In his last collegiate game at the Rose Bowl, senior quarterback
Drew Olson had yet another milestone in a Heisman Trophy-caliber
season, en route to UCLA’s 45-35 win over Arizona State.
In a game that saw him passing 500 yards for the first time in
his career, Olson passed former Bruin Cade McNown for the most
touchdown passes in a single season. Sitting at 25 touchdowns and
tied with McNown coming into the game, Olson finished his playing
days at Rose Bowl in style with 510 yards and five touchdowns. He
ended up a mere three yards short of McNown’s record for
yards in a game.
The Bruins (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) and the Sun Devils (5-4, 3-4) put
on an offensive clinic, as the points and yards added up at an
astonishing rate.
Olson had 295 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter
alone. The scoring started on the first play from scrimmage, as
Olson found a streaking junior wide receiver Joe Cowan for a
91-yard touchdown reception. After an Arizona State turnover, UCLA
jumped to an early 14-0 lead on sophomore running back Chris
Markey’s 56-yard touchdown catch and appeared to be on their
way to an easy win.
However, ASU freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter led an equally
potent Sun Devil offense that gave the Bruin defense fits. Sun
Devils freshman running back Keegan Herring was the latest Pac-10
rusher to take advantage of the worst run defense in the conference
as he rumbled for 129 yards on 27 carries with a score.
Once the back-and-forth first half came to a close, the game was
tied up at 28-28.
In the second half, Olson picked up right where he left off in
the first half, finding sophomore wide receiver Brandon Breazell
for a 7-yard touchdown to give UCLA the lead. It was a lead the
home team would not relinquish.
Olson’s final touchdown pass to senior tight end Marcedes
Lewis with a little over a minute left in the third quarter
stretched the lead out, and senior linebacker Spencer Havner led a
Bruin defense that made a key fourth-down stand to seal the
victory.
While Olson’s record-setting night was the main story in
front of his UCLA crowd, Arizona State wide receiver Derek Hagan
quietly set an all-time Pac-10 record for career receptions,
passing former Stanford receiver Troy Walters.
The game was built up as a definitive game for the Bruins, who
were looking to pick themselves off the floor after an embarrassing
blowout loss to Arizona last week that ended their unbeaten
run.
They responded with possibly their most complete offensive
performance of the entire season as UCLA compiled 660 yards of
total offense. Three receivers finished with at least 100 yards
through the air, and junior running back Maurice Drew had over 100
yards from scrimmage with his 19th touchdown on the season.
UCLA now has a three-week break before its final game of the
regular season, the battle for the victory bell against crosstown
rival and two-time defending national champion USC.