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No winner from the Olson Bowl?

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By Nestor

From the reports in the LA papers this morning, it looks like no clear winner (according to Dohn et al. from the Daily News) emerged from the Olson Bowl yesterday at Drake.  Although it was Ben (according to the report from fans and Lonnie's, which I am linking below) who had the cruise missiles passes to Marcedes, and nifty scrambles, reminding Bruin fans of yet another left handed red-headed QB who onced ruled Westwood:  Here is Ben launching (Photos courtesy of Gus Ruelas of the LA Daily News):



and here is Ben scrambling/looking:



Cool pics.  You can check out more in a nifty photo gallery slide show of the Bruin practice, by clicking right here.

As mentioned above, Lonnie (hey he actually wrote a real report!) thinks BO had a solid scrimmage:

Redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Olson was a fan favorite at UCLA's scrimmage Saturday and he didn't disappoint with two touchdown passes to tight end Marcedes Lewis at Drake Stadium.

But whether Olson's performance was good enough to take away the starting position from senior Drew Olson, Coach Karl Dorrell wasn't telling after the Bruins' two-hour scrimmage.

"It's as tight as it's ever been," Dorrell said about the battle between the Bruins' unrelated quarterbacks. "They both did some good things ... and had good qualities about their control and command in the huddle. That's what I was paying attention to."

Ben Olson completed eight of 12 passes for 82 yards, including touchdowns of 38 and 15 yards to Lewis. Drew Olson completed eight of 15 for 105 yards, including a 31-yard score to Joe Cowan.
By the way, it took them 11 possessions to actually find Marcedes (despite all the talks of "unleasing" the Benz, and that 31 yard TD to Cowan came from an ugly pass which was tipped (this according to MANTIS9's notes, who was at the scrimmage).

So what did our esteemed coach think of the BO v. DO scimmage?  I will leave it up to you to interpret his English:
In the controlled scrimmage, which included special-teams plays and other isolated situations, Dorrell complimented the mobility of both quarterbacks and said Drew Olson showed that "he's definitely well improved to what he was a year ago" and "Ben is starting to feel comfortable in the offense, and it's starting to show."
Okay then.  Here is more from the coach via the OC Register:
"It's as tight as it's ever been,'' Coach Karl Dorrell said. "You know, I think both of them did some good things and had good qualities about their control and command in the huddle. That's what I was really paying attention to. They seemed to be pretty relaxed and in control.''

Dorrell and the Bruins' offensive coaching staff will watch film of the scrimmage today, and a decision as to who will take the first snaps for UCLA in its Sept.3 opener likely will be made sometime this week. "Before, the San Diego State game, yeah,'' Dorrell joked.
Yes ... deciding on a starting QB for our pre-season opener, coming off an embarrassing loss, a 2-5 record down the stretch, sixth straight loss to our hated rival, is funny stuff, a joke for a 12-13 headcoach.

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