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Pregame Guesses: Arizona State
by Achilles on Nov 20, 2009 1:21 PM PST
in Football
38 comments
We're 5-5.
But we don't feel 5-5, do we?
I can't speak for any of you, the five game losing streak really took a lot out of me.
What I mean is, if you had told me before the season that UCLA would be 5-5 going into the Arizona State game and riding a two game winning streak at that, I would have taken it. I guess I would have figured on at least one non-conference loss, probably Tennessee because it was a road game for us and revenge game for the Volunteers. And I also would have figured at least one win out of Cal, Oregon and Stanford. But it didn't play out that way.
Instead, we took care of business against a relatively weak non-conference schedule, then rolled off the table during an October from Hell in which we lost five straight games.
38 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona State is counting on the sophomore quarterback also being electric when he makes his first start Saturday against UCLA at the Rose Bowl, less than a one-hour drive from where he grew up.
Coach Dennis Erickson confirmed the expected after practice Thursday - that Szakacsy would be ASU's second first-time starting quarterback in as many weeks and third overall in a 4-6 season.
"It's one of those years where we've gone through some things," Erickson said. "At the end of spring, Samson was competing for that No. 1 (job), and he never really got a chance to do anything until his arm was healthy enough. It's more an opportunity with him at full strength compared to half strength."
about 4 hours ago
Nestor
0 comments
0 recs
Spaulding Roundup: UCLA On The Brink
by Nestor on Nov 20, 2009 5:42 AM PST
in Football
18 comments
About 32 hours to go till the biggest football game of the season. This has been one of those weeks when I was wishing for football game to be on Thursday night on ESPN. I was thinking when was the last time Bruins had this kind of opportunity to seize total control of momentum heading into that last regular game of the season. The game I keep thinking back to is the one against Washington Huskies in 19978?
Do you guys remember that Washington game from 978? IIRC Brock Huard was the QB for the Huskies at the time while number 18 was of course marshaling the offense on our side. Heading into that game everyone had that sense. Something special was going on with our program. Our offense was showing signs of clicking on all cylinders as Cade was in total control. Long's defense was flying around the field. I wasn't at the game but I remember when ABC's camera zoomed in with the aerial shot. There were about 80,000+ Bruins fans waving towls and going berserk making the Rose Bowl sound as loud as I have ever heard. That was the game when everything came together. Cade was flying around decking Husky LBers in his classic roll outs while Brian Willmer and co. were just demolishing Huard into the turf. Up until that game Bruins always found a way to choke whenever they had opportunities to seize momentum but they came through in a huge way, blowing out the Huskies by a score of 51-21.
Well there is no way I see the Bruins blowing out the Sun Devils. I think getting a W tomorrow is going to be a huge battle. However, I do think this year's Bruins have an opportunity to recapture some of that magic from 98 (while making a season ending run following 5 game losing streak ala 92). All season we haven't had a game in which both the offense and defense clicked together at the same time. I can't think of a better occassion than senior day at the Rose Bowl, so that kids like ATV, Carter, Austin, Bosworth brothers, and Paulsen finally getting rid of some of the pains from Dorrell years. Tomorrow's game is so huge. It will put us on the brink to make that charge we all have been hoping to see signs of. We are all thristy and desperate for it and I am praying our guys can come out and play with the ultimate urgency. Our guys - at least on paper - during this game week have sounded like having the right mindset heading into Saturday. More on that after the jump.
18 comments | 0 recs |
On the eve of UCLA's biggest regular game of the season the LAT has a feature on the MJD. Following excerpts give us a glimpse of classic MJD:
So when a cluster of New York Jets fans taunted him before Sunday's game at the Meadowlands with a singsong chant of "Over-rated! Over-rated!" this 5-foot-7 Elmo impostor was -- what else? -- tickled.
"It got pretty bad; they almost rattled me," the former UCLA standout said. "I just went over to them and I was like, 'You know what, man, I'm just happy you know my name. Thank you. You've helped me out so much today.' They just looked at me and started laughing.
