Ben Olson

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Benjamen James Olson (born February 23, 1983, in Thousand Oaks, California) is a redshirt junior quarterback for the 2006 UCLA Bruins football team. He excelled in football at Thousand Oaks High School, earning high school All-American honors in 2002. Olson wears number 7 and is listed as 6'5", 227 pounds.

[edit] High school career

Olson played quarterback for Thousand Oaks High School for 4 years. For 3 of those years, he played on the varsity team, alongside David Anderson.

In 2001, Olson was considered the top quarterback prospect^[1] and even top high school football recruit in the country^[2] following a highly productive senior year in which he threw for 2,989 yards and 32 touchdowns.

[edit] Collegiate career

Olson signed with Brigham Young University upon graduating from Thousand Oaks High School in 2002 and redshirted his freshman season. Olson then went on a 2 year mission to Canada with the LDS Church.

Olson transferred to UCLA from BYU in 2005, where he spent the year behind senior Drew Olson (no relation) on the depth chart.

Olson played in five games in 2006, completing 63.7% of his passes for 822 yards, 6.63 yards per attempt, 5 TDs and 5 INTs. Olson's season came to an end in the opening moments of his fifth start when he was injured. Though Olson regained his health, he didn't regain the starting position that season.

Olson was named starting quarterback for the 2007 Season following the spring training. However, he was plagued, yet again, by injuries and only played in 6 games, completing only 48.3% of his passes for 1040 yards, 7.08 yards per attempt, 7 TDs and 6 INTs.

Entering the 2008 season, he will compete with Patrick Cowan, among others, for the starting spot. At this point in his career, it appears that his decision to leave BYU for UCLA (where he thought he would better showcase his skills for the NFL scouts) will not pay off. BYU fans, however, note that it has paid off for the Cougars.

[edit] References

• UCLA player bio