UCLA 2005 Season | Team Page	Select Conference ACC Big East Big Ten Big 12 Conference USA Independents MAC Mountain West Pac-10 SEC Sun Belt WAC Select Team

Special Athlon offer for SI.com readers

The Lowdown 2006 Schedule Coach: Karl Dorrell (4th season, 22-15) 2005 record: 10-2 (Beat Northwestern in Sun Bowl) Pac-10 finish: 6-2 (3rd) 2005 I-A offensive rankings: Rushing: 45th (160.7 ypg) Passing: 23rd (270.3 ypg) 2005 I-A defensive rankings: Rushing: 116th (232.8 ypg) Passing: 77th (235.3 ypg) Date Opponent Sept. 2 Utah Sept. 9 Rice Sept. 23 at Washington Sept. 30 Stanford Oct. 7 Arizona Oct. 14 at Oregon Oct. 21 at Notre Dame Oct. 28 Washington State Nov. 4 at California Nov. 11 Oregon State Nov. 18 at Arizona State Dec. 2 USC Depth Chart: Offense 4 returning starters in red Ps. No. Player Yr. No. Player Yr. SE 8 Junior Taylor Sr. 1 Brandon Breazell Jr. FL 26 Joe Cowan Sr. 9 Marcus Everett Jr. ST 68 Brian Abraham Jr. 74 Noah Sutherland Jr. SG 71 Shannon Tevaga Jr. 52 Chris Johnson So. C 54 Robert Chai Sr. 51 Nate Skaggs So. WG 75 Nick Ekbatani So. 67 P.J. Irvin Jr. WT 78 Aleksey Lanis Fr. 66 Scott Glicksberg So. TE 81 J.J. Hair Sr. 82 Ryan Moya So. QB 7 Ben Olson So. 12 Patrick Cowan So. FB 32 Michael Pitre Jr. 45 Jimmy Stephens Jr. RB 28 Chris Markey Jr. 36 Kahlil Bell So. Depth Chart: Defense 6 returning starters in red Ps. No. Player Yr. No. Player Yr. DE 17 Justin Hickman Sr. 77 Kenneth Lombard So. DT 75 Kevin Brown Jr. 50 Chase Moline So. DT 93 Brigham Harwell Jr. 52 Jess Ward Fr. DE 48 William Snead Jr. 44 Bruce Davis Jr. SLB 12 John Hale So. 54 Kyle Bosworth So. MLB 33 Christian Taylor Jr. 51 Reggie Carter Fr. WLB 2 Eric McNeal Sr. 8 Shawn Oatis Fr. CB 23 Trey Brown Jr. 22 Michael Norris Jr. CB 3 Rodney Van Jr. - Alterraun Verner Fr. SS 14 Chris Horton Jr. 25 Bret Lockett Fr. FS 11 Dennis Keyes Jr. 27 Aaron Ware Fr. Special Teams Ps. No. Player Yr. Ps. No. Player Yr. K 7 Justin Medlock Sr. P 17 Aaron Perez So. KR 36 Kahlil Bell So. PR 27 Chris Markey Jr.

To order your 2006 Athlon Sports annual and receive $1 off plus free shipping courtesy of SI.com, click here.

UCLA must deal with the loss of record-setting quarterback Drew Olson, big-play tailback Maurice Drew and Mackey Award-winning tight end Marcedes Lewis, but those departures pale in comparison to the overhaul the coaching staff underwent following coach Karl Dorrell's third season.

Six assistants were either fired or left for other jobs despite the Bruins' 10-2 mark that matched a school record for wins in a season. And many of the new assistants came from the NFL.

Yet, it is the remade coaching staff that has Bruins fans excited. UCLA had one of the worst defenses in the nation the last two years, and Dorrell acted accordingly in firing defensive coordinator Larry Kerr.

UCLA ranked 113th in the nation in total defense (468.1 ypg) in 2005, 116th in rushing defense (232.8 ypg), and 108th in scoring defense (34.2 ppg). Blown assignments and poor tackling were carryovers from '04's similarly poor performance.