"It's funny. Kill them with kindness. That's how you stop a trash talker."
And then he just bowls over the opponent on the football field. HT to What's Bruin Blog for directing us to that nice piece.
GO BRUINS.
about 13 hours ago
Nestor
3 comments
0 recs
ESPN's Ted Miller Debunks LA Times UCLA Beat Reporter's Latest Hitjob On Rick Neuheisel
by Nestor on Nov 19, 2009 3:32 PM PST
in Media Watch
24 comments
I am sure many of you have already read the latest piece of trashy reporting from Chris Foster today in the LA Times. Chris Foster is the same beat reporter who has been pushing misinformation on Stan Hasiak in recent weeks.
Well today Mr. Foster wrote a huge story on - get this - a college football head coach (who was a former Rose Bowl champion/MVP quarterback) being tough on his QBs! It's an epic piece for the LA Times. They had their UCLA beat reporter (who hasn't provided anything of substance on UCLA's upcoming opponent on what is shaping up to be the biggest regular season game to date) write up 1,109 word novel on how UCLA head football coach communicates with his quarterbacks.
It's huge expose! Foster tried to get something negative out of both Kevins (Craft and Prince) on Neuheisel but neither Prince nor Craft bit on Foster's gotcha game (no link for trashy articles per BN rules so I am just going to bold the parts I would have linked if it were a legitimate news story):
"It took me a little bit of time to understand why Coach Neuheisel does that," says Kevin Craft, who was often the object of red-faced, drill-sergeant-like rants when he was the starter last season. "He's passionate about this and wants to coach us, and he's doing it in a manner that it's on you." [...]
"You just have to play like you know how and accept the criticism when things go wrong," Prince says. "That's the way Coach Neuheisel coaches. He gets riled up and wants to win badly."
So then Chris tried to get something juicy out of former UCLA QBs. Unfortunately for the so called beat reporter, the former Bruin QBs essentially validated what CRN has been doing by comparing him to legendary Homer Smith (the best OC UCLA had in last 20-30 years prior to arrvial of Norm Chow):
"Homer Smith demanded you soak up knowledge," says former Bruins quarterback Tom Ramsey, who entered UCLA with Neuheisel in 1979.
"You not only had to know what 11 guys were doing on the field, you had to know what all 22 guys were doing. If you didn't, you weren't going to be on the roster."
So nothing there either. So Foster then called up CRN's former QB at Colorado to find out whether he would dish out some dirt on CRN:
Hessler remembers that in 1995, after he threw for five touchdowns in his college debut, an upset over 10th-ranked Oklahoma, Neuheisel told him, "You deserve it, kid. You deserve all this."
But then, two years later against Michigan, a national television audience watched the coach rail at his quarterback before Hessler even got to the sideline.
"We had a love-hate relationship for a long time," Hessler says. "He chewed on me harder than any steak I have ever chewed on. It's because he expects a ton."
Well nothing unusual there either. So then Foster tried to dial up another former CRN coached QB and OMG looky here apparently he found some dirt!:
Another former Neuheisel quarterback doesn't seem as forgiving. Toronto Argonauts quarterback Cody Pickett, who played four seasons for Neuheisel at Washington, declined to be interviewed for this story, saying through a team official that he was uncomfortable talking about his former coach.
Oh man. There it is! Did you catch it?! Neuheisel's former QB is not "forgiving"!! The LA Trojan Times found the big scoop!.
[Serious news face via MainStreet Photo Galleries]
So Chris Found this huge scoop! Apparently one of Neuheisel's former QB is not so "forgiving" for the interaction he had with CRN during his time at Washington. Except uhm not so much per Ted Miller on ESPN, who covered Neuehisel for years when he was the beat reporter for Washington Huskies (HT to Centric.):
I covered the Huskies when Cody Pickett was the quarterback, and I don't recall Neuheisel being terribly hard on Pickett. What I do remember is Pickett hating interviews, which strikes me as a more likely reason he turned down an LA Times interview request.
