UCLA Turns A Corner To Slam Right Into Stanford
by Nestor on Oct 3, 2009 3:51 PM PDT
in Football
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PrintWell we have seen this movie before. Bruins travel up to Bay Area to suffer yet another disspiriting loss that have become the norm in this program's recent history. The final score was 16-24 in favor of Stanford but in reality the game never really felt close. Here is the box score.
After two weeks to prepare for what might have been the biggest Pac-10 game since 2001, Bruins came out looking unprepared and without any focus. They ran wrong routes, took stupid penalties, and were throughly outcoached by Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff. Cardinal came out and took control of this game by running all over the Bruins. Gerhart dominated Reggie Carter and co most of the game by rushing for 134 yards and 3 TDs. Stanford's redshirt freshman Andrew Luck carved up the Bruin defense for 198 yards, completing for a very efficient 14 of his 20 psses.
Bruins took the lead early by a Dorrellian score of 3-0. However, they once again shot themselves in the foot by running bad routes (not Craft's fault) and taking stupid penalites. We talked all week about how important it was for Bullough's defense to set the tone. It didn't happen as the Cardinal manhandled the Bruins running up a 14-6 lead halftime, which was not as close as the score indicated. After 3-0 start it did feel like the Bruins were turning the proverbial corner. Unfortunately due to their uninspired and out of focus performance early in the game, they slammed into a Stanford brick wall.
The passion bucket is full in Bruin Nation. We have faith in Neuheisel and co. Yet there is no way to suger coat this loss. This was very disappointing on all fronts. Sure the defense came back and made it a game in second half but that doesn't make up for the fact how they were getting man handled all day long. Meanwhile, on the other side the offense looked tentative, out of focus, conservative and shall I say classic Donahuesque.
We have heard a lot about culture change from Rick Neuheisel and co. We still think he has a good chance of pulling that off in this year with a solid run to a bowl game. There is plenty of time for this team to dig deep and make a stand at home during next couple of weeks. However, if the coaches and players in this team really want to prove there has been a culture change, they will have to show much better focus and effort for the entire game in the coming weeks. We didn't see it today.
As I said above though, we got a long way to. Hopefully the coaches and players will take a look at this game, figure out what went wrong and then prepare to give us an inspired outing against an explosive (gulp) Oregon offense next weekend.
We will have more on this game of course. In the meantime, let's here it from you. Fire up your thoughts here in the post game thread. If you have detailed thoughts/analysis make sure you get them up in FanPosts.
The thread is all yours.
GO BRUINS.
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We actually played the Ducks pretty tough
Last year. They got easy scores in their first two drives and then the D stiffened up.
Again, the problem is our D looks so lethargic coming out in the first half. It has to stop.
I Fell Certain
Coach Neu will have quite a bit to say about racking up all those penalties. That left a mark.
Love My Bruins
I Have A Feeling...
There’s going to be a lot of chewing and cussing out this next week in practice.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 3:56 PM PDT up reply actions
No Craft baching this time
It was on the defense that had TWO WEEKS to prepare for an offense that runs through ONE GUY
Brian Price and Reggie Carter where overpowered today
The Defense still commits INEXCUSABLE penalties and allows drives to continue until we get scored on,
Rahim Moore in particular absolutely MURDERED us with his stupid late hit. He gave up an automatic 1st down on an incomplete 3rd and long AND knocked himself out of the game. (BTW, I hope he is ok and returns ASAP)
Gerhart had 3 TDs on the ground and just kept running with a lead. That is how Stanford is built to win.
You can’t blame the offense. We know it is an average to bad offense. It is marginally better than last year but there is clearly a long way to go. I don’t what in our offensive play this year has convinced people that it would be so easy for us to plug in a True Freshman QB or other true frosh players and suddenly become some amazing downfield threat. When we have young players in there we just make more mistakes…ESPECIALLY on the road.
The Defense…supposedly one of the best in the conference, got SMOKED with more than enough time and game film to prepare. If our D can’t keep us in a game, we have no shot.
Yeah, can't blame the loss on Craft
However, I still would have liked to see Brehaut today. Craft is giving us his best effort. He has obviously improved. But he can’t stretch the field. As a result, coaches have to call short routes which eat up clock. And the defense has no respect for our offense to go downfield.
I would have really loved to see Brehaut for a series or two today especially in Q3.
I really think the "can't stretch the field" cliche is overused by people
The receivers don’t magically get more open for Brehaut.
The line doesn’t magically pass block longer for him.
He is perfectly capable of throwing a ball 30-40 yards
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions
I think I have seen enough poorly thrown long balls from him
that I can reasonably conclude that long ball is not in KC’s arsenal.
BTW, we did call plays where WR's ran downfield
but they were covered and Craft either checked down or ran it
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions
I don;t think there is much to conclude from last year
other than our O-line and running game were god awful and didn’t give the QB (whoever it was) any chance
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions
So Brehaut would have made that throw?
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions
We don't know
It would have been nice to find out. It’s not like the coaches were “playing to win” with Craft in the game.
LOL
Down by 1 score and driving and we aren’t “playing to win”?
what were you watching?
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I don't get why you think that they playcalling would be different
with a true frosh in
Look at USC…they have Mr. Amazing Matt Barkley and they’re playcalling on Offense is just as boring
The difference is they have a great O-line and 37 good running backs to protect him
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Prince is our best QB
after him, the coaches clearly think we have a better shot with Craft….and we almost pulled it out today with Craft at QB and our Defense uncharacteristically sucking.
I just can’t imagine why some of you think we would be calling 50 yard bombs with Brehaut in.
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Are you so worried that Brehaut is that bad
that you don’t even WANT to see him? That’s all I’m asking; to see it with my own eyes.
I saw all of two pass plays in SDSU and I liked what I saw. Even though it was against the second or third string.
I want the QB that gives us the best chance to win
You guys want to go with the devil you don’t know just because you are so traumatized from Craft last year
“I saw all of two pass plays in SDSU and I liked what I saw. Even though it was against the second or third string.”
are you listening to yourself?
If you are trying to WIN A GAME, you don’t just put the guy in who has never played and see what happens.
A lot of you wanted Brehaut in when you thought this game was out of hand. Guess what!?! We were still in it and the coaches knew it. We had a chance to win at the end. You are NUTS to put in a green QB who has been sitting all day on that last drive….NUTS
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions
Honestly
I don’t think we were in the game. Didn’t feel like it. It appeared as if we were just playing not to lose or keep the score respectable.
Tell that to our Defense and special teams at the end there
Pretty sure they felt like we were still in it
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Dude
We get that you believe Craft was our only option today. But you are in total denial if you think coaches called a game plan today with Craft on offense in which they were “playing to win.”
They played it safe all the way through because they knew full well that Craft didn’t give them all the options.
I do think they called it conservatively on O
I also think they would do the same with Brehaut in there…you know why?
Because our offense is AVERAGE at best. That’s true even with Prince in. We need to rely on our D and special teams to win games because that is just the way it is with our personel right now.
