Quarterbacks Get a Chance

If UCLA is going to avoid going into the season with a two-quarterback system, today would be a good day for Matt Moore or Drew Olson -- that’s in alphabetical order, by the way -- to claim the job.

The Bruins’ 11 a.m. scrimmage at Cal State Fullerton is an opportunity for one of the sophomores to separate himself in a race that has been too close to call.

“The best option is one. We want one,” Coach Karl Dorrell said. “It might end up being two. Again, what I think is best for our football team is to know that they have one quarterback.”

Offensive coordinator Steve Axman doesn’t think the decision that awaits is monumental -- or irreversible.

“It only decides who gets the first chance,” he said.

Whoever starts the Colorado game Sept. 6 will have to take the job and run with it or wait and see what the other guy does when he gets his turn.

Today’s competition is about more than simply who completes the most passes.

“The bottom line is which quarterback has the ability to move the team into the end zone and score,” said Axman, whose previous stint at UCLA was during the Troy Aikman era.

“As great an athlete as Troy Aikman was, when I was here it was that ability he had as a spark plug, that ability to will the offense into the end zone.”

Olson, who started the final five games last season, had a slight edge after spring practice but the stronger-armed Moore has caught up.

It’s close enough now that UCLA will flip a coin to determine which quarterback starts out with the first team today, though both will get their chance with the starters.

“Bottom line, we’ve got to make sure they get good looks. We can’t have one with the second team, one with the first,” Dorrell said. “We’re going to balance that out.”

What seems like a difficult decision isn’t an agonizing one, Dorrell said.

“I don’t think there’s really a risk. I look at it this way, if you pick a guy and he doesn’t play well, we’ve got another guy we think plays just as well as the one that was the starter.

“It puts more pressure on the starter. If he’s not playing well, the other guy’s going to definitely get a chance to see what he can do.”

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Starting tailback Tyler Ebell dressed for practice but didn’t participate a day after undergoing tests because of concern about fatigue.

“I took some tests, I’m feeling healthy, my results were good,” Ebell said. “They just want to rest me.”

After undergoing a urine test, Ebell underwent follow-up tests Friday, but Dorrell called them precautionary.

“I’m perfectly healthy,” said Ebell, who isn’t expected to participate in today’s scrimmage (admission $5).

“We didn’t think it was anything, but you have to be sure,” Dorrell said. “When he gets clearance from the doctor, we’ll get him back on the field.”

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Redshirt freshman Justin Medlock has never tried a field goal in a college game, so the Bruins are trying to put him in pressure situations, screaming when he lines up for kicks in the two-minute drill.

“I’m playing mind games with him, trying to get him ready for 80,000 people,” Dorrell said. “He’s doing OK. He’ll get better the more reps he gets in a team setting. Is he ready to go as of today? No, I think he needs some more work. He’ll be there.”