Game of their lives - that is what Olson and Havner are saying. They are saying Saturday's game is going to be the biggest game of their lives and they are working on getting their team-mates focused:
"It's by far, (the) biggest game of my career," Olson said. "I think everyone is re-focused again, back to that mentality we had the first three games. It's a reality check, a little bit."
Olson said UCLA's offense had "by far our worst week of practice" leading up to the 21-17 win over Washington, and that led to the awful on-field performance.
"What we talked about at most of our meetings was getting back that focus that we had before," Olson said. "I think guys will take it as a wake-up call, get back to the way it was. Really, it was our preparation and our practice. That's everything. That's the idea this week, to have a great week of practice. I think we'll see a lot of energy out there."
Havner, who redshirted when UCLA won its last game against a top-10 opponent - the seventh-ranked Bruins beat No. 10 Washington 35-13 in 2001 - said the Bruins' focus must be present before preparations begin this afternoon.
"This feels awesome," Havner said. "I want to make sure everyone has the right mind-set (today), when they're driving their car here (today). I try to talk to a guy here, talk to a guy there."
It's interesting that Drew Olson is now saying they had an awful week of practice going into the Washington game, considering all last week we heard from he and his team-mates that they were taking one game at a time:
Olson said UCLA's offense had "by far our worst week of practice" leading up to the 21-17 win over Washington, and that led to the awful on-field performance.
"What we talked about at most of our meetings was getting back that focus that we had before," Olson said. "I think guys will take it as a wake-up call, get back to the way it was. Really, it was our preparation and our practice. That's everything. That's the idea this week, to have a great week of practice. I think we'll see a lot of energy out there."
Havner, who redshirted when UCLA won its last game against a top-10 opponent - the seventh-ranked Bruins beat No. 10 Washington 35-13 in 2001 - said the Bruins' focus must be present before preparations begin this afternoon.
"This feels awesome," Havner said. "I want to make sure everyone has the right mind-set (today), when they're driving their car here (today). I try to talk to a guy here, talk to a guy there."
"It makes us focus on the task at hand," Bruins quarterback Drew Olson said. "I'm telling you, Cal-Berkeley feels three weeks away. Guys are talking about 1-0. It's a simple little phrase, but it's got into our heads."
[...]
"Last year, we had a problem with overlooking teams, and that's why we slipped up. Washington State, Wyoming, teams like that," UCLA receiver Marcus Everett said. "This week, we have a different mind-set. We're taking every week, week-by-week, and game-by-game, and we're trying to get 1-0."
Anyways, they are kids - and we will cut them some slack. But Olson and Havner are right ... this is a huge game, and one which is going to be one of the crucial barometers in Karl Dorrell's validation process as the head coach of UCLA football program. Let's hope their coaches do their job and get them ready and "focused".[...]
"Last year, we had a problem with overlooking teams, and that's why we slipped up. Washington State, Wyoming, teams like that," UCLA receiver Marcus Everett said. "This week, we have a different mind-set. We're taking every week, week-by-week, and game-by-game, and we're trying to get 1-0."
Elsewhere, Lonnie White writes a report on something we have been talking about for last 48 hours so - the halting of our running attack.
Lastly, re. our online poll on the right hand column, put up a poll on Dorrell's approval rating after the Washington game, because thought it would be interesting to have that up, after our 4th game, which is the 1/3 mark of this 2005 season. KD is up 54 to 45, not bad, better than our Commander in Chief. lol But we will put that poll up again after the 8th game, and then at the end of our regular season, and see how the BruinsNation is reacting to the validation process of a sub .500 head coach.