I get that you think we will be a razzle-dazzle offense with gorgeous downfield plays if Brehaut starts. Maybe you will get your wish sometime this year and Brehaut will start. I hope we dominate if that is the case but I get the feeling that “wide-open” playcalling will result in turnovers, wrong routes and sacks because our offense is NOT THAT GOOD YET.
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Where did I argue
that putting Brehaut in will allow us to have “razzle-dazzle” offense? If you are going to make ridiculous arguments and essentially lie about what I am arguing, then you need to stop commenting.
All I am suggesting that putting Brehaut in would have been useful in a game like this, because it would have allowed coaches to find out what he could do and whether he could create more options on O. Because the options were limited with Craft and we were getting blasted in 3rd quarter and playing uninspired ball on both sides of the field.
I didn’t suggest anywhere we would have dominated with Brehaut. You are now just making stuff up about arguments that I am not making.
Knock off that nonsense and silly way of making a point. Otherwise if you keep making stuff up and keep lying about what I am suggesting, you will be gone.
Also
I don’t think anybody is asking for Brehaut to start and play the whole game. we are saying it would have been nice to see him on a couple of drives to see if he could stretch the field with some throws of more than 10 or 15 yards. Craft simply can’t make those throws…he puts to much air under the them and tends to lock in on a receiver when they are running deep routes.
It's not about razzle-dazzle
The problem with Craft is that there’s nothing keeping the defense honest. Every pass play had to be short. Stanford had a similar strategy with Luck, but he did give them the long ball option, and both times it was very effective. Obviously nobody knows whether Brehaut could do the same, but he was supposed to be better at throwing deep. I’d like to see him get a chance to at least try, especially since his redshirt is gone.
by SuperBruinMan on Oct 3, 2009 4:53 PM PDT up reply actions
In the end, it's a tough call
If we were going to use Brehaut, we should have done it before that final drive. The big problem I have is that we don’t have the same options with Craft that we do with Prince. That’s just the reality, and their defense knows it. Maybe Brehaut doesn’t tear it up himself, but defenses would at least have to think twice about covering the field deep.
Uh. We were down by like 18 at the end of the third quarter. And judging by how the team
was playing to that point, it was pretty apparent we weren’t going to win. Look what happened when Thigpen went in. Things happened. Sometimes you can’t explain why, but changes just sometimes ‘work.’
I was saying to put Brehaut in at the beginning of the 4th. If he has a really horrible series, sure, yank him. But we lost anyway and I think it was pretty apparent we were going to lose at the end of the third quarter.
agreed
Thigpen’s all too brief time on the field did get our crowd back into the game.
by bruinhoo on Oct 3, 2009 4:52 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
agree
I don’t remember that clearly, but did the TD drive came as a result of putting Thigpen in?
The reverse run play was kinda cool and it worked. Why? Because the coaches knew what Thigpen had, and therefore tried to call something creative and gave him a chance to make a play.
I’m not that big of an advocate of yanking Craft for Brehaut, but as in Thigpen’s case, the coaches might have called something different with Brehaut just because he has the arm.
BTW, what’s the deal with the Wildcat with Ramirez?
Don't know, but we do know that Craft cant
Not blaming Craft for this loss, but throwing deep is just something he cant do.
N, Clear and To the Point
I really don’t understand
My opinion is that the Rahim Moore penalty on 3 and 10 was a huge factor in the game, eventually cost us 7 and kept the D on the field too long as well. Plus it hurt the D’s confidence.
As far as the penalties, I just don’t get it since as you and others have pointed out, they have cost us pretty dearly since the first game of the year. Particularly D penalities that have extended drives.
Doesn’t seem like chewing and cussing is working.
In the stadium
it didn’t look all that bad. It looked like he led with his shoulder, not helmet, and that he couldn’t see that the ball was overthrown because of where he was looking. I think it could easily have been a non call. It was borderline late.
Looked like a good call to me
I know that my opinion was among a very small minority among the Bruins in attendance, but there was no way that the ref could let that hit go. Nothing particularly ‘bad’ or dirty about it, but not a smart play by Rahim.
Ted Miller is reporting that Rahim Moore suffered a concussion.
That play hurt UCLA in today’s game and may continue to hurt UCLA in the future if he can’t play in the coming weeks.
Rick
and coaches didn’t look happy. Much to work on, both sides of the ball. Penalties killed potential stops and momentum. Embree looked lost for much of the game. Conservative offense, easy for Stanford to read many plays. Saw some glimpses of the future with Thigpen, Pressley, etc. Luck had too much time today, have to get more pressure on QBs. should be an interesting week as Rick and staff try to make adjustments.
Oh God....
ND just scored the go-ahead TD with about 1:20 left.
Almost seems like shades of ’06.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 4:03 PM PDT reply actions
For all the credit Sarkisian got for beating Carroll
He deserves all the blame if Wash ends up losing this. 4th and half a yard to win the game and he elects to kick the FG rather than go for the jugular.
And yeah, I know the ND goal line defense was tremendous, but even the worst case scenario has ND starting at their own half yard line.
by insomniacslounge on Oct 3, 2009 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions
The 2 point conversion
probably shouldn’t have counted
by SuperBruinMan on Oct 3, 2009 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions
crap
prevent defense. thought huskies had this game.
Early penalties were killer
As mentioned by others above, the Moore penalty early not only took out one of our best players, but gave them a first down which they were able to parlay into a 14-3 lead. From there, they were able to run out the clock through running and forced us to play from behind the rest of the way.
The holding on the next possession was equally damaging on 1st down, killing any chance of a response.
First Series of 2nd Half
Did anyone else think that the play calling (run-run-pass-punt) was pathetic and showed no desire to come out and make a play?
IMO that was a huge opportunity missed to set the tone instead of waiting for the 4Q to make a push.
I mean, I barely refilled my soda and we had already punted back!
Yep
Play calling was very vanilla to accommodate Craft’s limited athletic skills. And that was a problem.
You play the hand you're dealt
We’re in a bad spot when you can’t call routes longer than 15 yards, but it sure as hell beats forcing it and adding to the INT total.
Yep
when you have Craft at QB, you sure better dominate in the other facets of the game (defense, running game, etc) if you want to win….just didn’t happen today
by godblesstyus95 on Oct 3, 2009 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions
I've got to believe
that CRN is putting the guy out there that gives us the best chance to win. Maybe he’s seeing something that we aren’t (I clearly am not seeing it)
by godblesstyus95 on Oct 3, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Yep
I am definitely not seeing it either and it’s ok to say that out loud (instead of just blindly trusting the coaches).
I don't see a difference between blindly trusting the coaches
and blindly bashing them when they don’t do something you think they should do
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions
I trust the coaches...
