If you see UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell scratching his head on Saturday, don't be alarmed. He's probably just trying to make sense of his jumbled offense.
From the outside, UCLA looks like a juggernaut, averaging 31.7 points, the Pac-10's third-best mark. Sophomore tailback Maurice Drew has rushed for 733 yards and seven touchdowns, and junior quarterback Drew Olson has thrown eight touchdowns and no interceptions in his last two games.
A closer look reveals a lack of balance, and that's what concerns Dorrell more than anything.
The problem was magnified Saturday in UCLA's 45-28 loss against No. 7 California, as Olson threw for 299 yards and four touchdowns, while Drew managed just 42 yards rushing on 14 carries.
A couple weeks earlier, the Bruins experienced opposite results in a 37-31 win over Washington. Olson threw for 122 yards with one interception, but Drew overcame calf cramps to pound out 322 yards rushing and five touchdowns, both school records.
"Our offense is what it is," Dorrell said. "We're trying to create balance, and run the football and throw the football. We were able to do both of those things with fairly good balance in the early portion of the year. When you get toward the middle of your schedule, teams get a little better feel of what you do and can game plan a little better against you."
UCLA should be bolstered by the return of senior flanker Craig Bragg, who missed the last three games with a dislocated left shoulder that he suffered Sept. 18 against Washington.
Senior Tab Perry started in his place, catching three passes for 61 yards. Junior tight end Marcedes Lewis was effective in Bragg's absence, hauling in 10 catches for 121 yards and four touchdowns.
Olson likely will throw more Saturday, considering that No. 21 ASU is giving up only 106.3 yards against the run. He was limited in practice this week with a minor knee injury, but he is expected to play Saturday.
"Teams have done a much better job defending the running game," said Dorrell, whose team has been held to 193 yards rushing the last two weeks. "Part of it is making Drew Olson see how much he has matured and see how much he can do when playing with a group of young receivers.
"The passing game has really started to blossom. We're doing some good things throwing the football, and Drew is doing a great job getting those things going with our young players. The element that we need to get back is our running game."
Senior tailback Manuel White has provided the perfect complement to Olson, rushing for 452 yards and three touchdowns. However, Olson is the one who makes UCLA's offense click, given his breakaway speed and quickness to the outside.
Dorrell still has confidence in Olson, even though Olson isn't finding nearly as many holes as he did earlier in the season.
"He's a very competitive kid, and that's what you see when he plays," Dorrell said. "He has been brought up in such a way that his approach in life is to do it best in all aspects. He practices that way, he plays that way and he gives you his best shot every time he has an opportunity to touch the ball."
If Olson is able to stretch the field early, ASU's defensive backs will be forced to play farther off the line of scrimmage, creating more room for Olson to run. It's exactly what Dorrell has wanted since, well, the season opener.
"You want the defense to respect what you do offensively," Dorrell said. "You want a quarterback that has the ability to hurt you in the throwing game. That's something that has to continue on the trend that it's on right now.
"The running game has to get back in the position it was in early in the season to give us that balance again. Most teams are going to start by controlling the run game and making you beat them in the throwing game. That's nothing new that we'll face for the next several weeks. We're just going to have to be more efficient and execute a little better."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