So what's next?
Will the Los Angeles Trojan Times sports editor issue another update or correction to fix the latest bit of shoddy reporting hitjob on Rick Neuheisel's football program?
GO BRUINS.
24 comments | 0 recs |
Spaulding Roundup: Arizona State Corner Back: "[W]e Will Beat UCLA" (And Other Game Week Notes)
by Nestor on Nov 19, 2009 6:00 AM PST
in Football
5 comments
We have talked a lot about how big this Saturday's game is for UCLA. On the other side ASU is treating the game with same sense of urgency. They are also getting a little fired up about rest of their season starting with UCLA:
"To take the fall that we have been taking for the last couple of weeks, we are doing pretty good," the redshirt freshman cornerback (Devon Carr) said Tuesday. "I still haven't seen anyone walking around the halls moping. … I still see positive energy within my team. I believe we will beat UCLA."
Carr is not the only one who thinks so. ASU players came off the practice field Tuesday giddy after coach Dennis Erickson's we-have-something-to-play-for speech.
"We got a two-game season," Erickson said, referring to Saturday's game in Pasadena, Calif., and the next week against Arizona. "Our kids have a lot of pride."
Good for the Sun Devils. I have no doubt those guys are going to be breathing fire when they come out on the field on Saturday. At the same time I also think our guys are going to remember what took place last time UCLA took on ASU:
UCLA held Arizona State to 122 yards last season but lost, 34-9, when the Sun Devils returned three interceptions and one fumble for touchdowns at Tempe. "It was a hard film to watch this week," Neuheisel said.
Painful indeed. It will be awesome if our defense can match the performance from last year's effort against ASU. This time the Sun Devils will have a different QB though and right now even though Erickson is being coy about it signs point to Sam Szakacsy as the starter for Saturday. Again, I said it yesterday and I will reinforce it again this am. This is a huge game for Chuck Bullough. We need his defense to come through and make a statement on Saturday with a strong performance from start to finish.
The numbers we put up against Washington State were nice. However, we also have to be realistic about putting up "good" numbers against a team like the Cougars. Doesn't really count for much except for gaiining some measure of confidence and sense of momentum. To hold on to that momentum, we need our defense to play with the same sense of aggression they did during the second half against Jake Locker and the Huskies when they were bringing pressure from different directions. More after the jump.
5 comments | 0 recs |
Wildcat and the UCLA Running Game
by jtthirtyfour on Nov 19, 2009 4:33 AM PST
6 comments
Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N
I meant to do this last week but I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of the UCLA-Washington game until now. So here's a look at some of the plays UCLA ran against UW and earlier from the Wildcat package. I did not get to see the WSU game, and don't have a copy, but from what I heard they used it there as well. For some background see this article on the Power, Zone, and the Wildcat - what Cal did against USC is pretty much what UCLA has been doing the past month or so.
What the Wildcat Is and Is Not
Against UW UCLA lined up unbalanced - with a tackle uncovered.
QB.................................TE...T...G...C...G...T...................
...........WR.......................................................................................RB
.........................................FB
.........................................................RB
The right tackle is eligible, the TE is not as he is covered by the QB. Some teams will swap the RT for the TE, to hide the TE on the right side and two tackles on the left for extra muscle. From what I saw UCLA did not, as this way you are not committing 100% to running to the left.
Fly motion is the speed sweeper coming across, timed so that he crosses the man receiving the snap just before the ball gets there. He is the key to the Wildcat, as without this, you just have a back lined up in shotgun. With this player there is an immediate threat to the outside the moment the ball is snapped, and the defense has to respect that.
The most obvious trait is the running back behind center and the QB split wide. The reason why teams leave the QB on the field is that it doesn't tip off their hand until they line up. However I think that this is the least important aspect of the series. If you have an athletic QB, you can leave your QB behind center and run the Wildcat, or you can take him off the field completely and run the Wildcat - doesn't matter, he does not make the series go. You just need someone who can not only run but take a hit back there to receive the snap. On TV they will call Wildcat every time a back is lined up to receive the snap, but that doesn't automatically make it a Wildcat - for example, some teams just snap it to a back and let him run, that's just called getting the ball to an athlete and letting him work.