We have only seen glimpses of Bre, but the coaches have probably seen about 1000 practice hours of him to make the judgement call that he wasn’t ready. I think their knowledge of the game supercedes all of our desires to “see it for our own eyes”. They definitely brought Bre to UCLA for a reason, but I think it is unrealistic to think that the coaches would hand the Ferrari keys over to an 18 yr old who is having difficulties digesting Norm Chow’s offense. They definitely didn’t let Craft stretch the field b/c of his limited abilities, but don’t you think they would have done the same, if not worse for Bre? At least Craft knows the full arsenal of the “15 yards and under playbook”. What about Bre? I think it would have been an even more generic version of what we saw today. Bre had every opportunity in Spring and Summer to secure the #1 spot and didn’t. He had every chance to take in when Prince’s jaw was driven into the Neyland turf, but didn’t steal it. There’s got to be a reason for that.
very true...
but even if what we have is a pinto, if the kid isn’t ready to drive it, itcould be dangerous. I too am wondering, why the hell hasn’t Bre been put into the game? But then I ask myself, how often in the history of college football have you seen a true freshman QB fling it 40 yds down the field? If the D is giving him something to work with, then sure. And even then, he would just be in there to manage the game. But down 18 points? Even Carson Palmer sucked as a freshman (Brendan Ayanbadejo said he was the worst QB he’s ever played against!). Even Cade was pretty awful as a freshman. We all want to win of course, but a true freshman probably wouldn’t be the one that would get us there. At least that’s what I think.
Cade was pretty awful
But he got to mature and it was clear that he was more athletically talented than Ryan Fien.
Same way, I’d like to see what Brehaut can do.
In A Way,
It is. We have CRN, we have CNC. They know the value of what they control. We have more national championships, by far, than any other NCAA school. We are UCLA.
That’s not an Edsel, a Pontiac, or even a Benzie… 4-8 last year or not.
We are a Ferrari, or a Lamborghini.
We are the Bruins.
Love My Bruins
Huskies W/Nice Pass Deep In ND Territory
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 4:11 PM PDT reply actions
You can have all the amazing play calls you want
but it doesn’t matter if the QB doesn’t know the playbook
The fact that the COACHES say so and that is the reason he didn't beat out Craft
I trust what Chow and Neu say about it.
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Ok
Well I am as big of a supporter of Neu and Chow. But my support is not “blind.”
This blog has never been about blind supporting head coaches. If we don’t agree with something that coaches have done, we will call it out. I’d like to see what Brehaut can do during games.
I respect that
but if you are assuming the coaches want to win the game, you don’t just put in the kid who has never played and see how it goes.
Craft had all the practice leading up to this game, he has the experience and he clearly does more of making good decisions and/or good throws than Brehaut at this point….otherwise Brehaut would be playing
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions
We will have to agree to disagree
And Bruins4Ever … I would encourage you put your thoughts on why coaches were right to go with Craft all the way in a fanpost. Because I think its helpful and we can have respectful disagreements here on BN.
Well, maybe with all the supposed mis-run routes,
they may have connected on some passes by sheer coincidence.
Agreed can't pin this loss on Craft
but when you need 8 with 3 minutes and 80 yards to go, the chances of us pulling it out are fairly slim.
Like I said.
What’s the worst that happens? You lose the game anyway?
Hindsight is 20/20.
Here’s my thought . . . why waste the redshirt against SDSU if Craft if we aren’t going to use Brehaut?
wait a minute here
As much as I know Craft isn’t the QB of the future….
We needed a TD with 3 minutes to go in the game, and you’re saying Craft wasn’t the guy to do it?
He did it twice last year, against Tenn and Stanford. How many times has Brehaut done it?
Honestly, I didn’t think Craft could even put us in a chance to win, but he got us there – let him finish.
Not exactly my point
if we wanted to win a game like this, against a tough opponent, ON THE ROAD, we sure as hell better not pin our hopes on some last minute heroics of Kevin Craft. We’ve got to be significantly better in the other facets of the game, so as to not even get to the point where were down by 8 with 80 yds to go. The defense has got to be better. Our special teams have got to be better. Our running game has got to be better. I’m not arguing someone else needed to be in there instead of Craft. But I am arguing that he has limitations. He is who he is.
by godblesstyus95 on Oct 3, 2009 5:33 PM PDT up reply actions
True, I fully agree with you there.
Craft will rarely win a game for you- you just want to make sure he doesn’t lose a game for you.
And if you think about it, Craft had zero turnovers this game – so he didn’t lose it for us.
We just couldn’t run well enough. And our D couldn’t stop them well enough – and that’s what we rely upon for wins.
I'm sorry
I’d rather lose a game with Brehaut until Prince gets back than watching Craft. God bless him, but I’d be real curious what level of confidence his teammates have in him (not that it is their call).
I was starting to believe that the miracle of ’05 was about to be replayed, but then reality hit me.
Agreed
We just dont have the same swagger, both on offense and defense, when Craft is in there. Not sure if it is because Craft is laidback or the conservative playcalling that is done for him, but its not the same team as when Prince is in.
It is weird
But football is an emotional game and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that losing a leader like Prince has a ripple effect on the team.
Yup
You would think the Defense would be more fired up with the backup QB in there since its more on them. Unfortunatley, they still seem to sleepwalk through the first quarter.
I recall
Listening to a post-game report a few weeks back I recall the Bruin players and coaches voting on him for some sort of admiration award…so I think the players respect Craft’s effort despite lots of pressures and the fact that he truly isn’t a star
Tied Up In South Bend
Folk’s FG ties it 30-all.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 4:17 PM PDT reply actions
This game solidified in my mind that...
UCLA is back. Despite poor defense, you can really see the fluidity of the offense this year, especially in the end when we really needed to drive the pall we kept betting plays.
The Bruins are definitely better, just not all the way there yet.
On a side note, GO BEARS tonight.
Despite The Loss...
I feel like better day’s are ahead for us this season. Hey, we played like sh** today for the most part and Stanford’s a tough team; especially at their place. I’m hesitant to lay blame on Craft; he didn’t or wasn’t allowed to take too many chances. When Prince does start again, I want him starting again only because he’s fully recovered and ready to go.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 4:23 PM PDT reply actions
Rahim's
mistake was huge. They have got to cut down on the stupid penalties to get to the next level. That led to the second touchdown and kept the defense on the field. You could just sense the momentum shift at that moment.
Yes, the LAST thing that should happen is KP playing again before he is healed.
CRN 2nd year
I like what I see in CRN’s 2nd year. We had a chance to drive down for the tying score late. We’ve all talked about not getting to high or too low on this team. As long as we are competitive, we should see some more W’s instead of L’s as we have in the past.
Bright Side?
Anyone like what they see in Damien Thigpen? That boy is fast…
I love
Thigpen. He needs to be our return man. Austin is reliable, but he’s not near as dangerous.
anyone else
feel that Craft was getting a little TOO comfortable in the pocket at times?
Well
He doesn’t have a good sense of when he needs to get rid of the frigging ball. It’s almost like watching a car wreck in slow motion. The pocket starts closing around him and you just know he’s going to get hit and either go down or throw a dead duck.
I’m not a Craft-basher by any stretch, but he’s clearly not a great QB. He tries hard, he never complains and he’s a gamer. But the skills aren’t there.
