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One of these years, UCLA will enjoy a blissful off-season.

Some January, the Bruins won’t have to answer questions about embarrassing bowl losses, drunk-driving allegations, or their star running back’s decision to leave school a year early just to become a likely third-round draft pick.

Not this year, of course.

Maurice Drew’s decision to forgo his senior year is certainly a dark cloud for a program that was beaming brightly following a 10-win season. Like all clouds though, this one is sure to pass, and come September, the outlook may be sunny once again.

For the moment, however, there’s nothing warm and pretty about Drew’s departure. The junior tailback was coach Karl Dorrell’s first major recruit, a talented athlete and an upstanding person who frequently expressed his commitment to restoring the prominence of UCLA football. That commitment now seems about as genuine as O.J. Simpson’s pleas of innocence.

All season long, Drew insisted he wanted to stick around to build something special in Westwood. Instead, he’s leaving just after his coach laid a promising foundation.

In Drew’s defense, his draft stock may not have increased by staying around one last season. After all, his two biggest liabilities, size and durability, won’t change in the next year or decade. Coming off a breakout junior campaign, this may very well be his best opportunity to land in the first day of the draft.

Nevertheless, his grandfather’s dream to have Drew play pro football wouldn’t vanish if Drew completed his collegiate career. With his limitations, he will always face an uphill battle at the next level. A final go-around in Westwood would at least ensure that he’d get to make one final significant splash at the college level. Drew would be the marquee player, not just on his team, but also in the conference.

His departure is undoubtedly a blow to a roster already losing its starting quarterback and top receiving threat to graduation. Nevertheless, it’s a blow the Bruins are quite capable of sustaining.

Sure, Drew’s game-changing punt returns catapulted UCLA to its 8-0 start this past season. Yet in the Bruins’ last four games, he only got his hands on one return. Opposing teams learned to kick away from him, limiting his capabilities as a special teams threat. It shouldn’t take a phone call to Miss Cleo to guess that the same pattern would continue if he had stuck around for his senior year.

Then there’s Drew’s ability to make plays in the open field, which warranted his brief flirtation with the Heisman. However, his struggles when running in between the tackles kept him from being a serious contender for the award. Sophomore Chris Markey was a more than adequate back-up the last two seasons and shouldn’t have any problems stepping into a starting role.

When Drew injured his shoulder early in the Sun Bowl, Markey and freshman Kahlil Bell carried the load so that the Bruin running game didn’t miss a beat. Far from it, the two combined for UCLA’s best rushing performance of the season.

“They have two to three great running backs coming back,” Drew said, indicating an opinion that the Bruins won’t struggle in his absence. “Ben Olson is coming back and the defense is going to come back and get better.”

There are still plenty of reasons to expect noticeable strides from UCLA once next season starts. Particularly since most of the setbacks, like Drew’s decision, tend to occur when the season ends.

Finley was a 2005 football columnist. E-mail him at afinley@media.ucla.edu.