The least obvious trait, but the most important, in my opinion, is the series-based approach. You have plays that complement each other. The Wildcat is not a formation, play, or substitution package; it's a series. Much like you have the series of inside zone, outside zone, bootleg off a zone look, playaction rollout off a zone look - you have plays that begin with the same action (fly sweep across the formation) and several different options afterwards. The Wildcat works because you can run your base play of power up the middle a few times until the defense cheats in, give on a speed sweep to force them to respect the outside, run counter to force them to respect the backside, and then pound it up the middle on your base power play again. If you have a PA pass installed you can use that as well, but for a series like this I don't even think you need to go that far unless you plan to use it heavily.
The Wildcat is not a trick play or a gimmick - it is structurally sound, possibly moreso than a inside zone run play where you are bootlegging your QB out and counting on him being able to draw attention from the backside DE. It uses all the same basic schemes that teams use, like power and zone. I think that people who don't really understand what is going on are against it because they don't really understand it - but if you take a look it isn't really a giant shift from what teams have been doing the past decade. If you watch the Dolphins at all, they have almost brought the Wildcat series full-circle, and brought that 4th trait to what almost looks like a conventional NFL offense minus the personnel substitutions, and if/when Pat White takes over it basically will be a conventional NFL offense based on the speed sweep with an athlete at QB.
6 comments | 7 recs |
Bruins Find Bats As Blue-Gold World Series Game 2 Goes To The Blues
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 19, 2009 4:31 AM PST
2 comments
After the Blue and Gold teams combined for just six hits and one run in the first game of the Blue-Gold World Series, game two's 15 hit, nine run output seemed like an explosion. A tightly contested game turned in the sixth inning of the seven inning contest with a little small ball and a big hit as the Blues were victorious over the White team (who wore Gold Monday), 6-3.
The Blues were first to strike, picking up a pair in the bottom of the first. A pair of walks to lead off the inning, issued by Scott Griggs put Beau Amaral and Tyler Rahmatulla on to behind the inning. Following a pair of pop ups, Cody Keefer singled through the left side to plate Amaral and put the Blues up, 1-0. Griggs then threw two balls to Matt Mosher and was pulled in the middle of the at-bat, having reached his pitch limit. This brought Chase Brewer, younger brother of former UCLA pitcher Charles, into the game and he balked in another run, giving the Blues ahead 2-0 after one.
2 comments | 1 recs
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Bruins Football Schedule
| San Diego St. | Sat 09/05 | W 33 - 14 |
@
Tennessee
|
Sat 09/12 | W 19 - 15 |
|
Kansas St.
|
Sat 09/19 | W 23 - 9 |
| @ Stanford | Sat 10/03 | L 16 - 24 |
|
Oregon
|
Sat 10/10 | L 10 - 24 |
|
California
|
Sat 10/17 | L 26 - 45 |
|
@
Arizona
|
Sat 10/24 | L 13 - 27 |
|
@
Oregon St.
|
Sat 10/31 | L 19 - 26 |
|
Washington
|
Sat 11/07 | W 24 - 23 |
|
@
Washington St.
|
Sat 11/14 | W 43 - 7 |
|
Arizona St.
|
Sat 11/21 | 1:00 PM PST |
|
@
USC
|
Sat 11/28 | 7:00 PM PST |
Next Game
Bruins Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
| Cal State Bakersfield | Fri 11/20 | 7:30 PM PST |
| Pepperdine | Mon 11/23 | 8:00 PM PST |
| Portland | Thu 11/26 | 7:30 PM PST |
|
Kansas
|
Sun 12/06 | 2:30 PM PST |
| Mississippi St. | Sat 12/12 | 1:30 PM PST |
Last 5 Games
| Cal. St.-Fullerton | Mon 11/16 | L 65 - 68 |
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