Very apt description
of Craft. Can’t feel bad about today’s loss, though. The team seems like it has heart, which is all you can ask. My passion bucket is still full.
making a living on the performance of
18 to 22 year olds is hard (unless you coach BYU, in which case all bets are off). Not 6 weeks ago there were many prognosticators predicting 6 – 6. Yes, the Bruins got their collective asses handed to them today. I too, would have liked to see a W, but damn folks. I doubt any team in the PAC 10 ends without at least 2 conference losses. Put this same game in the Rose Bowl, and the score is likely about the same but with UCLA coming out on top.
I will take this effort over last years BYU game. Or frankly over any game from last season. This team seems likely to win 7 or 8 games. That still means 4 or 5 conference losses. And I’ll take that over 4 – 8 any season.
BTW, Donahue offense was run, run, pass his first 3 seasons. When Homer Smith arrived part 1, anything but that.
Craft was good enough to keep our team within 1 score late
No, he’s not Captain Comeback…there’s a reason he’s a backup but he kept our team in it
Stanford
Was well coached and prepared today. They played tough, physical football. At times we looked like the better team but just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We will be ok. I thought if we won one game out of the next three we would be doing ok. We need to get back to practice and come ready for UO next week, in another huge game.
TN = UCLA.
Drive down far enough to get in field goal range. Crompton is a play killer.
My Hubs
keeps asking, (rhetorically), “Why do they keep raving about the Vols’ defense? They couldn’t beat UCLA.”
“Stanford is just the best in the nation, then?” (Sarcastically)
lol
Love My Bruins
also..
Why does the play clock keep going down when you go out of bounds? I thought the point of getting out was to stop the clock?
Go Bears!
beat $c. see what Riley and co can do. Ludwig can call a predictable offense.
this is a weird thread
I got the impression all game that Stanford simply had more tools to work with than we did. I did not think it was a question of “focus” or “heart.” Is the sloppiness lack of focus, or lack of experience, or some combination? Take away the penalties (that personally I hope are more a function of inexperience than lack of focus) and our offense moved the ball pretty decently with a very weak quarterback with no long-ball threat. I am frustrated by the loss but would not call it Dorrellian in any stretch of the imagination. We had plenty of solid, 5 yd+ runs that were successful. And given the limitations at quarterback what are we supposed to do?
Breuhat would have been nice to put in.
And this is what is encouraging to me: if Prince was in this game, we have at least a 50% chance of winning for a multitude of reasons. And consider that this was done with Rahim Moore going out very early.
Last two points are very poignant glass
Guess right now I am pretty frustrated, so not seeing the positives. I think we would have won this game with Prince.
We did enough things wrong in this game (outside of QB)
where I am still somewhat doubtful that Prince changes the ultimate outcome. However, all else being the same, our chances increase significantly on that last drive with Prince in there instead of Craft (maybe from 2% to 33%, who knows).
by godblesstyus95 on Oct 3, 2009 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions
yep
the way we came out running the ball, I thought we were in great shape. Then it all seemed to go downhill from there. We have a lot to look forward to though.
the ugliest part of the game
was the play of our d-ends. the guys inside were not getting pushed around by any means. they were in the backfield most of the game. it just looked like our ends were extremely hestitant and getting pushed out by stanfords tackles and tight ends, creating gapping holes off tackle that even i could run for a 5 yd gain.
with the ducks spread run game theres a lot riding on the play of our d-ends next week. if they play as sloppy next week it will get ugly real quick.
Calm down everyone.
Well we have seen this movie before. Bruins travel up to Bay Area to suffer yet another disspiriting loss that have become the norm in this program’s recent history.
This quote from Nestor is indicative of the spirit of Bruins Nation. listen, I’ve been through tjhe disappointment of the Dorrell years just like everyone else here. Sure, we had many stupid penalties and couldn’t contain Gerhardt. But you know what, we fought back when we were down by 18 at one point. We’ve started the season 3-1, albeit against not so great teams, but that’s a hell of a lot better than last year. Stanford started rebuildling under Harbaugh a year before us, they were the bettter team today there’s no doubt about that. Yes maybe the score could’ve been closer had we played better on key plays, but this is a Stanford team that will finish the season ranked, I think. We all need to loosen up and let the coaches rebuild this program. We’ve seen flashes of potential, but we’ve still got a ways to go. GO BRUINS.
by theschully on Oct 3, 2009 5:22 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
The whole Craft/Brehaut debate is rather pointless IMO
because most of the people calling for Brehaut to get a possession here or there haven’t seen Brehaut outisde of the couple snaps versus San Diego St. I have no doubt in my mind that Craft gave us the better chance today and that the coaches were right by giving him all of the snaps.
I do not and will never support the, “throw him out there and see what we have” line of thinking. While fans may want to see what we have, the coaches have a decdent idea of what we have because they’re at practice every day. I’ve gotten the chance to peak in at a few practices and 100% on board with the coaches decision to go with Craft.
I’ll post a deatiled reasoning why tomorrow if I get the chance or if not, I’ll discuss it in Tuesday’s podcast, but I’m short on time now.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 3, 2009 5:24 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I Tend To Agree Here
It would have been one thing if Craft had thrown a couple of bad picks that would have led to easy scores and a subsequent blowout. Regardless, I don’t think Brehaut’s presence out there would have made a substantial difference.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 5:50 PM PDT up reply actions
Likewise
Given his skill set and the gameplan that Neu and Chow installed, Craft did about as well as could be expected. While I would like to see Brehaut get playing time, the proper setting would have been for him to start today, if he had shown in practice that he is/was the better option.
While our offensive performance was certainly frustrating throughout the first 3 quarters, it was not due to any incompetence on Craft’s part in implementing the game plan. I do not think that if Brehaut had been substituted in, more of the playbook would have suddenly come into play – aside from a couple of deep routes.
it's not
that craft can’t execute the game plan. the problem is that the game plan doesn’t include anything deeper than 15 yards because he can’t complete those pases.
exactky
I was not at all a fan of today’s offensive gameplan, which (I assume) was built around Craft’s strengths and weaknesses as a QB.
The issue with playing Brehaut, either in a starting role or coming off the bench in the 3rd qtr, is the idea that Craft’s weaknesses are known to the staff and that they considered such in giving him the starting job after Prince went down. For an in-game sub to have made sense, the coaches would have had to think that the game was unwinable given our offensive strategy, and then decide that changing to a more aggressive style of play calling that Craft could not implement provided the best chance to win, and take the risk that subbing in a raw QB in the middle of a tough conference game would provide a better chance of success.
Not true. I have seen Brehaut
at spring and fall practices/scrimmages. What I saw left an overall good impression. Can I quote what his completion percentage was? No. But I saw enough to understand that he is capable. At worst, he is no worse than Craft. At best, he has a stronger arm. Maybe his knowledge of the playbook is limited. Maybe. But with all the wrong routes apparently being run…
Regardless, I don’t buy into the ‘play to lose respectably’ line of thinking, which is what we did. Took the safe road, even though up until the fourth quarter, that had netted us all of 6 points.
