Olson's out, so who will be in at UCLA?

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel belted out the words loud and slow, so quarterback Chris Forcier was certain to hear.

"You're just playing catch," Neuheisel screamed as a Forcier pass to a wide open receiver sailed high during a drill.

Forcier is finding that greater responsibility will bring greater scrutiny. His status was elevated considerably Sunday, as the Bruins learned that starting quarterback Ben Olson would be lost for at least eight weeks after breaking the fifth metatarsal, the bone that connects to the little toe, in his right foot for the second time in four months.

Though Olson, who will miss at least five games, vowed to return, the injury left junior Kevin Craft and Forcier as the Bruins' Plan B . . . at least at the moment.

Moments after being shouted at, Forcier flicked an on-target pass, bringing praise from Neuheisel: "There, see? Now how many times in a row can you do that?"

The Bruins are staging a quarterback competition three weeks before the season opener against Tennessee. Craft, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, and Forcier, a redshirt freshman, will get close looks in the coming weeks, with junior Osaar Rasshan seemingly a longshot candidate.

The competition became necessary after Olson faked a handoff Saturday, then took a misstep.

"I knew something was wrong," Olson said in a teleconference call. "I was hoping I only tweaked it a little bit."

Olson underwent X-rays Sunday morning, which confirmed the re-injury to the same bone he'd broken during spring practice.

"It's a crushing blow to the young man," Neuheisel said. "He put so much time and effort into the program, it's just really unfortunate. Sometimes you have a hard time understanding why things happen."

For Olson, it was the latest disappointment in a star-crossed career.

As a sophomore in 2006, he tore a knee ligament in the fifth game against Arizona and was lost for the season. Last season, he missed one game with concussion-like symptoms and five others because of an injured right knee. He has started only 10 games since transferring to UCLA from Brigham Young.

"It's definitely been tough," Olson said. "You're not able to accomplish the goals you set. It's very frustrating because it seems every year that my progression as a quarterback has been halted by injury. But whining and complaining about things and asking 'why did this happen to me?' does no good. You have to push forward."