Transition Is No Easy Trick for Bennett

This didn’t make sense. Drew Bennett, on first down?

Bennett pops into a game every so often on third down, usually armed with some sort of gimmick, then pops back out. The Bruins had gotten their first down, but Bennett stayed in at quarterback, then fumbled the ball away, killing the most promising drive in the first half of Saturday’s 29-10 loss at Oregon.

No, he wasn’t supposed to be in there. So the sequence didn’t go exactly as planned. Neither has Bennett’s UCLA career, not when he started three games at quarterback last season. Now, in his senior season, he’s all over the depth chart--holder, backup receiver, third-down quarterback--but seldom in the game.

“If I didn’t have the chances I had last year, then it wouldn’t be that odd to be in the situation I’m in now,” Bennett said. “The fact I did play last year, started a few games, had my chances at quarterback. . . . This year is definitely a lot less . . . what’s the word I’m looking for?”

Satisfying?

“No, it’s satisfying, because we’re winning, and I’m still getting a few playshere and there. But last year everything revolved around me, when I was the quarterback for a while. This year, I take three snaps a game.

“It’s a whole different world, I guess. It’s not how I pictured ending my career here, but I still enjoy the guys on the team and the whole atmosphere, so I can’t complain.”

Bennett is not frowning. There is no anger in his voice. He worries less about his own spirit and more about the spirits of his teammates.

“He’s always in an upbeat mood,” offensive lineman Brian Polak said. “He’s always got a great story to tell you. If you’re in a down mood, he’ll cheer you up.”

The Bruins were delighted to return the favor Saturday, after Bennett’s fumble. He had entered the game on third-and-three from the Oregon 34, the Bruins’ farthest surge into Oregon territory in the first half. Offensive coordinator Al Borges called for an option pitch to DeShaun Foster, but Bennett simply handed off.

‘I couldn’t hear him [Borges] because it was so loud,” Bennett said.

Foster ran for the first down. Borges wanted Oregon to see the option, so he left Bennett in for another play, and the Ducks recovered the errant pitch.

When Bennett returned, on third-and-two in the third quarter, Borges told him to fake the option. Oregon bit, and Bennett hit Freddie Mitchell with a 54-yard pass for the Bruins’ lone touchdown.

‘I ended up with a turnover and a touchdown,” Bennett said, pausing to chuckle. ‘I pretty much didn’t help, didn’t hurt.”

This borders on the absurd: Bennett, the guy the coaches moved to wide receiver because they thought they had better quarterbacks in Cory Paus and Ryan McCann, threw the longest pass of any Bruin quarterback this season. He has caught as many balls as he has thrown: one. His football identity for now, aside from holding on kicks, is that of the quarterback who runs the trick plays.

“It’s definitely not what I expected,” he said. “I’m glad I’m being worked into a few spots at quarterback, because I wouldn’t be playing otherwise.”

Even that number could be up. On the day before the Oregon game, Bennett ran into Nick Aliotti, the Oregon defensive coordinator and former UCLA defensive coordinator. Aliotti asked how the transition to receiver was going, and Bennett said fine. Then Aliotti asked how the option work was going, and both men burst out laughing.

The Bruins had the last laugh when Aliotti’s defenders bit on the fake option, although Aliotti was more than happy to take the victory. But, by now, opposing defenses expect the unexpected when Bennett checks in at quarterback.

“That’s why you’ve got to do something different,” Borges said. “Maybe sometimes you don’t put Drew in there.”

Borges and Coach Bob Toledo rave about Bennett’s ability to think, run and jump. Both coaches insist Bennett could play in the NFL, where he could spend a season or two developing at one position, maybe at receiver or defensive back, perhaps playing on special teams.

The NFL may not be able to find Bennett, unless it’s NFL Europe calling. Bennett is one class away from completing his political science degree, and he plans to travel, since his football participation prevented him from considering the traditional junior year of study abroad.

His teammates promise to remember him as a quarterback, the position he came to UCLA as a walk-on to play. He still wears No. 11, a quarterback’s number. Whenever Bennett hustles into the huddle to run one of his trick plays, Polak says he delays the explanation of the play for a brief greeting.

“Hey, Drew,” Polak says, ‘it’s great to have you back.”

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