I dunno…..all I’m saying is when you change things up, sometimes good things happen, as well as bad. Back to Thigpen. Small. Inexperienced. But he ran hard and got us into field position to score. Aren’t Ramirez, Franklin, Knox, Coleman all more experienced and dependable? By your logic, Thigpen should never have seen the field, but when he did, we came alive for a moment…Give me at least a LOOK at Brehaut….again, especially since his RS is already burned and we were down by 3 scores at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
Comparing Thigpen and Brehaut is apples and oranges
The reasons each is seeing limited to no playing time is different as are the responsiblites of each position they play, as well as the difference is spotting guys at each position. Again, I’ll get into that in more detail at some point, but I don’t think Thigpen can be used to support why Brehaut should have gotten snaps.
Also, I said MOST of the people asking for Brehaut hadn’t seen him, not all. There’s also a major difference in scrimmage/preseason practice to game/game week practice. Everything goes up a notch in game week because you have to know your playbook, as well as the gameplan.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 3, 2009 6:47 PM PDT up reply actions
No. there is no direct correlation between Thigpen & Brehaut. I agree.
But there isn’t anything that directly correlates. The point is as follows: UCLA had not produced up to the 4th quarter and was down by three scores. If not then, then when would you ever bring in Brehaut? I mean, if you don’t bring him in in that situation, then you may as well RS him. But that option has already been taken off the table. So: Why not? We still lost, just like we were on track to do at the end of the third quarter. I still haven’t seen a good answer for that question. What did we save by not using Brehaut? The potential for a blow out loss vs. a lethargic / respectable’ loss?
We had a chance to win the game
and by bringing in Brehaut you could give that chance away. Whether or not you thought we would win is up for debate, but the offense had the ball with a chance to go down and tie it up. Likely, no, but a chance so there is something to be saved by sticking with Craft and the coaches thought Craft had the best chance of getting us that W.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 3, 2009 7:32 PM PDT up reply actions
Benefit of hindsight.
at the end of the third quarter, we were down by three scores. We had managed to score two field goals in all of 45 minutes. What about that situation says we still have a chance to win with the status quo? I didn’t have that feeling.
Craft did all that he was asked to do
Completed a solid% of his passed, protected the ball, no stupid mistakes…
The problem was not with Craft’s performance, but rather the offensive gameplan and resulting playcalling. To make Brehaut a realistic possibility, the staff would have had to realize that the game could not be won by running the offense that had been installed over the past 2 weeks. At that point, if they thought that the plan had failed, and that whatever necessary changes in the offense (such as the ability to throw deep) could not be accomplished by Craft, then put Brehaut in, realizing the gamble that it would have been.
by bruinhoo on Oct 3, 2009 7:53 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
The Craft/Brehaut is pointless
though not necessarily because the coaches believe Craft is better. The fact is Kevin Prince is the starting QB, and how good the team ends up being will have a lot more to do with him than either of the backups. It’s just a shame that he missed a game that, at least at the start of the season, looked very winnable.
by SuperBruinMan on Oct 3, 2009 6:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Wait, there's plenty to go around.
1. Absolutely way too many penalties and this goes back to the Dorrell era. It seems that we are incapable of playing within our emotions and we just don’t think!
2. All good teams are ready to play on down one. Our defense takes too long to settle in. Yes, we started to stop them in the third quarter but by then it was way too late AND I’m not so sure that the Tree’s O unit wasn’t tired.
3. Our O line is Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde. We saw in some offensive series that they are capable of opening holes, yet in others nada. As for the very last series one thing I’ve noticed about consistantly good teams is they are capable of providing the protection needed to move down the field. So far Notre Dame and Saint Jimmy Clausen have done it twice this season maybe they’re on the upswing. Teams that haven’t been there before don’t know what it takes to get the job done. Our O line has not had the “ah, ha!” moment, where it all crystalizes.
4. Craft played a decent game. I’ve defended him here in the past. I think that there are several things that he needs to work on. A. If you’re going to run when everyone is covered do it a couple of seconds earlier. B. As a pocket passer he just doesn’t seem comfortable. I don’t know if it is because he got beat to crap last year or what. With the exception of the last drive, I really think Neuheisel and Chow should install a “two minute offenseor no huddle” because it seems Craft shines in that mode. Which brings me to Brehaut. Can he still redshirt this season even after playing in the San Diego game. Because I’m trying to figure out why he hasn’t had more time on the field. In effect are they saving him for future use, hoping that Prince and Craft are enough for this season.
Yes, I’m tremendously frustrated at the outcome. But we are 3-1 with Prince comming back. I’m 53 years old and have two heart attacks. Just once I wish we could beat a good program without the drama of a close 4 quarter
Brehaut could redshirt if
The coaching staff successfully claimed he was played by mistake (like Dominique Johnson was), but that’s more than unlikely.
by SuperBruinMan on Oct 3, 2009 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Kal
Krappy Kal Mama Bears stinking it up already.
Terrible INT down at the $C endzone and then they give up an easy TD. And the fellating of Barkely is nonstop. He hits a guy with an easy throw and there is no one within 10 yards around him. Big deal.
LEMONADE
WTF—- screw the $C game, that’s a side issue— our D got its’ ASS KICKED today, & we did not adjust our play calling on offense that reflected this reality. If anything positive can come out of this loss, it’s that if we are going to lean on our D to win games, we shouldn’t wait till the 4th Qtr to adjust fire on offense.
BTW: UCLA = HEART. You can hear from far and near the Mighty Bruin roar!
Same officiating crew that butchered the UCLA v. KSU game is wrecking . . .
. . . the Kal v. $UC* game. You know, the dork in the glasses. Terrible flags, too many flags, ruining the flow of the game. The new commish needs to review the games called by these clowns.
I See Cal's Already Down 17-0
Damn.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 6:04 PM PDT up reply actions
I went to Cal...
If you could hear the kind of things the Cal “fans” say about the Bruins and L.A. you would not feel that bad about this. Without going into the specifics, it’s very hateful.
When I went undergrad to Cal, I tried to root for them for a about five minutes, since that’s supposed to be part of the college experience, but almost instantly switched back to the Bruins. I just couldn’t stand the hate.
I always have a hard time with SUC/Cal games because I always wish there were a way BOTH teams could lose.
Speaking of hateful
I was amazed at how disrespectful the announcer for the Stanford band was. What was that comment about Rick Neuheisel paying our our players? I’ve NEVER heard that sort of disrespect for our opponent at the Rose Bowl. I was really surprised.
Wow....Didn't Know That
Definitely puts things in perspective.
FWIW, just from the highlights I’ve seen so far, Cal’s unis are an absolute abomination. Just downright fugly.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 6:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Completely agreed
i almost feel guilty watching this Cal vs $C game, because… well, Cal’s losing and i’m kind of enjoying it. It’d be ten times better if both of them could somehow lose, though.
by onedeterminedpanda on Oct 3, 2009 6:29 PM PDT up reply actions
It's so weird about Bay Area sports fans...
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve lived here a long time. Most of the people are vert nice. I married a woman from Palo Alto (we met a Cal). I don’t understand the sub-species who show up the games and act so terribly. And the irrational hatred of Southern California. Anyway, that’s another discussion for another time.
