Simmer down now ... Sunday roundup (UPDATED)

by Nestor on Sep 18, 2005 8:15 AM PDT in Football

UPDATED:Not sure how I missed Dufresne's article, but it is now incorporated in this roundup. - N

Folks at Morgan Center didn't waste any time. They are already using a win over the worst team of Bob Stoops era as some kind of sign that everything is all right in Westwood. As O pointed out below the fact is Bruins still not have beaten a team with winning record this season. Karl Dorrell is still 1-10 against team with better than .500 record, yet the Dorrell's minions and apologists are already using this win over a hapless Sooners team with a first year starter and gimpy Peterson, as "validation" of Dorrell's system. And who better than Bill Plaschke, the VILLAGE IDIOT of LA MSM to suck up the official spin, having an orgasm over yesterday's win over a less than average football team:

With a 3-0 record and a schedule that is mostly as gentle as a Pasadena breeze, they are top-10 close, big-bowl close and, most important in this town, finally-worth-watching close.

This wasn't just a win, it was Revenge of the Nerd, an endorsement of everything Dorrell has espoused during three tricky seasons that have been spent with one hand on a grease board and the other one holding off various blue Hawaiian-shirted alumni.

"This game was a validation of our system," said Dan Guerrero, Bruin athletic director. "It was a validation of Karl's ability to coach in a big game."

Not to mention, it showed how well a man can move with a game plan stuck down the front of his pants.

Wow! That has me convinced. Dorrell is the answer. We are going to jump to that conclusion before UCLA has ... you know ... play a decent team this season? Fortunately, Plaschke's colleague in the Times, Chris Dufresne hasn't lost sense of reality underscoring the mediocrity of the Sooner team, that came into the Rose Bowl yesterday:

Lost in the eight-clap euphoria of UCLA's 41-24 win over Oklahoma on Saturday was the question of exactly what it was UCLA beat.

Was it the storied team that went 12-0 in the regular season last year or the one that, two weeks ago, lost to Texas Christian?

This was hardly the Oklahoma squad that routed UCLA two years ago in Norman (not the same UCLA team, either).

This was not the Oklahoma that, last time it played in Pasadena, trounced Washington State in the 2003 Rose Bowl.

The Oklahoma team that lost to UCLA on Saturday started a freshman at quarterback and exhibited a confounded, almost discombobulated, look.

The Sooner Schooner, at least for the moment, has gone wheels over wagon into a ditch.

Yeap, the fact of the matter is Sooners are great program with a horrible football team this season. Sure they may improve, but it is quiet possible they may struggle to win 6 games and be bowl eligible out of the tough Big-12 conference. And, it would be down right idiotic to jump to some kind of conclusion about Dorrell being a good coach, before he has played a good football team like California and ASU this season. If Dorrell is indeed a good coach, the Bruins should be looking to go 10-0 before the SC game, going undefeated at the Rose Bowl, and beating up on sorry Stanford, Arizona and Washington State teams (only road games away from Los Angeles) this season. And talking about going 10-0 is not crazy talk given the immense talent in this team, and the creampuff schedule we lined up for this season. Bisheff of the OC Register is sensing the possibility of going 10-0:

Drew, the junior who had suffered almost as much as his head coach for the past two seasons, took a moment to contemplate what this will do for UCLA's future.

"It means everything," the little tailback said.

It even means, if you really want to fantasize for a moment, that the Bruins, with their easiest schedule in years, could be undefeated when they meet You-Know-Who Dec. 3.

"That's a long ways away," said Olson with a smile.

Yeap a long ways away, we all need to simmer down, and luckily for Bruins Nation readers of our community has the ability to maintain a reality based perspective unlike douchebags like Bill Plaschke. By the way speaking of simmering down, Plaschke's colleague was the post-game press conference, eating some crow courtesy of Maurice Drew.

Photo credit: Alex Gallardo (LA Times)

There were some encouraging signs from yesterday's win that bodes well for rest of the season. As Brian Dohn notes, crucial were the performances of our defensive line (and defense) who held (a gimpy) Adrian Peterson to less than 60 yards rushing, and of Drew Olson, the senior seasoned QB, who possibly had the best game of his career, completing 28 passes, including several 3rd down conversions, and engineering key long drives in 3rd and 4th quarters. Here are also the game wrap ups from Lonnie White (LA Times) and Robert Kuwada (Register). Besides the DO, two other key performers from yesterday were Marcus Everett who picked up for injured Junior Taylor, and FS Dennis Keyes who delivered the bone jarring hit on Rhett Bomar, leading to fumble and Havner TD. LA Times has reports on these youngsters post game thoughts here and here.

We are going to have lot more on this game and rest of the season later, as we now have two weeks to chew on a 3-0 record against teams with 1-7 w/l record. At this point we are not going to face any real test until we take on Kal in about 3 weekends. And considering how mediocre Kal looked yesterday against Karl Dorrell of Florida (Ron Zook), the expectation should be nothing less than starting out this season 5-0. GO BRUINS.

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Manual Trackback Link #2 from Cheap Seats

Again, can't find a trackback link, so here goes:

Blog: Cheap Seats
Post Title: Weekend Wrap-Up: "16 de Septiembre" edition
Link: http://rdbaker.blogspot.com/2005/09/weekend-wrap-up-16-de-septiembre.html
Summary:
In keeping with the theme of the Mexican Holiday, there is much upheaval in college football. A round up of the Big 12, Texas D1-A teams, our adopted team Tulane, blog recaps, Steelers-Texans, plus a Monday Night Dilemma.

by rdbaker on Sep 19, 2005 3:19 PM PDT reply actions