It’s been eight long months since Ute fans have had their last U football fix, and many are trembling in anticipation. Soon all of the questions that have been eating at Utah faithful will be addressed when the Utes kick off what hopes to be another winning season Saturday at UCLA.
For instance, is Brett Ratliff the right guy for the job? It’s a question that has been debated since he walked off the field at the Emerald Bowl victorious over Georgia Tech.
The Bruins have their own question mark at quarterback.
Sophomore Ben Olson hasn’t started a game since he was a senior in high school in 2001, but the Cougar-turned-Bruin quarterback-once the prized prospect of the BYU program-will end his five-year drought when he leads UCLA against Utah, coincidentally his former school’s nemesis, at the Rose Bowl.
Olson, who was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country when he graduated from Thousand Oaks High School, initially chose to play for BYU. After redshirting his freshman year, he went on an LDS mission, and in a move that devastated Cougar fans, he decided not to return to BYU. Once again, Olson was a hot recruit and was courted by such programs as South Carolina and California before he chose UCLA.
Olson, who is quick-footed for his 6-foot-5-inch 227-pound build, battled for the starting position last fall but lost out to the more experienced Drew Olson, who started 38 games for the Bruins over four years.
U head coach Kyle Whittingham doesn’t plan to throw anything too zany at the untested quarterback, who has seen action in only two collegiate games and has earned a career total of 11 yards.
“We are who we are defensively. It’s been a successful recipe,” Whittingham said. “We are not going to deviate from what we’ve been dong the last several years.”
So while the end-of-season relief quarterback lines up confidently for the Utes after his two late-season victories, the once-prized BYU recruit will now finally get his licks in as he and the Bruins look to pick up where last season’s high-powered offense left off.
