Saturday, April 26, 2008

Bruins Are in a World of Hurt

The injuries are piling up for UCLA quarterbacks.

Patrick Cowan, right, who was designated the starter by coach Rick Neuheisel early in spring practice, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in practice and could be lost for the season.

Backup Ben Olson fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and likely will have surgery to insert a screw to aid in healing. He will be out two months.

That makes junior college transfer Kevin Craft the starter for Saturday night's scrimmage at the Rose Bowl.

If Cowan is lost for the season, it could also mean the end of his college career. He has already used a redshirt season and would have to petition the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility.

The Bruins have nonconference games against Tennessee, Brigham Young and Fresno State, meaning UCLA's 2008 season could be over before it starts.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mega-kudos to UCLA for having a non-conference schedule that any team wanting to earn the national championship should have. If every team would have a schedule like that rather than padding wins against the likes of Northern Arizona and Furman, then even the BCS system would have a lot more credibility.

greg6363 said...

It's official. Cowan is out for the '08 season. Man, I just imagine how Neuheisel feels about this setback. It will be interesting to see if he can get that waiver to play in '09.