With All This Success Comes Lofty Rankings

As a reward for starting the season 6-0, which includes three consecutive come-from-behind victories, UCLA climbed four spots to No. 8 in the Associated Press top 25 poll, giving the Bruins their first top 10 ranking since November 2001.

“We are really excited as a football team because we know how to finish,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said after the Bruins rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Washington State, 44-41, in overtime Saturday.

“That’s something that is usually hard to coach but for some reason or another, this team does it very, very well.”

This week, UCLA will play host to former Bruin quarterback Matt Moore and his new team, Oregon State, at the Rose Bowl. Dorrell’s goal is to get better first-half play from the Bruins, who have outscored opponents, 88-17, in the fourth quarter this season.

“I might have a heart attack one these days,” said Dorrell, who will coach his first game against the Beavers, who have not played UCLA since 2002. “But, I tell you what, if I have to win them all like this, I’ll take it every time.”

UCLA is ranked ninth in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

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After securing the starting quarterback job in camp, Drew Olson is having a remarkable senior season. He has completed 133 of 198 passes for 1,612 yards and 15 touchdowns, with only two passes intercepted.

“He’s been doing it for the last few weeks,” Dorrell said. “He’s been Mr. Crunch-time for us. He’s been a guy that whenever there’s been a time we needed to make a play, he’s made them. Key third-down plays, or key fourth-down plays, he’s been able to do those things.”

Olson said that his goal at the start of the season was to not only lead the Bruins to the top of the Pacific 10 Conference but also prove his critics wrong.

“It all started right from rehab and I’ve tried to carry that attitude onto the field,” said Olson, who did not participate in spring practice because of a knee injury suffered in last season’s Las Vegas Bowl loss to Wyoming. “It’s the kind of play I expected from myself. Leading this team is something that I wanted to do.”

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There are 117 schools that play Division I-A football and only three have a worse defense against the run than UCLA, which is giving up 229.7 yards a game.

Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Ball State have given up more yards on the ground than the Bruins but not by much. Ball State is last in the country, giving up 230.2 yards a game.

In UCLA’s last 18 games under Dorrell, the Bruins have been responsible for four of the top-10 all-time rushing efforts against them. Washington State’s Jerome Harrison, who gained 260 yards Saturday and had 247 against UCLA last year, is on the list twice. Oklahoma State’s Vernand Morency (261) and California’s J.J. Arrington (205) are the other two backs.

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Dorrell on the fake punt attempt that did not work against Washington State when cornerback Michael Norris did not hear the call because of crowd noise: “That’s unfortunate because he was uncovered and we couldn’t yell out to him.... The punter [Aaron Perez] saw it and he didn’t see it. Just poor communication. It wasn’t [Norris’] fault. It was a coaches’ error.”

Against California a week earlier, Dorrell’s fake punt worked when safety Jarrad Page ran for a first down.

“We got lucky to have it work [against Cal] last week,” Dorrell said. “We were fortunate to win the game without it being a big issue [against the Cougars].”