Craft settles into his spot

Kevin Craft went from a New Kid On The Block to Vanilla Ice in a matter of months.

Recruited to be the Bruins' third-string quarterback, Craft is now in charge after injuries thrust him into the starting job.

His stature in the locker room has similarly risen.

"We tease him a little bit, call him Vanilla Ice sometimes," senior wide receiver Marcus Everett said. "He will start to groove a little bit when the music comes on."

Said kicker Jimmy Rotstein: "His salsa is great. The guy can move."

He might have to.

Operating behind a makeshift line, Craft may need some ice, ice, baby after guiding UCLA against Tennessee in Monday's season opener.

Craft's spotlight dance comes after injuries to Patrick Cowan (knee) and Ben Olson (foot). Being the starter certainly wasn't on the radar when Craft transferred from Mt. San Antonio College, enrolling at UCLA on the same day spring football practice began.

Within weeks, Cowan had torn up his knee, ending his season, and then Olson re-broke a bone in his foot during August training camp.

That left Craft with the keys to the UCLA offense, though it's doubtful Coach Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow will let him take it on the freeway.

Neuheisel said he has told Craft, "You need to manage the game. It is not incumbent on you going out there and trying to win it. Late in the game, yeah, you might have to. That's OK, you're ready to do that."

The coach added, "Kids grow up dreaming about these opportunities. I hope he enjoys it."

Craft is soaking up the moments. After a practice last week, he hung around to give high-fives to student trainers as they came off the field.

It's a leadership thing.

"After workouts one morning, he said, 'Let's go get a breakfast burrito,' " punter Aaron Perez said. "I didn't want to go all the way to Jose B's. He said, 'No, there is a place on campus, Northern Lights. They're great. Trust me.'

"He was right. Hey, I trust him."

Food for thought is that transfer quarterbacks have had limited success in the Pacific 10 Conference. The last transfer to lead a team to the conference title was Brad Otton (Weber State) with USC in 1995. The last community college transfer to win the title was Tim Green (El Camino College) with USC in 1984.

Craft has major-college experience. He played in nine games, starting five, in 2006 at San Diego State, where his father, Tom, had been head coach until 2005.