<p>Redshirt sophomore quarterback Pat Cowan will remain the starter this week against USC, ending a weeklong debate over whether Cowan or fellow redshirt sophomore Ben Olson would be the quarterback.
<br/>The decision came after coach Karl Dorrell said Olson was physically ready, but that his decision-making needed work. He said that ultimately, it came down to the seasoning of the quarterbacks.
<br/>?I made the decision before practice today to go with Pat,? Dorrell said. ?Pat has a little more seasoning with all the experience he?s had playing the last few weeks. He?s going to do a great job.?
<br/>Olson began the year as the starting quarterback and started the first five games before suffering a ligament injury in his knee against Arizona on Oct. 7.
<br/>He went 4-1 as the starter. Cowan took the reins from Olson, and the Bruins have had a 2-4 record since.
<br/>Cowan?s most recent two games were wins over Oregon State and Arizona State.
<br/>Dorrell had previously said he didn?t believe a starter should lose his spot because of injury, basically implying that Cowan was a temporary replacement until Olson was healthy.
<br/>Now Olson is, in his own words, healthy, and he is not the starting quarterback.
<br/>The quarterbacks were not available for comment after the decision was made.
<br/>Cowan?s statistics as a starter are less than stellar. He has completed just 53.9% of his passes and has a 9-7 touchdown to interception ratio.
<br/>Olson, in comparison, has completed 63.7% of his passes, although he has made his fair share of mistakes, throwing just five touchdowns along with his five interceptions.
<br/>Still, the common perception among those around the program is that Olson is the one with more talent and potential. Olson was a five-star recruit, as rated by scout.com, while Cowan was a two-star.
<br/>But Dorrell?s decision does give the Bruins some consistency at the quarterback position. The Bruins have had slightly better offensive production in recent weeks than they have seen for much of the year, so the move can be seen as an attempt to continue the offensive improvement.
<br/>Cowan and Olson underwent a quarterback battle in fall camp. Ultimately, Olson came out the starter, but the competition between the two was described by Dorrell as very close.
<br/>When Olson came in, he was cited by fans and scouting services as the ?savior? of the UCLA football program. He will have to wait at least another game before he can hope to prove that nickname accurate.</p><br><br><a href='http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39166&#039; target='_blank'>http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39166&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br>