The rea,son I’m posting is that I just had a slightly amusing phone call, which I will share because it is relevant.
My wife has been at a conference at the San Francisco Hilton since Tuesday. Previously, we had talked about me meeting her there tonight. Apparently it’s Ground Zero for every obnoxious SUC fan up here for the Cal game. She said she really wants to see me, but told me not to come because I would absolutely hate being there amongst of the obnoxious SUC fans. I told her at least they’ll be in a good mood, having thoroughly thrashed Cal.
I really dislike SUC, they haunt me wherever I go. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
I have a hard time judging the "officials"
Throughout the years, it never feels like my teams get the calls, with the exception of the great Wooden teams that literally always got the calls.
My view of today’s game is that in order to win a road game like this one, everything needs to break your way. In this game, a couple of key penalties (as usual, against my team), a couple of close fumble/not fumble calls, and a few key third down situations didn’t go our way. Plus, there’s no question that CRN and Chow feel limited by KC, but value his experience over a freshman. Add all that up, and it was a loss. But from my perspective, with all those things going against us, we still had a chance to tie up the game with a few minutes to go. Ultimately, I feel okay about the progress of the program. I’m not that upset about this loss.
I saw no fault with the Refs in today's game.
all the really bad penalties were clearly our fault.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
My two cents and then some.
I think Nestor said it best with his opening comments
After two weeks to prepare for what might have been the biggest Pac-10 game since 2001, Bruins came out looking unprepared and without any focus. They ran wrong routes, took stupid penalties, and were throughly outcoached by Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff. Cardinal came out and took control of this game by running all over the Bruins.
He also mentions that many of these mistakes are not Craft’s fault. Yet, a good 80% of the comments I’ve read are directed at how limited we are when Craft is in the game. Let’s be honest. We got flat out OUT COACHED. It pains me to say it. Believe me.
But the truth is, with two weeks to prepare for an opponent there is no reason on earth we looked as bad as we did. Rahim Moore’s poor decision? Numerous penalties on the part of the defense that kept Stanford drives alive? It all falls at the feet of the coaches. And the offense has plenty to share in the blame. Poorly run routes? false starts? Fault of the coaches.
And here is the kicker of them all. Craft is not capable of stretching the field? There are other ways to stretch a field. Halfback passes, receiver end arounds with a pass, even the flea flicker Harbaugh did not hesitate to call. And, however gimmicky, or unreliable they are, with two weeks to prepare, and so little faith in Craft (if in fact that is the reason they don’t throw down field) there is no reason you can’t slip some of those plays into the game plan.
Some else said it best. This is a wake up call for us all. But I remain optimistic. As dissapointing as this loss is, it is still apparent we are headed in the right direction. Hopefully the players get the worst of the wake up call. I get the feeling there are going to be a whole lot of gasping players after the coaches run it out of them.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
Well stated.
Craft was fine for the most part. The problem was we fell behind early, on the road with a young team. When it came to Craft to bail us out, too much pressure was also being placed on the young OL.
Overall, we came out flat, we knew exactly what Stanford was going to run, we let them walk into the end zone multiple times. Their running back is good, BUT the holes he has are huge as someone else stated. Next two games are going hurt.
Only real victory was on Special teams. At least they didn’t return a kickoff all the way. We blocked a punt for good field position and made our field goals. I agree with someone else’s point, Austin is good, but Damien Thigpen can be great on special teams. Kid needs a chance.
Coming off bye weeks..
But the truth is, with two weeks to prepare for an opponent there is no reason on earth we looked as bad as we did.
Well UCLA is now 0-4 under Neuheisel when coming off bye weeks. The three previous were all 25+ point losses. UCLA is 7-5 in all other games, with none of the losses by more than 3 TD’s. For whatever reason the bye week hasn’t really helped much.
by SuperBruinMan on Oct 3, 2009 6:37 PM PDT up reply actions
'Canes Have Tightened Things Up
Oklahoma’s lead sliced to 10-7.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 6:14 PM PDT reply actions
Brehaut
We don’t need a third QB at this point. What we need is Craft to keep holding things together until Prince comes back. The team already has enough problems.
That the cardinal looked like the better prepared and coached team
disturbed me me the most. It was obvious and undeniable. Their defense played as if they had our playbook. Our offense looked hapless and the play calling unimaginative and predictable. We should hear the coaches take full responsibility for this, anything else is unacceptable.
Let's be real...4-0 would be an UNREAL start for us
I don’t think anyone would have expected that
as it is, 3-1 with two of those games being played by our backup QB is damn exciting.
I don't think anybody is saying
we should have won the game just for showing up. I think the general consensus is how bad we looked for
A) having two weeks to prepare
B) getting our suspended players back
C) on defense, which is our clear cut strength in any game.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
I don;t think Stanford is getting enough credit
they are looking pretty good with a legit running game
by UCLABruins4Ever on Oct 3, 2009 6:37 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Yep
I agree with that…
Tom Skalman '84
Las Vegas
by tskal on Oct 3, 2009 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Bruins lost to a better team
Lotsa hand wringing here. Stanford deserves credit. How long has it been since they’ve beaten UCLA? They have a good, big back in Gerhart and an efficient QB in Luck—a far cry from, say, Tennessee. And, Harbaugh’s a good coach.
yet——-
I was heartened by the play of the Bruin defense that got tough in the 4th quarter and put the offense in a position to bring us all the way back. Alas, our offense wasn’t good enough to get it done. Gerhart’s good, Stanford’s good. Give ’em their due.
Tom Skalman '84
Las Vegas
by tskal on Oct 3, 2009 6:47 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I think Luck was better than just efficient ...
He played extremely well today, especially factoring in his relative lack of experience. Two, three years down the road, he’s going to be a monster.
My 1 cent
So there was a bunch of things that went wrong today. I won’t rehash them all. Really though, this game was COMPLETELY in reach and should have been winnable. I’m playing Saturday evening QB but here goes:
Sheldon Price. Take him out and put Viney in and I think this game looks completely different. Whatever the issue is there with Viney, they need to get it resolved. Price was playing soft and giving up yardage all day. He was also getting beat deep, despite the cushion he was giving. I’m not blaming Price, as I think he was doing his best, but we have a better choice. Why aren’t we using it? We got beat in other places like at defensive tackle, but if Brian Price can’t do the job, then who can? Overall I think Sheldon Price hurt us more than any other single player if you look at actual performance on the field.
Damien Thigpen. Every time he touched the ball today, he was electric. That first run blew my mind. He changed direction so quickly. His running led directly to our 1 and only touchdwon. Why the heck isn’t he getting more time? Let’s put him in on kick and punt return and let Austin focus on WR. Austin is reliable, but he doesn’t have the elite speed needed to consistently be a threat on returns. We blew Thigpen’s redshirt, so let’s play him. Franklin still looks better than the other running backs although I think Thigpen should share time with him.
Craft/Brehaut. I agree with Nestor on this. Craft was struggling the whole first half. After failing on first drive to start the third Q we should have tried something different. I’m not saying Brehaut would have been the magical answer, but when you are as far behind as we were, we need to be able to throw the ball down the field and Craft just can’t.
