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By Sara Normand
Sunnyside California has its share of stars—football stars. And why wouldn’t it, when it has the beaches, the 74 degrees weather, the girls, the celebrities, and the collegiate football superpowers to let the recruiting take care of itself? But is it possible that one state (and one city) could feature two of the best tailbacks in college? Some may call it destiny, but others don’t even know about one of those players.
His name? Maurice Drew. His school? University of California at Los Angeles. His mission? To steal the show from his cross-town counterpart, Reggie Bush, of the University of Southern California.
Sorry to break it to ya, but it looks as though USC is still at the number one slot after an epic win at Notre Dame this weekend. And USC is still atop in the conference—woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. *Rubs eyes really quick.* I must be so tired that I can’t see straight. USC is tied with UCLA in the Pac-10 standings? There’s no way that they both can be undefeated, that they both can be 6-0. Are you serious? Wait, what’s that? You’re saying that this Drew is the reason for UCLA’s strong start? Well WHO is this guy then??
He’s the guy who scored five touchdowns against the California Golden Bears this year, tying a UCLA record that he himself set last year against Washington. He’s the guy who handed No. 10 Cal a 47-40 loss in a match of the unbeatens two weeks ago, their first loss in 13 regular season games. He’s the guy who helped his Bruins to their first top 10 ranking since 2001 (No. 8 in AP poll this week). He’s the triple-threat back who is dangerous on punt returns (three punt return TDs this year), explosive out of the backfield, and capable of double duty play at wide receiver. And he doesn’t turn the ball over.
He’s the undecided major who happens to love mathematics. He’s the guy who models himself after the great Barry Sanders. He’s the California native who enjoys both swimming and snowboarding. He’s the elusive #21 that’s bidding for your attention, America. He’s Maurice Drew, not to be confused with the other Drew on the team, senior quarterback Drew Olson, who also happens to be having his best season yet.
Yet while Drew shares his name with his quarterback, he also bears a strange resemblance to USC’s Bush in looks, physical makeup, age, and importance to his team. In fact, they were both born in California in March of 1985, with Bush being born exactly three weeks ahead of Drew. Drew grew up in Antioch (near San Francisco), and Bush matured in Spring Valley (near San Diego). In high school, Drew played football for De La Salle High, known for its 138-game winning streak and 10 straight California state championships, while Bush attended Helix High. At 205, Drew has just five pounds on Bush, and Bush is just four inches taller at six feet. (Nicknamed “The President,” Bush is ironically a political science major in his junior year at USC.)
While they both also excelled in track in high school, two things distinguish them now, and it’s not their speed. One, Bush has two national championship rings to Drew’s zero, and two, Bush finished fifth in the 2004 Heisman Trophy voting while Drew went undetected. However, this year Drew is listed as one of 31 candidates on voteforheisman.com where the top finisher in that public survey gets the equivalent of one vote in the final tally. Though he likely won’t finish in the top five, the acknowledgement is to his credit.
Drew and Bush grew up seven hours apart, and now they play football at schools that are only 22 minutes apart. However, a school that led all colleges in NCAA championships into the 2004 year (90) and won them all since 1950, Drew’s UCLA hasn’t won a football championship since 1954. After Karl Dorrell replaced Bob Toledo at head coach in 2003, the Bruins have finished 12-13 in his two seasons while Los Angeles’ other college football power was winning back-to-back national championships under Bush. It’s no wonder that UCLA plays that younger brother role.
But like their big bro, there’s no doubt that UCLA’s offense can score. Olson is ranked nationally in the top 15 in efficiency with a passer rating of 157.53, has 15 TD to go along with only three interceptions, and has racked up 1,612 yards. Olson has no problem connecting with his fellow Drew in the air either, as the tailback has two receiving touchdowns this year already. However, if UCLA wants to hang with USC until their biggest test when they face each other at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the last game of the year (Dec. 3), their defense has a lot of work to do. Against Cal, the defense gave up 40 points and 545 yards.
More specifically, averaging amongst the nation’s worst is the Bruins run defense. Only three teams out of all 117 Division I schools give up more rushing yards on average. Though they were facing the Pac-10’s leading rusher on Saturday, it is still hard to overlook the fact that Washington State’s Jerome Harrison collected a career high 260 yards (182 in the first half alone). Perhaps that was a result of a defensive line that’s hurting, with redshirt freshman Kenneth Lombard and true freshman Chase Moline starting after injuries to Kevin Brown and Nikola Dragovic.
Fortunately, Olson made up for the gap with five touchdowns and 352 yards, outperforming WSU’s quarterback Alex Brink who had six interceptions in the two games before facing UCLA. The heavily favored Bruins came from 21 points down to win 44-41 in overtime, marking the third straight game in which they came from behind to win.
It’s not like the effort isn’t there on defense. Senior linebacker Spencer Havner, who led the conference in tackles last year and was second in the nation (125), volunteered his duties for the punt coverage team two years ago after Oklahoma’s Antonio Perkins returned three punts for touchdowns against them. The defense as a unit just doesn’t seem to come together until late in the game.
But the Bruins have Drew to thank for those come from behind wins. With 115 total yards, the playmaking Drew rushed from the 1-yard line to score the winning touchdown in overtime after WSU made a 37-yard field goal. The Cougars had previously won the past four meetings, and last year Drew rushed only once for -6 yards against them before leaving with a sprained ankle. WSU coach Bill Doba had joked that this year’s game plan was to sprain Drew’s ankle on the first play, but of course, that didn’t happen.
Cal’s head coach Jeff Tedford is equally impressed with Drew’s abilities.
“He hits the hole as fast as anybody around,” Tedford said, “and you can’t arm tackle him. You have to put a body on him to bring him down.”
Though Drew’s success is continually on the rise, UCLA is doing all it can to prevent egos and cliques with any of its players. For example, Dorrell decided not to name team captains for the season. Instead, UCLA names the captains on a game-by-game basis.
Also, Dorrell restructured the locker room to numerical order to encourage unity with all ages, as some seniors are next to redshirt freshmen. It is this bond, created in the offseason when coaches and players participated in leadership, sacrifice, and character meetings, that is the main difference from last year’s 6-5 team.
One would think that the distractions in Los Angeles, with places like Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and Brentwood, would be immense for college football players who are in their early twenties. Though they are just miles away from the Pacific Ocean, they have proven that they take the heat. This could be the year that UCLA proves they can take USC’s heat as well. This could be the year that the Bruins shed their second-class citizen label. They want this Pac-10 now, and they’re slowly creeping up on USC, virtually their only hurdle.
The Bruins are now one of seven remaining undefeated teams, and they’re certainly in good company with those other six being USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas Tech.
But after his days at De La Salle High, all Drew knows is winning. Get him the ball, and he’ll find a way to win. He’ll find a way to get to Pasadena. He’ll find a way to show the world who the real star of Los Angeles is.
(Ante) Up…Camera. Lights. Action.
All eyes are on Drew.
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