Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. matchup between the No. 9 Oregon Ducks and the UCLA Bruins may be as much a survival of the fittest as it is a tactical game of X’s and O’s for the two coaches.
If anybody can sympathize with Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who now faces the loss of his team’s starting quarterback and senior leader, it’s UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. For the last two games, Dorrell has turned to third-string quarterback Osaar Rasshan after injuries sent both Ben Olson and Pat Cowan to the sidelines.
“I know how that feels,” Dorrell said in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, “when you lose your top player, particularly on the offensive side.”
And that’s not counting injuries on other fronts for either team, too.
UCLA has been adjusting because of injuries all season. The first two running backs on the Bruins’ depth chart, junior Khalil Bell and senior Chris Markey, both have been on the shelf; Bell played in eight games and sits fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference for rushing yards per-game with 99.4. Markey may return against Oregon, but Bell is done for the season with a torn ACL. UCLA featured its fourth-string running back, sophomore Craig Sheppard, against Arizona State.
Injuries to quarterbacks Cowan and Olson means Rasshan now must start. Unfortunately for the Bruins, he hadn’t seen any playing time at UCLA until being forced into the quarterback job in the Nov. 5 matchup against Arizona, the game in which Cowan suffered a collapsed lung and a concussion. Cowan himself was deputizing for Olson, who suffered a knee injury against Notre Dame in October.
However, the coach was hopeful Olson could make an impact on Saturday.
“He’ll practice more and hopefully we can get him to go through a week of practice and see if we can have him available for the game this Saturday,” Dorrell said.
The Ducks have done well to survive numerous injuries this season – players such as senior wide receivers Brian Paysinger and Cameron Colvin, junior running back Jeremiah Johnson, and junior middle linebacker John Bacon would all start Saturday if they hadn’t sustained season-ending injuries so far this year. Players farther down the depth chart have stepped up, but last Thursday’s loss of Dixon in the desert will force Bellotti and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to completely change the Ducks’ offensive game plan.
Dorrell is still worried about the Ducks’ offense, though, as they haven’t lost every weapon.
“They still have a very good tailback in (Jonathan) Stewart and a great group of receivers and an excellent offensive line, so I still think they’ll do a great job of motivating and moving that football,” Dorrell said.
Dorrell also can’t get too relaxed even though Dixon is now hurt, and expects to see a similarly dangerous offensive attack on Saturday.
“Dixon was a very mobile quarterback and one of their leading rushers along with Stewart, but their offense is pretty explosive,” Dorrell said. “Even though (Dixon’s) a big part of that offense because of his legs, you still have to defend those receivers and that running back. They average almost 300 yards rushing a game.
“Their offense spreads you out and they’re going to attack you on all different edges of it and they’re going to continue to do that.”
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