Curse Of The UCLA Quarterbacks Continues
Every year it seems UCLA's quarterback goes down. Why should this season be any different?
Ouch.
What is it about UCLA and the quarterback position? Two years ago, injuries left Patrick Cowan with the knees of a 90-year-old arthritic man. Last year Ben Olsen hurt himself in practice trying to back away from his center. UCLA quarterbacks have apparently been made out of balsa wood, and being a backup has meant guaranteed playing time.
This year, Kevin Prince is made of something tougher, but it couldn’t save him from the curse. Saturday Prince had his jaw broken in the final minutes of UCLA’s potentially season defining win in Tennessee. He had surgery to repair it Sunday and will miss at least two or three games before returning.
Prince has not had anyone talking about the second coming of John Elway — but unlike Kevin Craft last year, he looked like a leader and was not making mistakes that cost the team wins (hence UCLA is 2-0). For a freshman who had not played in a couple years, and under the tutelage of legend Norm Chow, it all seemed like building blocks to something big.
But with 1:41 left in the game and UCLA trying to run out the clock, Prince rolled to his right in the end zone on a designed play and after throwing the ball took a hit from Tennessee's Dennis Rogan. He came of the field spitting up blood and apparently teeth, but he went back in for the kneel-downs that won the game.
Sunday, Prince had surgery to wire his jaw shut so the two clean breaks in it could heal up.
Now UCLA has to figure out how to win it’s next few games —contests that were not going to be easy with Prince under center. UCLA has a choice: Go with another freshman, Richard Brehaut, or bring back the senior Craft, who threw 20 interceptions last year. Today may top the list of days you don’t want to be Rick Neuheisel.
His choice will have a huge impact on the season. Nest week they host a good Kansas State team looking to bounce back from a humiliating loss to Louisiana-Lafayette last week. Then after a winnable game traveling to Stanford, UCLA hosts two big Pac-10 foes who started the season in the Top 25 Oregon (1-1) and California (2-0).
With Prince, UCLA fans felt confident heading into those games. But somewhere a guy with a voodoo doll (Pete Carroll?) has once again changed the course of the UCLA season.
