Bruin Fans Eviscerate the "Thinker" (Letters to LAT)

by Nestor on Dec 30, 2006 9:18 AM PST in Football Comment 9 comments

Looks like the conversation in our Bruins Nation is having an effect. There are quite a few letters in the LAT today wrt to Bruin football, and no one will mistake them with words of approval for the thinker of college football. Larry Larson from Torrance writes:

Did you hear the story about the football coach who had the top high school quarterback in the nation on his team, but chose to play a quarterback whose favorite target was the ground?

Needless to say, that football coach and his team got slaughtered by a mediocre Florida State team.

You can find this story in the fiction section of your local bookstore. It is obvious that you wouldn't find it in the nonfiction section because a plot like this would never really happen.

From David Veit at Pomona:

Florida State's spectacular Emerald Bowl fourth quarter masks when UCLA truly lost the game -- with 2:38 to go in the first half and fourth and one on Florida State's two-yard line. That's when the "coach" opted for a gimme field goal instead of inspiring the offense to rise to the challenge.

Why be chicken ... I mean, conservative? The UCLA offense had been running all over the Florida State defense, especially in the last two series. It's a bowl game, a time to cast off caution and display leadership.

So what if they don't make it? You're up by seven. Going for it, at best, yields a touchdown or at least four more tries from the one-yard line; at worst the opponent is pinned back at its own two-yard line with just over two minutes to play in the half.

Instead, the message sent by the "coach" to the offense was: You can't pick up one yard. The message sent to the defense was: You can't keep a 6-6 team from going 98 yards in two minutes.

The seeds of defeat were sown by the lack of courage and leadership of the coach, long before the other team got hot.

From Wayne Cutler in Los Angeles:

I know that this is going to hurt all of us UCLA fans, but the win against USC was a fluke.

The real UCLA team showed up at the Emerald Bowl. A team that can't win on the road, can't win against good coaches and played old-time UCLA defense, which is no defense at all. Dorrell's "new season" ended the way his "old season" did -- with a loss. Still think Dorrell should be retained? I don't!

And also from Los Angeles here is Joel Rapp:

The time has come to retire the word "gutty" when referring to the UCLA Bruins and Coach Karl Dorrell. Henceforth, substitute the word "gutless."

Still while we are exposing KD, it is fun to have the scoreboard on the losers from South Central. It's driving them nuts:

Hey Pete! The 6-6 Florida State Seminoles just dropped 44 points on DeWayne Walker's overpowering defensive juggernaut.

Remember those guys? They held your possible national championship team to nine stinking points a couple of weeks ago.

I'm sure you can now see how horribly your offense was prepared and how poorly it was managed. If the "deer in the headlights" look didn't catch your eye then, go take another look at the game film. I'm more disgusted now than I was then, and I hope your offensive line is too. A good team is next.

Yeah, we will be watching the Rose Bowl too.

Anyways, it looks like the poll on our blog is not exactly an aberration (unlike Dorrell's so called triumph on December 2) when it comes to projecting how the larger UCLA community feels about its mediocre head coach.

And, yes, once again, if you have not signed the petition to Dump Dorrell, make sure you sign it and share it with anyone you know who loves Bruin football.

Looks like the people are catching on to the facts we have been pointing out in the Bruin blogosphere wrt KD and our football program. Let's keep the pressure on through this off season. As you can see it's working.

GO BRUINS.

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Clueless in SF

I give you Koach Karl's analysis of the game as reported in the AP story posted on the official UCLA website --

"When you look at the score the next day, I'm sure people are going to say, 'Wow, what happened?"' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. "But it was a lot different game than the score indicated. We played three pretty good quarters, so from an effort standpoint, I don't have any questions we're heading in the right direction."

Huh? "We're heading in the right direction? He still doesn't get it. Playing three excellent quarters doesn't count when you give the game way in three consecutive and disastrous plays in the fourth quarter.

by uclagradscdad on Dec 30, 2006 10:13 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

We all hopefully realize that KD's...

Playcalling wasn't the problem but, in College Football it alwasys comes down to the Head Coach and deciding to go with Pat "Crappy Arm" Cowan was his fault.

A head Coach must put The right players on the field and must take blame for having players on the field who shouldn't be out there.(Pat Cowan)

Ben Olson would've thrown 5 Tds in that game.
#1 No Pass Rush(SPJ would've torn FSU to shreds)
#2 Great running Game (Playaction Tds All day)
#3 Really good Offensive Play calling (Amazingly)

KD deserves the blame not because of the X's & O's but, for Starting the Brother of Joe!

by uclabruins05 on Dec 30, 2006 10:16 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Usually don't read the Time letters

Typically, its just your standard message board tripe. But, this time it looks like people are catching on to what we've known for a while.

by Menelaus on Dec 30, 2006 11:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Clock ticking

as the huge recruiting class of 2006 matures. Bruin fans should not forget that the 2006 class is easily the best group in a while for us. The mess that we're in now HAS to be resolved before that group matures. Whatever is gonna happen needs to take place in time to let that group reach its potential. Not getting right would be a crime.
You have a star QB waiting for his turn, get him in there and let him get his legs while the youngsters grow up. By the end of the 2007 season the Bruins should be a finely tuned machine. Even KD should be able to see what's up here.

by kauwildman on Dec 30, 2006 12:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Was the guy serious?

Who said that USC should drop out of the Pac-10 and play an independent schedule?

Because you know all the other conferences have been showing their depth in recent years too.

Sort of like all those other national championships that the Big 10 has won outside of Michigan and Ohio State.

The Pac-10 teams almost have the toughest schedules and the SEC and ACC teams rarely travel out west to play a regular season game at a Pac-10 school.

by Wes Covington on Dec 30, 2006 12:33 PM PST reply actions 0 recs