Pac-10 tabs Cougs’ Davis

Washington State linebacker Scott Davis was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week after a career football game at Oregon State on Saturday.

Davis recovered two fumbles and had three sacks, two in the final four defensive plays of the game. Blitzing relentlessly on the final possession, Davis disrupted Beavers quarterback Matt Moore and helped seal the game for WSU.

The senior is the second Cougar to get the honor this season. Fellow captain Mkristo Bruce won the award for his five-sack performance at Stanford in September.

UCLA QB injured

Ben Olson waited nearly five years to become a starting college quarterback. Now the 23-year-old UCLA sophomore will miss the toughest portion of the Bruins’ schedule because of a knee injury.

Olson sprained his knee in the first quarter of Saturday’s 27-7 victory over Arizona at the Rose Bowl when his left leg was rolled on after a pass.

He had an MRI on Monday, which showed a torn medial collateral ligament. Olson will be sidelined four to six weeks, a UCLA spokesman said.

Patrick Cowan, effective after Olson went out, will get his first start Saturday when the Bruins visit No. 18 Oregon.

“It’s unfortunate it had to happen like this,” Cowan said following the Arizona game.

The Bruins (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10) and Ducks (4-1, 2-1) are tied for third in the Pac-10 with Washington and Washington State.

“We need another week of improvement going up to Eugene,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “We still aren’t quite at our potential yet.”

After Oregon, the Bruins are at No. 9 Notre Dame and visit No. 10 California on Nov. 4.

Olson could possibly return in time for the final three games – Oregon State on Nov. 11, Arizona State on Nov. 18 and rival Southern California on Dec. 2.

Olson, who beat out Cowan in training camp, had spent a redshirt season at BYU, two years on a Mormon mission in Canada and one season as a reserve at UCLA.