Finally, Olson Can Soak It All In

Drew Olson deserved more than just a football for this, at the culmination of one of the most remarkable turnarounds we’ve seen in these parts, on a day that had UCLA statisticians flipping through the record books and a season that should have Heisman Trophy voters figuring out a way to squeeze him onto their ballots.

If only it were possible to fold up the Rose Bowl and its field, the marching band and the fans, and give them to him. He was that worthy.

The senior quarterback had to settle for a football handed to him by Bob Lopez, UCLA’s director of football operations. And the memories. You could see the hard drive in his head recording the images of his triumphant final game at the Rose Bowl, a 45-35 victory over Arizona State in which Olson passed for 510 yards and five touchdowns.

“I’m glad I left it like it should be: 85,000 [fans], a great victory,” Olson said. “This is the way that we want it.”

He hopped on the Bruin bench and stared at the crowd, his hands held high, the football in the left and his helmet in the right, and it was impossible not to be happy for him.

As a sophomore he couldn’t win the starting job in fall camp, then couldn’t hold on to his chance after Matt Moore was injured. As a junior he was a middle-of-the-Pac-10 performer whose season ended after a knee injury in the Las Vegas Bowl. And when he reported for duty in his senior year he wasn’t even guaranteed to start ahead of redshirt freshman Ben Olson.

Well, Drew Olson started all 10 games. And he has won nine of them, giving his team a chance, unlikely as it might seem, to win a conference championship if UCLA can somehow beat USC on Dec. 3.

Olson is having one of the top five offensive seasons in UCLA history and his 510 passing yards Saturday were only three shy of the school record set by Cade McNown.

“It was a great performance by him individually,” offensive lineman Robert Cleary said. “That’s awesome for him. I’m proud of him and happy for him, because of all the criticisms he’s had in the past.”

Only three months after some wondered if he was even the best Olson on his team, it’s fair to ask if Olson is having the best season of any quarterback in town.

Decide for yourself.

Matt Leinart: 212 completions in 316 attempts, 3,026 yards, 23 touchdowns, seven interceptions.

Olson: 218 completions in 322 attempts, 2,909 yards, 30 touchdowns (a UCLA single-season record) and three interceptions.

Saturday’s yardage total might be a little misleading.

Olson’s first two touchdown passes were a result of the easiest 147 yards he’ll ever accumulate. On the game’s first play he passed to Joe Cowan on a slant, Cowan eluded Arizona State defensive back R.J. Oliver and went 91 yards to the end zone.

On the second drive Olson found Chris Markey on a short crossing pattern and Markey took off 56 yards. By the end of the first quarter, Olson had completed five of seven passes for an astounding 295 yards.

The interception total is more relevant, because the Bruins have such little margin for error this season.

Much of the game against Arizona State felt like a tennis match. With both teams moving at will in the one-punt first half, it was about which team could somehow break serve. The Sun Devils double-faulted away their first possession, fumbling a snap to set up UCLA’s second touchdown. But Arizona State scored touchdowns on four of its next five possessions and tied the score in the last minute of the second quarter.

When the game -- and his teams’ nerves -- called for calm and third-down conversions, Olson was up to the task. He moved the team 82 yards in nine plays for the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, and guided one last scoring drive of 69 yards after the Sun Devils capitalized on a Maurice Drew fumble to cut the Bruin lead to seven in the fourth quarter.

“I guess the game’s slowing down for him,” Drew said. “He’s more relaxed. It’s unbelievable how much more relaxed he is in the huddle. Like when I had fumbled on the goal line he was like, ‘Dude, whatever.’ They scored, he was like, ‘We’ll get the ball back, we’ll just drive down.’ ”

It was Olson who addressed the team the day after their 52-14 meltdown at Arizona and started them on the way to recovery and off the familiar late-season path we’ve seen too often at UCLA. Coach Karl Dorrell had a 1-9 record after Nov. 1 before Saturday.

“Just proud of how this team responded,” Dorrell said, “Given [last week’s] setback or hiccup or whatever you want to call it.”

Um, how about cataclysmic failure?

But there’s no way to call Olson anything other than a great collegiate success story, an example of perseverance. Among the things he has earned this season was an extended written apology from a sports columnist at the school paper. Now how about a trip to New York?

Vince Young is emerging as the Heisman Trophy favorite in the national media and the next two spots on most ballots will probably go to Leinart or Reggie Bush.

Olson is the best story. Even if he only has that football as proof.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/Adande.

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The 500 Club

UCLA quarterback Drew Olson just missed breaking Cade McNown’s school record for yards in game, but he did break McNown’s season record for touchdown passes (he has 30):

CADE MCNOWN

Dec. 5, 1998 at Miami

26 of 36, 513 yards

5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

* Result: Miami 49, UCLA 45

DREW OLSON

Nov. 12, 2005 at Pasadena

22 of 27, 510 yards

5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

* Result: UCLA 45, Arizona State 35