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Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ben Olson has finally locked himself in as the starting quarterbac

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Quarterback Ben Olson, described by some scouting services as the “left-handed John Elway,&

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“Alright, I’m ready, let’s get started.”

Ben Olson, in his typical boisterous-yet-easy tone, was ready to start his interview. It was the answer to just one of a constellation of questions and implications facing the young man who has been anointed as the ‘left-handed John Elway’ and the ‘savior of UCLA football’, as well as several other hyperbolic, kitschy titles.

More than just showing a media savvy far exceeding that of most college athletes, Olson’s eagerness to get things rolling is emblematic of his excitement to finally, truly begin his college career.

He has a presence on campus that would lead one to suspect he’s the honorary mayor of Westwood, glad-handing more people with a gentle patience than your average politician. It seems as though everybody wants a piece of Mayor Olson these days, and they all have him earmarked for greatness.

“He’s got the biggest expectations to live up to that I have seen since I’ve been here,” said Christian Taylor, senior linebacker and Olson’s roommate.

Born in Missouri and raised in Montana before attending high school in the Los Angeles area, Olson prefers the more humble, small-town lifestyle. But as a player tabbed for stardom in this city, he has learned how to deal with the pressure while not losing his head.

“It can come and go so fast, and they can love you or hate you,” he said. “So I try to have fun with it.”

Most take their first steps toward stardom long before the harsh light of fame actually gets them in the crosshairs. But this has not been the case for Olson, the 23-year-old redshirt sophomore who has taken a winding path over the past five years to get from Thousand Oaks to Westwood.

Without having thrown a pass of consequence since his senior year in high school almost five years ago, Olson is preparing for UCLA’s season opener against Utah on Sept. 2 with expectations that perhaps exceed those of any Bruin quarterback in the history of the program.

He has traveled an unconventional path that he believes couldn’t have worked out any other way.

“It’s a question I keep getting asked, about regrets,” Olson said. “Maybe it’s because people have a hard time believing that I’m serious. But I can’t imagine not having that time away from the game. As much as I love it, there’s more to life than just football.”

As the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country coming out of Thousand Oaks High School in 2001, Olson signed a letter of intent with BYU and was immediately hailed as the man who would restore the prestige of the Cougar football program.

Olson sat on the sidelines and watched for his first year in Provo, redshirting during what he calls a difficult freshman year of college. Legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards had retired, the program was in transition, and Olson was searching for answers that were far beyond the scope and perspective that football could provide.

It was then that Olson decided to serve his two-year Mormon mission, knowing full well he might be jeopardizing his hopes of developing into a professional football player.

Upon returning from his mission, Olson made it known that he would transfer from BYU. Once again, he was the object of attention, heavily recruited by Cal, Arizona State, South Carolina and UCLA.

This time, he chose the Bruins – partly because he wanted to help turn around a program he followed as a kid, and partly because he wanted to have his family support system after spending two years in seclusion.

The attention focused on Olson is partly to due to his natural gifts – a 6-foot-5-inch frame, nimble feet and laser-beam arm strength that churns out spiral after spiral. But there’s also no Marcedes Lewis or Maurice Drew to share the spotlight with him, and the pressure to lead a rebuilt Bruin squad is coupled with the fact that many fans have waited to see Olson get his opportunity, and now it is finally here.

“I can’t control what people think or say about me, or the attention I get,” he said. “But it has been a crazy ride, and now I am happy to just get out there and play.”

Leader on board

Fall practice is rarely a pivotal event for a college football team. However, coach Karl Dorrell’s team had a sensitive situation.

During Olson’s first training camp at UCLA last year, he was pitted in a highly competitive quarterback competition against then-senior Drew Olson (no relation), who had had only mediocre production for the Bruins up to that point in his career. It was rumored that Ben Olson, with less experience and a higher ceiling, had the edge entering the last week of camp. In a simple twist of fate, Ben Olson broke his left (throwing) hand in practice, anticlimactically handing the job to the veteran.

Of course, Drew Olson led the Bruins to a 10-2 season while setting a school record with 34 touchdown passes and leading the country in red zone efficiency.

If the expectations weren’t high enough for Ben Olson coming out of high school or coming into Westwood, the elevated play of last year’s quarterback has raised the demand for excellence.

“It was funny how things worked out last year,” Olson said. “I am so happy for Drew’s success and how we learned to win as a team. But instead of looking at it as more pressure, I tried to learn from Drew and see what worked.”

As one of Olson’s closest friends and truest confidantes on the team, redshirt senior wide receiver Junior Taylor was having dinner with the quarterback soon after the close of spring practice at the end of last season. Olson asked Taylor how he fared in the spring session. Taylor didn’t hold back. He didn’t give Olson encouragement, but blunt criticism.