Ditto for Knox
They put him in for two plays that had no chance of going anywhere.
Knox has MJD potential but needs to get more touches in the right situations.
And what was the deal with the Wildcat formation with Ramirez, a guy who hasn’t played a down this year? Ended up with a 5 yard penalty that pretty much killed that drive.
Again, my feeling is that the coaching and playcalling greatly contributed to this loss.
by bruin4life1993 on Oct 3, 2009 7:08 PM PDT up reply actions
I Agree!!!!
S. Price has a very bright future but right now he is hurting this D. He plays way to soft, take a look at the last two games and check out how many completions went his way.
Sometimes the other team can show you where you are vulnerable, every time K. st and Stanford needed a first down or a big play it was directed his way.
I am totally confounded that Viney is not playing.
The issue is that he is playing soft
not that he can’t cover guys so isn’t it possible that he isn’t choosing to play soft because he’s not good enough, but that he is being told by the coaches to play soft?
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 3, 2009 7:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Disagree
he is playing soft and STILL getting beat deep. I can accept playing soft. I can’t accept playing soft and getting beat deep. Price will probably do a fine job one day but isn’t ready yet to be a PAC-10 starter. Viney should have been in there.
Do you mean soft as in off his man, or soft as in diving at the ankles
when the RB comes your way?
Because I’ve never had a coach tell me to play the latter sort of soft and that’s the sort of soft I believe he’s talking about. Viney is small, but he played tougher against TN than Price did today.
By soft
I mean he is playing far off the line of scrimmage and giving the receivers a lot of room to work with underneath.
My bad. I thought you meant he played soft as in timid.
I would agree though, that that is probably coaching. I just didn’t like him getting hurdled and at least one play where he just sort of watched someone else tackle Gerhart.
You know
while I’m pointing fingers, I should point some at our TEs. They played great today. They caught just about everything in reach and were making important first downs all day.
Too bad we didn't run more plays against the supposedly vulnerable Furd LBs...
…that used our TE talent in the passing game
by bruin4life1993 on Oct 3, 2009 7:32 PM PDT up reply actions
TD Miami
’Canes now lead 14-10 early in 3rd quarter.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Oct 3, 2009 7:01 PM PDT reply actions
Cal finally made onto the scoreboard
Field Goal to close to witin 20 of the fighting OJ’s, 23-3 with 10 minutes to go.
Another example of trying to lose 'respectably'
as opposed to playing for the win….
It could be worse, we could be Cal
We are a young team who has started the season 3-1 and had a chance on the last drive to tie up the game against the first place team in the Pac 10.
Cal was expected to challenge for a national title, instead they are 3-2 and 0-2 in the conference having lost their last two games by a combined 72-6. Ouch.
Suddenly things don’t look so bad for those gutty little bruins.
Cannot Concur, N
We didn’t play well for much of the game, but to say the team lacked focus or was unprepared is excessive.
That, however, doesn’t mean that the now-traditional lunkheaded defensive penalty that extends an otherwise-ended drive doesn’t need to stop. In what ended up being a one-score game, Rahim’s late hit cost us both seven points and an All-P10 DB.
Were our guys outplayed by a more physical and – on this day – better team? Yes. Do I understand why we went away from the running game, which seemed to be working fairly well? No. Were there some ugly mental mistakes? Absolutely, though on one hand, a few mental errors – while inexcusable – are inevitable, and on the other hand, there were some remarkably poorly run routes, including that one by Taylor Embree – the one guy you’d think would never do that.
On the other hand, Presley, while still inconsistent, seems to be picking up steam. Rosario is showing flashes of excellence. We saw the future of Thigpen. We finally have a guy who can kick the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs.
I’m willing to trust Skippy and CNC that Brehaut just isn’t ready yet. Craft may not be Sergeant Rock, but he sure isn’t the Captain Chaos that we saw last year. He didn’t cost us the game, though he (obviously) couldn’t save it either.
We’re not a great team…yet. Our guys are learning to be a great team, but for the most part, they’re very young. It’s not “Dorrellian” (Can we stop taking shots at an alum who is a good Bruin, if a bad head football coach?) thinking to acknowledge that – much as we might want it to be otherwise – this team was never going to end up 13-0. (Tragically, it won’t be 12-1 either.)
We’re getting there – and fairly quickly, particularly considering how bare the cupboard was a couple years ago.
On the other hand, who wants to join me in a complete Dodgers freakout?
by ucla84 on Oct 3, 2009 8:50 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
let's be happy...
we don’t have Johnathan Cropmton or Kevin Riley. :)
Are you sure...
…Crompton hasn’t somehow invaded the body of Chad Billingsley? It would explain a lot.
by ucla84 on Oct 3, 2009 9:17 PM PDT up reply actions
The last 3rd down Craft had Rosario wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open
Watching the Sportszone recap of the game right now and just noticed that the pass that Craft airmailed past everyone on the field, if he would have checked down along the sideline, Rosario (not quite sure if it was him, but looked like him) was wide open for a first down along the sideline. I’m not one to blame Craft for this loss, but its a shame that the one time he decided to take the deep option he had a receiver wide open that could have gotten the first down we needed. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Glass Half Full
I think there was a thread along these lines somewhere above, but just in case…
Would we have been happy with a 3-1 start to the season at the end of August? I would have thought the answer would be yes. The prevailing view as I remember was that bowl eligibility would be a realistic goal given the state of the cupboard which Dorrell left for CRN.
A 3-1 record puts us on that track.
It seems like losses like today (the world is coming to an end) and wins like Tennessee ( we are the best team of all time) get magnified in the heat of the moment.
The personal foul/injury to Moore today was huge in setting the early tone. Without that, and with Prince, this might have been a different story. Maybe so, maybe not. But there are still 8 games to go in the regular season.
Let’s hope that the Bruins can come out on fire next week with Prince and keep the momentum going from the 3-1 start. There is still plenty of football to be played. And I will take today and the first 4 games of this season over any similar stretch in recent pre- CRN times.
Go Bruins !!
Well, it looked to me
like Stanford was the better team. Their O line was better than our D line and their D line was better than our O line. They had the best running back and a better quarterback. The Bruins were not completely ineffective and we did well sporadically. It looked to me like a really physical game in which we tried hard but were usually outplayed. How’s that for brilliant analysis? I don’t think we were ever the best team in this league, but I do think we are going to improve and win some more games. With continued recruitment and improvement, we should be really good in a couple of years, maybe very good even next year. I don’t know how we’ll do against Oregon, but I know we’ll show up and probably play just as hard. If we can get Prince back, he will probably do better than KC, who can perform adequately but has some limitations that we cannot realistically expect him to overcome. No matter what, I’ll be at the Rose Bowl cheering like a goof for the Bruins. Because they’re the Bruins. But I warn you, when I achieve perfection, I am going to be much more critical.
by ReineSeite on Oct 3, 2009 11:06 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
My Two Cents
I was at the game and saw the whole turkey unfold. These are my observations, for what it’s worth.
