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UCLA's Starting QB To Miss Two Months - August 11th, 2008

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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Pity new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, as he can’t seem to keep his starting quarterbacks healthy. On one afternoon this spring, both of Neuheisel’s top two QBs went down, with Patrick Cowan lost for the season.

Ben Olson also was hurt that day, breaking his foot, but he had returned and was in line to start the big season opener Sept. 1 against Tennessee.

So much for those plans.

Olson re-broke that foot on Saturday, putting UCLA in full-blown QB crisis mode with that Vols game only three weeks away.

"I knew something was wrong," Olson said of taking a misstep after a handoff in practice. "I was hoping I only tweaked it a little bit."

The surgery will be performed Tuesday, when Olson will have a screw placed in his foot to assist in the healing. Olson's latest injury is one of many that have plagued the signal-caller's UCLA career. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder missed five games last season with a variety of ailments including a knee injury that forced him to miss four weeks. He was severely limited in three other contests as the Bruins finished a disappointing 6-7.

Though Olson, who will miss at least five games, vowed to return, the injury left junior Kevin Craft (a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College) and redshirt freshman Chris Forcier as the Bruins' Plan B. The two shared time with the first team in Sunday's two practices. Craft has at least started in college before, in five games for San Diego State in 2006.

 

"I’m sure he’s got the nod right now," Forcier said of Craft. "He’s been ahead of me the past couple weeks and even in spring ball he was getting more reps, but I’m not trying to think about it."

Neuheisel said the Bruins would need to have a starter in place a week before the Tennessee game, "at the very least." He and offensive coordinator Norm Chow could move closer to a decision after a full scrimmage Saturday.

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