City College, has been solid in five games, completing 56 percent of his passes for 813 yards and eight touchdowns, with two interceptions. On defense, the Bears look stronger than a year ago. They've recorded 11 sacks and 32 tackles for losses, while coming up with six interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Cornerback Daymeion Hughes has four interceptions. Overall, the Bears rank first in the Pac-10 in total defense and second in both run offense and run defense, a sign things may come tough for the Bruins. The Bruins struggled to run the ball the past two games and they couldn't always contain Washington's running game Saturday. "Cal represents a tremendous challenge for us,'' Coach Karl Dorrell said. "They're sound in all three phases of the game. Their quarterback is playing well, they've got an experienced offensive line and they're running it very well, they're capable of pressuring the quarterback and they're difficult to run on. "They're playing like a top-10 team, which they are.'' Despite their unimpressive victory over the Huskies, the Bruins don't project an underdog image. They're confident and eager to prove the Huskies game was actually a positive step. "A large part of our problem over the weekend was that we killed ourselves in the first half (trailing 10-0),'' Olson said. "We've got to get our running game this week to move the ball on Cal, but it's just a bunch of little things. "I'm confident we can do it.''
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