The Defense: The word undisciplined comes to mind, despite flashes of brilliance. We have talent. You can see it. I mean NFL quality talent with Price and Carter and Verner, three layers deep. Price absolutely destroyed his blocker at times. Carter and Bosworth, not sure which one, made some huge hits. Verner came oh so close to a big interception.
BUT, the penalties, egads, and the missed assignments, the loss of containment, the sloppy tackling and the failure to ever make an adjustment to Stanford’s simple unbalanced line (I think designed to foil Price) were maddening. (Was that huge unbalanced line a throwback to single wing power football?) And how do you lose on a fricking flea flicker? Unbelievable. And how much time did Luck have to throw the ball? Yikes. I think back to the drawing boards fellahs. Who do I blame for these problems? While the kids must execute, it’s the coaches who are responsible for teaching the fundamentals, the containment, the assignments. The coaches, people.
The offense: I watched the line play with my binoculars the whole game. Our line was awesome. Our running backs were awesome. Franklin and Thigpen, especially. Question: Why was Thigpen saved for the late 4th quarter? He is amazing. Speed kills. He has it, plenty of it. IMO, Stanford NEVER STOPPED OUR RUNNING GAME. WE STOPPED IT, THAT IS, THE COACHES. I MEAN IT.
This is why we keep getting field goals. This is why Craft was killed in crunch time. Yes, I know the clock is running, but Thigpen was making huge yardage. A toss to him and a run out of bounds is as good as a pass play, especially when Stanford is blitzing Craft like crazy. I am so tired of getting down inside the twenty and then WE STOP RUNNING AND THROW WEAK ASS PASSES ON A SHORT, CROWDED FIELD AND WE HAVE TO SETTLE FOR A FIELD GOAL.
As bad as we played, Stanford won because they score touchdowns not field goals when they get in the red zone. How? They run the damn ball. That’s how. We run the ball great between the twenties and then we stop and play “finesse” football after our line has blown the defense off the ball for fifty yards. I am tired of weak ass, finesse football in the red zone. We scored only because Franklin, in a run, bumped it to the outside on short yardage. He and our other running backs can do that all day IF WE RUN THE BALL IN FOUR DOWN TERRITORY. Am I missing something?
We can win with our cheap, short passing game if we would just run the damn ball in the red zone. At least make the other team stop our run before we stop it ourselves, please, people!
As for our passing game, I am not an expert, but OMG I think on 90% of our plays Stanford was playing one wideout one on one. I mean ALL DAY. AND WE NEVER TOOK ADVANTAGE to go downfield or into the end zone. We never took advantage of our bigger, taller wide outs to go downfield. Never that I can remember. Well, maybe once. I understand that Craft seems incapable of going to a second receiver, but he rarely even looked to these one on ones as his first choice from what I could see. And the one on one mismatch was there almost every play.
I don’t blame Craft. He played an excellent game overall considering his well-recognized limitations. But the coaches put the whole game on him in the end, and Stanford knew it, and they got to him when it counted, finally. Maybe when Prince comes back he can take advantage. I sure hope so.
To our credit, the defense finally sucked it up, but too late. Stanford was set to get 5 to 600 yards entering the 4th quarter, and our D shut them down, and they barely made another 25. To our credit, our offense, which was finally opened up late again, nearly pulled it out.
But a weak-assed finesse offense in the red zone and undisciplined defenses are difficult problems to overcome, especially against a good team like Stanford. Stanford played as a team. They executed as a team. They play power, power, power in the red zone, not between the twenties (remember their one other long pass that set them up?), but in the red zone. I’m not sure they are more talented than we are, really. But they’re coaches out-coached our coaches, pure and simple. It was no contest. In short, gulp, I think our coaches are making the game too complicated. (Remember that trick “wildcat” play we called that screwed up an initial drive early in the game? Yikes.)
MORAL: RICKY AND CHOW AND CHUCK HAVE SOME ‘SPLAININ TO DO. Our players almost pulled out a game they played badly in, but their overall bad playing, IMO, is the coaches’ fault. We need to play more power football in the red zone and more fundamental ball on defense. It’s the coaching, stupid. Will they man up to it?
GO BRUINS.
PS. YES. The officiating was horrible, but I can’t say that’s why we lost the game. The flea flicker was really the dagger. No excuse for that crap to beat us. Other than that, we actually played them pretty even, despite our many problems. This ship can be righted, if the coaches just make these adjustments. Pleaaassseeee! We can still have a great season, people. DO NOT GIVE UP OR THROW IN THE TOWEL. WE LOST TO A VERY GOOD TEAM ON THE ROAD. IT HAPPENS.
Beat Cal and Oregon, yes, finesse, spread Oregon and we will be fine. Stanford will lose at least one road game in the Pac 10. Count on it.
101
After reading your post & this OC Reg. crap ( http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bruins-game-yards-2592630-bruin-stanford ), I decided to post my reply to it here. “Stanford NEVER STOPPED OUR RUNNING GAME. WE STOPPED IT, THAT IS, THE COACHES. I MEAN”… I agree with you 101%….
I despise Marcia’s (OC Reg.) annoying little anti-Bruin cynicism, but this time, we deserve it: “This kind of loss tells us how far we have to go….How about the end zone?” — THAT’s EXACTLY F’ing RIGHT. CRN’s formula for success is keeping the score close with a solid D effort & winning with Forbath. CRN called it “Death, Taxes, & Forbath”. Problem is, when the D needed help, the offensive play calling didn’t change. Our last drive in the second quarter showed the Cardinal that they couldn’t play prevent w/ our receivers – they would have to blitz Craft & make him beat them. The last Bruin drive in the 4th Qtr. failed because this is exactly what Stanford did. Our coaches either failed to see this or failed to adjust. In my opinion one of two things is happening – either CRN won’t let CNC open up the play book or this staff doesn’t have a flexible play calling strategy. In either case this loss is completely on them. All those momentum killing penalties and red-zone stalls are their responsibility & after KSU, CRN promised us that he’d address it. WTF???
It’s this last comment that is killing me though: “We were spreading things around,” said Neuheisel. “We have a lot of people.”. YES WE DO, IS THAT AN F’ing PROBLEM? Last year we constantly made adjustments, tinkered with the play calling, & look where that got us. You are burning Brehaut’s, Thigpen’s, Presley’s, & Carroll’s redshirts for a reason- RIGHT?
We’ll never really know if they are ready until we see them consistently in the line of fire.
BTW: UCLA = HEART. You can hear from far and near the Mighty Bruin roar!
Disappointing
2 weeks to prepare and it’s very disappointing to see this loss as a result. Even though CRN is in only his second year here, I’d like to see the team start showing some consistent separation from other Pac-10 teams. It looks like Stanford could be a tough up-and-comer for years under Harbaugh.
It’s still early, and of course UCLA isn’t playing with their real QB. Craft is exactly as you’d expect. No reason to think he’d suddenly turn into Aikman or McNown. Let’s hope that Prince is ready to play next against UO because I fully expect the rest of the team to play like their hair is on fire after this loss.
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