“I just told him straight out that he needs to be the guy who everything works around,” Taylor said at practice on Friday. “He was making the plays, but he has to do more, he has to lead. We need the guys on the team to all look at Ben whenever the game is on the line.”

Olson took the words to heart. He started to handle the business of the team, particularly away from the field. He organized training sessions for his teammates in the summer. He made sure that when the guys would socialize, even just for an afternoon, everyone was welcomed, and that all of his teammates had a closer relationship with him.

So when Olson’s second training camp with UCLA rolled around, he had an entirely different feeling about his status on the field.

Dorrell hadn’t officially named the starting quarterback at the start of camp, repeatedly saying that Olson “had to earn the job” against backup Pat Cowan. Yet it was obvious who had become the leader of the team, with or without the official word from Dorrell.

“I am preparing to be starter, and I expect to be the starter,” Olson said after the first day of camp.

Offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Jim Svoboda has challenged Olson in the quarterback’s second camp, putting more responsibility on him by expanding the playbook so that it takes advantage of Olson’s physical tools. Also, the Bruins enter the season opener not knowing for certain who will replace the production of Lewis and Drew, and that might ultimately lead to Olson’s role growing beyond what Drew Olson had to do in 2005.

His competition with Cowan, as opposed to Drew Olson, has had a much different dynamic because he was already perceived as the starter, Svoboda said.

“It’s harder to play as the frontrunner in camp then as an underdog,” Svoboda said. “So by that measure, Ben has done a better job this camp. He had that pressure on him that he didn’t have last time.”

Once Olson was given the official title as starter the Monday following UCLA’s intrasquad scrimmage on August 20, there weren’t many external changes. He has been just as vocal since then as he had been before.

The transformation hasn’t been overlooked by the man who ignited a fire in Olson.

“Nobody questions it,” Taylor said. “He is now the voice of this team.”

Faith and Motivation

It is often said that the mounting pressure on major athletes forces them to tumble out of control and lose the perspective needed to simply enjoy the game.

The athlete, who is subject to the fans’ heroic worship or myopic rage, can easily lose sight of that perspective.

When talking to Olson, he doesn’t for a second try to pretend that he truly is carrying the world’s burden on his shoulders.

“We’re just playing a game here,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I won’t let anyone question my work ethic or desire to win. Fans come up to me and tell me how much I am going to do, but I don’t get too worried.”

If Olson sounds like a more mature college quarterback with some grand life lessons under his belt, he is.

After accepting a scholarship from BYU that coach Edwards had offered him as a high school sophomore, Olson started to talk to his parents, Rick and Annie, about serving his mission after his freshman year of college.

“Ben knew that people were expecting a lot out of his football career, but he kept talking about what he wanted out of life, beyond football,” Annie Olson said.

When Olson sent away his paperwork to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquarters in Salt Lake City, he didn’t know where he would be sent. All he knew was that his college career was being suspended, and his prospects of being an NFL player would likely be harmed. So he decided to serve in January of 2003 so he could return to school in time for spring practice of 2005.

Olson and his family were happy to find out that he would serve in Alberta, Canada, a place where his health or safety were unlikely to be issues of concern.

His work in Calgary consisted of going door to door in all kinds of neighborhoods to spread the teachings of the Mormon Church.

As is the religious custom, Olson could only contact his family in weekly e-mails and phone calls and on Easter and Christmas. A mission is meant to be served with as little contact or attention as possible from the external world.

Still, Olson couldn’t completely escape his insurmountable football persona. He would be approached with an invitation to speak at a high school, or asked whether or not he was planning on returning to BYU when he finished his mission.

“He had this extra attention when he was trying to be isolated from the outside world, so that was tough,” Annie Olson said.

Olson discussed vaguely why he decided to leave BYU, choosing only to say he always considered UCLA a top choice and had moved on with his life. But he never hinted at regret for the choices he has made, and only looks forward to what his football career now has in store.

Moving Forward

As he changes his jersey from No. 3 to No. 7 this year, Olson is poised for a breakout season. With all the different lofty hypotheticals that are tossed around, Olson is shying away from being yet another prognosticator. His predictions might be more scrutinized than his play on the field.

The perception might be that UCLA’s 2006 season is the year of Ben Olson’s emergence, but the reality is that there are still many questions looming for a team returning only 12 starters.

What’s being asked of Olson is to become the face of the program, and he might ultimately be held responsible for any success or failure the Bruins endure – whether the credit or blame is his or not.

However, to think that Olson is a young man who loses composure or even starts to believe all the hype, is to not have listened to him talk about football in relation to life.

“I have big aspirations with football,” he said. “I want to take UCLA to a national title. I want to play in the NFL. But to think about what other people say, I can’t. I have to be stronger than that.”

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