Penalties Aren’t Haunting Bruins

With nearly 1,000 penalty yards, UCLA ranked among the most penalized teams in the nation last season. After eight games this year, the Bruins lead the Pacific 10 Conference in fewest penalty yards at 43.4 per game.

Coach Karl Dorrell said that after breaking down all 109 penalties committed by UCLA last season, he realized that “they were things that we could control.”

“There were a lot of holding calls a year ago,” Dorrell said. “Those are things we’ve totally just about eliminated from our offense. There also were a lot of pass interference and a lot of jumping offsides. There were a lot of mental things that we could have improved on.

“During the course of the off-season,” added Dorrell, whose team is 5-3, “we put a lot of attention to it and that’s ... why we’re playing so much cleaner this year.”

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It’s not a coincidence that UCLA’s defense has steadily gotten better as junior linebacker Justin London’s ankle injury has improved. After starting the season on the injured list because of a high ankle sprain, London struggled with his mobility in his first games back in the lineup. But in Saturday’s 21-0 win over Stanford, London had more pep, finishing with 10 tackles, including seven solos and one for a loss.

“I don’t want to underestimate his value with the defense,” Dorrell said. “Even though he’s not at full strength, he’s about 85% or 90%, he’s getting over an injury that mentally is not wearing him down so much. He’s playing through the pain, and he’s able to make the plays that you normally see No. 9 make over the course of a football game on Saturday.”

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Former Thousand Oaks High quarterback Ben Olson returned from a two-year Mormon mission in Canada on Monday and figures to become a top recruiting target for UCLA.

Olson, a redshirt at Brigham Young in 2002, intends to reopen the recruiting process and then make a college decision, so he can enroll in time for spring practice and still have four years of eligibility remaining, according to family sources. UCLA is considered high on the list for Olson, who is 6 feet 5, 230 pounds and has a strong arm. The Bruins did not sign a top quarterback in the last two recruiting classes but have a commitment from Osaar Rasshan of Pomona Garey High for next season.