Hit-and-Run Mentality

As one of UCLA’s defensive leaders, senior linebacker Justin London wanted to set the tone for an afternoon training camp practice by making a big hit. His opportunity came on the first snap from scrimmage in a run drill.

But as London stepped up to make a hard tackle, the ballcarrier froze him with a subtle but quick hesitation move. And before London could react, Maurice Drew was gone.

“He’s the most complete back we’ll face this season, period,” London said of Drew, a junior who was a second-team All-Pacific 10 Conference selection in 2004.

Considering that UCLA’s schedule includes matchups against Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson and USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White, that’s a major statement.

“I mean it, playing against him in practice can’t help but get us prepared for the season because he’s that good,” London added. “I remember the first time he did something out here on the practice field. It was like, ‘Wow, this guy is something special,’ and it’s been growing like that ever since.

“He’s a strong, power runner blessed with a bunch of quickness and speed along with outstanding balance. He’s 5 foot 8 and weighs close to 210 pounds with less than 4% body fat, and he runs with attitude. What more can you want?”

Drew’s name does not appear on most lists of college football’s top running backs, but he has an explanation.

“When you get noticed, it’s mainly about wins and not individual stats,” said Drew, who rushed for 1,007 yards and averaged 146 all-purpose yards a game last season.

“If we won more games and no one really knew about me, that would be one thing, but we didn’t. We haven’t won enough for myself or anyone else on our team to say that they’re overlooked.... Our record was 6-6 while the guys across town were 13-0.”

Drew’s best game last season was against Washington when he rushed for 322 yards and five touchdowns in a 37-31 UCLA victory. He scored on runs of 47 and 62 yards in his first two carries and had 235 yards and four touchdowns in 13 carries by halftime.

“He’s the kind of running back every lineman dreams of blocking for,” senior center Mike McCloskey said. “It’s such a pleasure to block for him because it takes so much to bring him down.

“You just know he’s going to find daylight. I do my assignment and he finds his way around. Before I know it, he’s always out in front of me. That’s such a great feeling because once he gets into the open field, he’s out of here.”

Drew arrived at UCLA after a stellar career at Concord De La Salle High, where the team never lost a game in his four years on the varsity. But the Bruins had Tyler Ebell, Manuel White and Akil Harris in front of him on the depth chart when his freshman season began.

Drew served notice on what was to come against No. 1 Oklahoma in front of 83,317 fans in Norman. Although the Bruins were crushed, 59-24, Drew displayed his never-quit style with two second-half touchdowns, one a 91-yard kickoff return.

“It’s early in his career, he’s on one of the biggest stages in college football, and he takes the kickoff all the way and did it like it was no sweat off his back,” running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said. “Usually, when a kid does something good like that, his head swells up. But that’s not Maurice’s personality. He just came ready to play the next week.”

And by the end of the season, Drew led the team with 582 rushing yards.

One of Drew’s greatest strengths is his competitiveness, and his position coach says he thinks he knows the source of it.

“This is not a negative, but Maurice has a Napoleon complex,” said Bieniemy, who himself was a smallish running back who played nine years in the NFL.

“He has that short-man disease. I can relate to it. He feels that he has to always prove that he can be as great as he wants to be.”

Senior safety Jarrad Page, who attended San Leandro High and played against Drew in three consecutive Northern California championship games, said: “I can’t get inside of his head, but the way he plays it’s like he doesn’t believe that he’ll be tackled.... He can deliver a blow on a defender, plus he can put a move on you too. He’s just so hard to get down. He’ll duck under tackles, break through arms and his flexibility also works to his advantage.

“He just doesn’t stop until his knee actually hits the ground. There can be five dudes on him and he keeps running as if he can get away. And sometimes, he does get away.”

Although Drew is strong and can bench press 400 pounds, his body takes a pounding because of his style. That’s why he missed, or barely played in, three games last season because of injuries.

UCLA’s coaches have talked to Drew about running more intelligently. They want him to stay healthy enough to be a featured back for an 11-game season.

He does too. But he can’t help it when a defender delivers a good hit and his linebacker mentality takes over.

“When I was in high school, whenever I was hit hard I always had a chance to play defense and punish somebody,” Drew said. “Here you can’t do that, so I try to punish when I’m running the ball. When I get hit hard, I try to get that person back. You always remember who gets a good hit on you.”

Drew said he’s determined to carry the Bruins back to the top of the Pac-10, one hit at a time.

“I know people are going to be out to stop the run; we kind of figured that out after the Washington game when we started seeing eight men in the box every week,” Drew said of opponents who crowded the line of scrimmage with defenders.

“Teams can watch me all they want, but we have other players who can hurt you.... Keying on me will just help us out even more, giving those guys a chance to do what they do best in the open field.

“I’m fine with that as long as we win.”

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By the numbers

A 2004 breakdown of Maurice Drew’s statistics:

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