Late in the game with time running down and all hopes of a comeback extinguished, the wife asked me, “Who CAN we beat in the Pac Ten?”
(Long pause)
I responded apprehensively, “Umm…maybe Washington State.” After three weeks of conference play, it’s clear who UCLA didn’t beat, which makes the question of whether we can or can’t beat these teams we’ve played a moot point. The Bruins lost to Stanford; they’ve lost to Oregon. Now they’ve lost to Cal, which begs the next question: why are the Bruins losing?
The first three nonconference victories gave both Bruin students and alumni hope that Coach Rick Neuheisel was ahead of schedule in developing the entity that is UCLA football: easy win over San Diego State, tough, grinding victory in hostile territory at Tennessee, anxious but satisfying performance in besting a mediocre K-State squad. Conference play is at another level, however, one which the Bruins have not yet reached. The key so far has been a penchant for yielding big plays, many more than the Bruins have so far made themselves. Two weeks ago at Stanford, big pass plays twice led to touchdowns. Last Saturday, a Ducks kickoff return for a touchdown followed shortly by an interception returned for another six Oregon points totally deflated the Rose Bowl crowd and put the Bruins in a hole too deep for either freshman QB to rescue them. Against Cal, the usually stalwart Bruin defense gave up more scores than Lincoln mentioned in his Gettysburg Address, allowing TD passes of 24, 43 and 51 yards and scoring runs of 42 and 93 yards to the visiting Golden Bears.
Normally the Bruin offense bears equal blame for failing to keep the defense off the field; this week their numbers were much improved. UCLA gamely hung in while playing catch-up all afternoon, with the Fresh (man) Prince (Kevin) of Westwood throwing for over 300 yards and running back Jonathan Franklin scoring on runs of seven and 74 yards. The Bruins faced deficits of 14-0, 21-7, 28-14, and 35-17 before the contest was even half over, but this time the roles were reversed as the offense kept the team from getting blown out; in the recent past, the defense has borne the burden. Prince even got the Bruins in position to tack on three more before intermission on a quick drive at the end of the second quarter that resulted in a 39-yard field goal to get within 35-20.
The Bruin defense kept Cal out of the end zone the entire second half, but the most significant fact about two Bruin field goals in the third quarter is that they were not two touchdowns. Cal added a trey of their own to maintain a 38-26 lead after three, so UCLA would need to cross the goal line twice to overcome. Although UCLA worked frantically to trim their deficit (unlike certain government leaders), the only scoring in the fourth was a Cal interception of a Prince pass returned 68 yards, making it 45-26, which was the final.
UCLA (3-3, 0-3 in the Pac Ten) travels to Tucson next weekend to take their fourth shot at getting their first conference victory. The Wildcats defeated Stanford Saturday night to improve to 4-2, 2-1 in conference. The Wildcats also defeated a ranked Oregon State team but lost to the Huskies, who are the only team to knock off the Trojans this season. It is highly improbable that the Bruins will go 0-9 in conference play, as both offensive and defensive units made plenty of good plays throughout the game. The “D” has performed well most of the year; when they got burned against Cal, it was of the third-degree variety. Prince is still a freshman learning on the job, which means the disastrous throws will occur now and then. Sooner or later, both units will raise their game on the same day and post a “W,” hopefully sooner.
<fernm...@gmail.com> wrote: >Late in the game with time running down and all hopes of a comeback >extinguished, the wife asked me, “Who CAN we beat in the Pac Ten?”
>(Long pause)
>I responded apprehensively, “Umm…maybe Washington State.” After three >weeks of conference play, it’s clear who UCLA didn’t beat, which makes >the question of whether we can or can’t beat these teams we’ve played >a moot point. The Bruins lost to Stanford; they’ve lost to Oregon. Now >they’ve lost to Cal, which begs the next question: why are the Bruins >losing?
>The first three nonconference victories gave both Bruin students and >alumni hope that Coach Rick Neuheisel was ahead of schedule in >developing the entity that is UCLA football: easy win over San Diego >State, tough, grinding victory in hostile territory at Tennessee, >anxious but satisfying performance in besting a mediocre K-State >squad. Conference play is at another level, however, one which the >Bruins have not yet reached. The key so far has been a penchant for >yielding big plays, many more than the Bruins have so far made >themselves. Two weeks ago at Stanford, big pass plays twice led to >touchdowns. Last Saturday, a Ducks kickoff return for a touchdown >followed shortly by an interception returned for another six Oregon >points totally deflated the Rose Bowl crowd and put the Bruins in a >hole too deep for either freshman QB to rescue them. Against Cal, the >usually stalwart Bruin defense gave up more scores than Lincoln >mentioned in his Gettysburg Address, allowing TD passes of 24, 43 and >51 yards and scoring runs of 42 and 93 yards to the visiting Golden >Bears.
>Normally the Bruin offense bears equal blame for failing to keep the >defense off the field; this week their numbers were much improved. >UCLA gamely hung in while playing catch-up all afternoon, with the >Fresh (man) Prince (Kevin) of Westwood throwing for over 300 yards and >running back Jonathan Franklin scoring on runs of seven and 74 yards. >The Bruins faced deficits of 14-0, 21-7, 28-14, and 35-17 before the >contest was even half over, but this time the roles were reversed as >the offense kept the team from getting blown out; in the recent past, >the defense has borne the burden. Prince even got the Bruins in >position to tack on three more before intermission on a quick drive at >the end of the second quarter that resulted in a 39-yard field goal to >get within 35-20.
>The Bruin defense kept Cal out of the end zone the entire second half, >but the most significant fact about two Bruin field goals in the third >quarter is that they were not two touchdowns. Cal added a trey of >their own to maintain a 38-26 lead after three, so UCLA would need to >cross the goal line twice to overcome. Although UCLA worked >frantically to trim their deficit (unlike certain government leaders), >the only scoring in the fourth was a Cal interception of a Prince pass >returned 68 yards, making it 45-26, which was the final.
>UCLA (3-3, 0-3 in the Pac Ten) travels to Tucson next weekend to take >their fourth shot at getting their first conference victory. The >Wildcats defeated Stanford Saturday night to improve to 4-2, 2-1 in >conference. The Wildcats also defeated a ranked Oregon State team but >lost to the Huskies, who are the only team to knock off the Trojans >this season. It is highly improbable that the Bruins will go 0-9 in >conference play, as both offensive and defensive units made plenty of >good plays throughout the game. The “D” has performed well most of the >year; when they got burned against Cal, it was of the third-degree >variety. Prince is still a freshman learning on the job, which means >the disastrous throws will occur now and then. Sooner or later, both >units will raise their game on the same day and post a “W,” hopefully >sooner.
Two years ago the Bruins were more like a bear rug than a baby blue shirted teddy bear. They have played their way up to mediocrity. With a similar improvement next year's team should be good.
Now, in an alcohol induced hallucination you become a Coog. Ok, wake up. Don't you feel better that you're not a Coog anymore?
Fernando wrote: > Late in the game with time running down and all hopes of a comeback > extinguished, the wife asked me, “Who CAN we beat in the Pac Ten?”
> (Long pause)
> I responded apprehensively, “Umm…maybe Washington State.”
Well, we "can" beat our next five opponents without a doubt. Doesn't mean we will, but we certainly have as much talent as all of those teams... These last three weeks are a bit depressing, but a tough roadie and two home games in which we were overmatched, while no fun, are no reasons for overreaction.
Certainly, there's only one "sure" win (I would hope) remaining on the schedule, but in the rest of the games save the last one, we'll either be favored or a slight underdog.
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