It’s Now a Grind for Ground Attack

UCLA’s running game was nearly unstoppable in its first two games, averaging well over 200 yards behind an experienced offensive line.

Since then, however, the Bruins’ rushing attack has been grounded and their line play shaky. On Sept. 17, Oklahoma stacked the line of scrimmage and held UCLA to 83 yards rushing. Last week, Washington’s more traditional four linemen-three linebackers front limited the Bruins to 65 yards.

Not a good trend for Coach Karl Dorrell’s 4-0 team, which plays 5-0 California on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

“We’re not executing and that’s about it in a nutshell,” Dorrell said of the Bruins’ rushing game, which averaged 2.6 yards a carry against Washington with a long gain of 14 yards.

Quarterback Drew Olson said the problems are obvious.

“It was just a block here and there ... ,” he said. “We would have a good hole and one guy would come free and, at the last minute, clog things up.”

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Defensive end Nikola Dragovic suffered a knee sprain against Washington and will not play again this season.

-- Lonnie White