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Olson Likely to Be Ready for Season

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Times Staff Writer

UCLA quarterback Drew Olson had surgery Friday to repair torn ligaments in his left knee and afterward was told he could be ready to practice as early as June and should be available to play in the 2005 season opener.

That’s good news for Olson and the Bruins. The early prognosis was that Olson would be sidelined at least seven months, and that his status for the start of the season was in question.

Olson, who will be a senior next season, was injured Dec. 23 in the second quarter of the Bruins’ 24-21 loss to Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl.

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The surgery was performed in the Bay Area -- Olson is from Piedmont, near Oakland -- by Robert Eppley, who has long ties to the Olson family and is the team doctor for the University of California.

Olson had just returned from the hospital and was reportedly too groggy to comment Friday afternoon, but his father, David, said his son was in good spirits and “happy to have put this [operation] behind him.” Olson is resting at his parents’ house and will return to school next week.

Jim Svoboda, who coaches quarterbacks at UCLA, said Olson may actually benefit from his time on the sidelines during spring camp because “he’ll be with me, looking at things from a coach’s perspective.”

What both of them will be watching closely is the development of star recruit Ben Olson, a former standout at Thousand Oaks High. The unrelated Olsons may end up competing for the starting role.

Svoboda said Ben Olson, who spent two years on a Mormon mission after a redshirt season at Brigham Young, had already begun to “digest” the playbook but added that it would take considerable time on the field before he fully understood the Bruins’ system.

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Running back coach Eric Bieniemy has turned down a job offer for the same position with Texas, citing his fondness for the Bruin team and family considerations. Longhorn Coach Mack Brown had offered Bieniemy a sizable pay increase, which UCLA reportedly matched.

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“The decision was a tough one, but UCLA is where I belong and I am thrilled to be staying,” Bieniemy said in a statement.

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