Arizona - First Look
by Nestor on Oct 3, 2006 5:20 AM PDT
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PrintThe Bruins don't need much to get fired up for this weekend's game against Arizona. A sneak peak at this video will do:
That of course followed Dorrell's debacle in the desert. Dohn leads off his UCLA's report recounting last year's disgraceful performance (no. 1):
It was a monumental 10-win season, punctuated by mind-numbing comebacks, but there was the one, unexplainable non-effort that remains unfathomable at UCLA. And it wasn't the blowout loss to USC.
The Bruins went into Tucson, Ariz., with an 8-0 mark and ranked No. 7 in the nation last year. They left embarrassed beyond comprehension, losing 52-14 to an Arizona team that was 2-6 at the time. It was possibly the most shocking result (based on records and margin of victory) of the college season.
Arizona was a horrible team last season, and they are not any better this year either. As I mentioned yesterday their offense is atrocious, ranked no. 109 in the nation. Dohn has more on the sad state of Mildcats' offense:
The Bruins went into Tucson, Ariz., with an 8-0 mark and ranked No. 7 in the nation last year. They left embarrassed beyond comprehension, losing 52-14 to an Arizona team that was 2-6 at the time. It was possibly the most shocking result (based on records and margin of victory) of the college season.
Since the bashing of the Bruins, Stoops is 2-5, and this season is close to sliding away after a 2-3 start, including 0-2 in the Pacific-10.
Quarterback Willie Tuitama is completing 71 of 129 (55percent) for 775 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions. The Wildcats' running game, which amassed 315 yards against the Bruins last season, is averaging 68.4 yards per game (113th of 119 nationally).
But the rushing total is skewed by the 263 yards against Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin. In its other four games combined, Arizona rushed for 79yards.
And it looks like DeWayne Walker and his players realize they should be able to handle Arizona, just the way they handled Stanford. They are expecting another defensive shutout this Saturday:Quarterback Willie Tuitama is completing 71 of 129 (55percent) for 775 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions. The Wildcats' running game, which amassed 315 yards against the Bruins last season, is averaging 68.4 yards per game (113th of 119 nationally).
But the rushing total is skewed by the 263 yards against Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin. In its other four games combined, Arizona rushed for 79yards.
The Bruins have not posted back-to-back shutouts since 1980, when they beat Wisconsin, 35-0, then went on the road and beat then-No.2 Ohio State, 17-0. But with Arizona coming to the Rose Bowl on Saturday, the Bruins appear to be set up to extend their run of big defensive performances - they have held all four opponents to fewer than 300 yards of total offense.
The Wildcats are last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense, averaging 12.5 points per game. Take out a 28-10 victory over Stephen F. Austin, a Division I-AA team, and that average falls to 8.0 points per game.
Arizona is last in the conference in rushing offense, with 87.2 yards per game and last in passing offense, with 154.2 yards per game.
"The goal is to get a shutout every week, but that's hard to do in the Pac-10. We'll have to watch the film and see what we see," Hickman said.
The Bruins have extra incentive - the Wildcats crushed them, 52-14, last season when UCLA was 8-0 and ranked seventh in the nation. But the Bruins' defensive play stands out and has carried them to this point - the Bruins allowed the Cardinal four plays on their side of the field and held Stanford to 49 rushing yards and 166 yards of total offense.
In other words we should expect another dominating performance from the defense against 'Zona. It will be a disappointment if Stoops' clowns break into double digits against the No. 3 defense in the country this Saturday. We will have more on 'Zona later today.The Wildcats are last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense, averaging 12.5 points per game. Take out a 28-10 victory over Stephen F. Austin, a Division I-AA team, and that average falls to 8.0 points per game.
Arizona is last in the conference in rushing offense, with 87.2 yards per game and last in passing offense, with 154.2 yards per game.
"The goal is to get a shutout every week, but that's hard to do in the Pac-10. We'll have to watch the film and see what we see," Hickman said.
The Bruins have extra incentive - the Wildcats crushed them, 52-14, last season when UCLA was 8-0 and ranked seventh in the nation. But the Bruins' defensive play stands out and has carried them to this point - the Bruins allowed the Cardinal four plays on their side of the field and held Stanford to 49 rushing yards and 166 yards of total offense.
Elsewhere, Lonnie White has a report on the running game, which is getting cranked up a little thanks to playing some bad to mediocre defenses in its first four games. We still have not seen a dominating performance from this bunch, as it failed to go over 200 yards against a unit, which was giving up more than 300 yards on the ground in its last game. We will see if the offense finally comes out clicking in all cylinders, and actually scoring TDs in the red zone in the first half, this Saturday. Since that first game Utah (a team which now looks totally over hyped), Bruins are yet to put together a complete game. Doing it against a team that embarrassed them in front of the whole nation would be a good start.
GO BRUINS.
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What kills me
about the running game is we just faced the 119th ranked team vs the run in the nation (Stanford). Stanford's plan against us was to drop 8. So we... pass? We can't simply run over the worst run defense in the NCAA? O.K.
by kauwildman on Oct 3, 2006 1:46 PM PDT reply actions
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