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A kiss is just a kiss, and a Starting QB is only the Starting QB, as time goes by, until he gets injured, or until he's proven ineffective.
However, Quarterback controversies suck. The only thing that sucks worse than a QB controversy is when a Coach decides to PLATOON two QB's, alternating them by drives or by Quarters.
UCLA has just avoided all of these headaches, when Head Coach Karl Dorrell announced that Ben Olson, not Pat Cowan, will be the Starting QB this season. Olson won this same battle last year, but after one good game and a few that didn't improve on the auspicious debut, he got injured (on a cheap-shot late hit against Arizona). The injury was serious, so Pat Cowan was the Starter for the rest of the year. Olson was physically ready for the sc game, but Dorrell opted for the better scrambler Cowan.
That decision was probably the best choice that KD has ever made, as Cowan's improvising contributed just enough (along with the Bruins' stellar Defensive performance) to pull off the miraculous 13-9 upset, which knocked sc out of BCS Title contention.
As a reward for beating sc, Cowan got to start the Emerald Bowl, with not-so-memorable results. That start was enough of a reward, and even though the sc game was the greatest win in years and years, that alone did NOT mean that Cowan should be this season's Starter.
The prevailing logic amongst the so-called experts (us) is that Ben Olson still has a much greater upside than Cowan, with a much-stronger arm. While Cowan's ability to think on his feet gave him an edge last year, Olson has now had another year to get comfortable in the pocket, and another year to practice reading Defenses and audibilizing out of certain sacks. He even has the Shotgun at his disposal this season, which might make reading Defenses a little easier.
With all the fanfare accompanying super-recruit Olson when he transferred to Westwood, Cowan would have had to be notably superior to him to get the gig. After all, Ben is Karl's biggest "get" ever; Besides, you don't become the Nation's #1 High School QB recruit for nothing.
Now that a Starter has been named, the question is, how bad would Olson have to be before Cowan got a chance? Will Cowan be a special weapon -- A spark off the bench when the Bruins are trailing in the 4th? How about if the opponent's D-line is winning the trench war, and Olson is having trouble avoiding the pressure?
Hopefully, it will be Cowan coming in in the 4th Quarters -- to mop up and get some p.t. -- during easy victories.
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