Dorrell replaced Kerr with NFL veteran assistant DeWayne Walker, who learned under Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick and Gregg Williams. Walker is cut from the no-nonsense mold of Dorrell. He will run a 4-3 defense and ask his cornerbacks to cover man-to-man often. Changes in the defense's approach and attitude were evident during spring practice.

"I'm full of challenges, so we're always going to try and create challenges for them," Walker says. "If you challenge a guy, and he's not really apt to accept that challenge, you've probably got the wrong guy."

Linebackers coach Chuck Bullough spent last season at Western Michigan after five seasons with the Chicago Bears, and defensive line coach Todd Howard worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season.

Quarterbacks coach Jim Svoboda added the title of offensive coordinator and will call the plays. But the Bruins will run the same offensive system, which Dorrell brought to Westwood, that averaged 39.1 points last season.

"We'd like to expand on our play-action stuff a little bit more," Svoboda says. "[The shotgun] is a thought that we've had. It's something Karl's done, and something I've done, but you really have to consider what you're going to do with it because it's different."

OFFENSE

Finally, it's time for Ben Olson to show what he can do at quarterback. After a Mormon mission, his transfer from BYU and a season on the bench, the strong-armed redshirt sophomore takes the helm of the offense. Olson can stretch the field, but the last time he played in a game in which the outcome was in question was as a high school senior in '01.

UCLA has no proven game-breakers at receiver, but the group is solid and should allow the passing game to excel. The Bruins get Junior Taylor (knee surgery) back for a fifth year, and Joe Cowan and Marcus Everett are solid possession guys. Junior Brandon Breazell and incoming freshman Terrence Austin are two potential big-play threats.

Drew's surprise move to the NFL means junior Chris Markey, a slasher, will carry the load at tailback. As Drew's backup last season, Markey averaged 5.1 yards per carry (Drew averaged 4.9) and rushed for 561 yards.

The Bruins lost three starters on the offensive line but are looking to shed the label of being a finesse blocking team and become more physical.

DEFENSE

The Bruins were one of the worst defensive teams in the nation in '05 - 113th in total defense (468.1 ypg), 116th in rushing defense (232.8 ypg) and 108th in scoring defense (34.2 ppg) - but should be better under new coordinator DeWayne Walker.

Kevin Brown is back from an ankle injury and teams with Brigham Harwell to give UCLA strength through the middle. The Bruins are short on defensive ends but could get a boost if Nikola Dragovic recovers from ACL surgery and plays to his pre-injury form.

The rebuilt linebacking corps will be led by Christian Taylor in the middle. Eric McNeal is an intriguing weak-side linebacker who moved from safety. Walker loves the speed the undersized McNeal (6-foot-2, 209 pounds) brings.

Trey Brown and promising junior Rodney Van are the cornerbacks, but expect Walker to rotate in a few others since he wants to play more press coverage this season.

Dennis Keyes returns as the starter at free safety, and Chris Horton made the switch from free to strong. He's a hard hitter with a nose for the ball, but a broken foot and broken wrist cut short his first two seasons.

SPECIALISTS

Without Drew, a scoring threat in the punt return game is no longer on the field. Markey is the leading candidate to replace Drew, but auditions will go on throughout training camp as Van, Matthew Slater and a host of others will get a crack.

Reliable placekicker Justin Medlock is back after a four-month suspension stemming from a December DUI arrest. His range goes to 55 yards, and he showed his powerful leg with frequent touchbacks on kickoffs in '05.

FINAL ANALYSIS

UCLA may be a better overall team by the end of '06 than it was in '05, but a repeat of the 10-2 mark is unlikely. A tougher schedule, a remade coaching staff with six new assistants and the losses of Olson, Lewis and Drew could make for a tough early stretch.

Defensively, the Bruins cannot be worse, but it may also take time for UCLA's staff to meld. Also, the Bruins missed Oregon last season and played many of their tough conference games at home. In '06, UCLA plays at Oregon, at California and at Arizona State. A trip to Notre Dame is also on the docket.