Building Momentum ...

by Nestor on Dec 26, 2006 7:14 PM PST in Football

Slowly catching up with the boilerplate articles all the beat reporters are writing about tomorrow's big football game. As I expected, in a majority of these articles (like this one from Dohn), the beat reporters are profiling Bobbie Bowden. They are writing about what a legend he is (which is not news), what a tough season the FSU program is going through (again which is not news), and lots of articles about how a local boy like Lorenzo Booker (who has had a decent college career without living up to the unrealistic expectations heaped upon him by all the recruiting gurus). But so far, this is the only article that actually sums up what is at stake for the Bruin football program tomorrow night (emphasis mine):

Less than four weeks after UCLA's biggest victory of the Coach Karl Dorrell era, the Bruins will get a chance to make a statement for next season with Wednesday night's game against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park.

A victory would give UCLA an 8-5 record and a four-game winning streak to finish the year. But more important, a win probably would land the Bruins a spot in the top 25 heading into the 2007 season.

"If we win this game, with a number of guys coming back next year, we should be looked upon favorably in the conference as being a factor next year," said Dorrell of the Bruins, who gained national attention with their upset win Dec. 2 over Rose Bowl-bound USC.

But a loss against the 6-6 Seminoles also would make a statement for the Bruins, who have struggled with consistency since Dorrell took over the program four years ago.

"If we lose this game, then the SC game meant nothing," UCLA junior middle linebacker Christian Taylor said. "To me, that's the biggest thing. We've won our last few games, but if we lose our last game of the season, we're not going in the right direction heading into the off-season.

"It can be a wake-up call, but it's not what you want. It's not good for anything. ... It's not good for notoriety. It's not good for preseason rankings. It's not good for recruiting. It's not good for the overall mentality of your program."

Taylor gets it. And that's good news. He is one of the team leaders in this defensive. Hopefully, the rest of his teammates will take his cue, and put together a great performance tomorrow night. This program needs it badly to build on the positive feelings from December 2.

Bruins need a total win tomorrow night. Anything short of that will lead to yet another off season of questions and second guessing at the end of Dorrell's fourth year in Westwood. There is going to be lot at stake for this program tomorrow night. Let's hope they get the job done.

GO BRUINS.

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Comments

Well...

If the "Luck of the Irish" didn't get UCLA then beating FSU would have been "9 wins and Beat SC".

I'll be "mildy" satisfied with "8 wins and beat SC".

I got this years pre season mantra already...

"10 wins and Beat SC".

The only reason I put 10 instead of 12 is because UCLA the last 2 years has had "Major" inj. to key players

For example
2005 DT Kevin Brown
2006 QB Ben Olson

GO Bruins!! Beat FSU!!!

http://www.tomahawknation.com/story/2006/12/25/181529/94#commenttop

Paragon SC is still licking his wounds!!!

It must "SUC" to be a Toejam!!!!!

Go Bruins!!!!!

by uclabruins05 @ Bruins Nation on Dec 27, 2006 12:19 AM PST reply actions

lol

yeah saw that comment. Pretty hapless that he has to bad mouth UCLA football on a FSU blog. Who is obsessed with whom? Whatever.

I think for next year the mantra should be win the Pac-10 and beat Southern Cal. I don't care how many win it takes next year - KD needs to get it done.

by Nestor on Dec 27, 2006 4:43 AM PST up reply actions