LA Daily News: Bruins return to old ways

PASADENA -- It was hard to tell if it was the boos of the entire crowd or merely the echo of a few boos bouncing off 30,000 empty seats that filled the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. What is clear is that fans aren't yet sold on the Bruins.  While the media spent the past two weeks trumpeting UCLA's victory over Oklahoma, which knocked the Sooners from the top 25, and lauding the Bruins' 3-0 start, fans apparently adopted a wait-and-see approach. After Saturday's lackluster 21-17 victory in front of a sparse Rose Bowl crowd, it appears the fans might be right.

UCLA struggled for three quarters before rallying to defeat a Washington team that, prior to Saturday, looked every bit the part of Pacific-10 Conference cellar dweller. After Sept. 17's step forward, this was every bit a step back. "It is a relief for just a moment because we won the game," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said of the victory, in which the Bruins took their only lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Maurice Drew with 1:08 left. "We have so much work to do and it's disappointing, but I'm more encouraged than I am disappointed." Quarterback Drew Olson, who looked more like the Heisman-winning quarterback of that other L.A.-area school than embattled underachiever during the Bruins' nonconference slate, reverted to his old ways. Olson's only solid drive was the Bruins' final game-winner, when he completed 6 of 7 passes and led UCLA 73 yards.

Olson repeatedly made bad reads, trying to force passes into coverage and overshooting deep receivers. He threw his first two interceptions of the season in the second quarter, both times into heavy coverage. The first ball ricocheted between three Huskies defenders before falling into Josh Okoebor's arms. The second,  thrown into double coverage, was grabbed by linebacker Joe Lobendahn. "They (Washington) outplayed us for three quarters," Olson said. "That's a character builder. This team showed a lot of heart and determination tonight." Character builder, perhaps, but this game was far from the kind that builds conference contenders. Saturday's performance came against a team that came in 1-3, with routs by Cal and Notre Dame among the losses. Washington is in the first year of a rebuilding phase after a gambling scandal three years ago and two seasons when the program was run into the ground. Dorrell is in his third season at UCLA, the year he was expected to turn the program around following two non-winning seasons full of uneven play. And he has maintained this year's team is much improved over last year's 6-6 squad and 2003's 6-7 team. But Saturday calls into question how true this is. Two weeks ago, the symbolism of a victory over Oklahoma overwhelmed the Rose Bowl, and for at least a day had the college football world believing UCLA had turned a corner. The results Saturday indicate that victory was overblown. UCLA's talent did not win that game; Oklahoma's problems lost it. Saturday's message speaks for itself: UCLA football remains a work in progress. Until it's cleaned up, the fans might as well stay home.