UCLA at 3-0, U$C* at 2-1: Signs Of Clear (Bruin) Blue Sky On The Horizon
by Nestor on Sep 20, 2009 11:16 AM PDT
in Football
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PrintI think it will be obvious to anyone reading through the game thread last night that we weren't feeling very warm and fuzzy about our football team right after the second half started. I don't need to go into details about the ugliness of that third quarter when Kansas State (KSU) rallied behind the inspired runs of Daniel Thomas and closed the gap by taking advantage of some sloppy play of our offense. I didn't see it here. However, there were some fairly toxic post game reactions directed towards Kevin Craft and the UCLA offensive coaching staff (for not giving Richard Brehaut a chance) around the internet. Well after chewing over the game the morning after and thinking about the big picture, I can't help but feel good about where our program is right now and where we are headed.
Yes, I know we are not perfect. Then again I said pretty straight up at the beginning of this season my expectation for this year is what my expectations were at the beginning of Coach Howland's second season at UCLA. I want us to get into a bowl game and 6-7 win season, that will set us up really well on the recruiting front this season and for future success. Well after three games it looks like we are on track and perhaps slightly ahead of schedule.
Consider some factors in play before UCLA took on KSU:
- UCLA was playing without its starting quarterback, two starters at cornerback, a key tailback, and two extremely talented receivers. I won't even mention the injuries we have suffered this season early on to senior OL, RB, and DT which would have demoralized previous UCLA teams in the past.
- UCLA was playing in a classic let down game, the kind of ones it has laid eggs in time after time in recent season.
- Not only that UCLA was taking on one of the better teams against one of the best game tacticians in college football who has a history of pulling of mind boggling (assclowning ESPN pundits) upsets.
As Jon Gold from the Daily News noted on that Bruins went into last night's game with 80 percent of its football team. Despite all that UCLA came out with a 23-9 win against KSU in which they:
- Accomplished the objection of running 4 yards per carry, racking up 173 rushing yards in 34 attempts (averaging 5.1 per attempt)
- Gave up 0 (yes "ZERO") sacks against a pretty stingy KSU defense
- Got 186 yards out of its backup QB who threw for a perfect TD strike, had another one called back for penalty and was averaging almost 8 yards per completion
- Despite some rough defensive moments, our guys kept the opponent to single digits, and bottled them up for 69 yards on the ground and less than 270 total offensive yards
Seems like a team that did what we were hoping it would do to start last week: cowboy up.
Could we have played better? Of course, and I will go into some of our issues plaguing this young team after the jump. However, before anyone (not the regulars in this community) gets drowned by the negativity around sloppiness of one quarter, again consider the big picture. A 4-8 team from last season (which had cratered as a program) is sitting with a record of 3-0 with lot more room to improve in a bye week. All of this happened at the same week, when a certain team across town with the hype of the entire national and local media behind it, laid an egg against a team that hadn't won a single conference game in a more than a year. More after the jump.
Let's start with the supposed hot topic that caused a lot of consternation and angry rants on a certain UCLA message board on the internets. I honestly don't care about the QB situation. I am not going to get worked up over a spot which is under the jurisdiction of a legend such as Norm Chow (just like if our young Ben Ball warriors are struggling to D up this coming season, I am not going to get worried over Howland's defensive schemes). From the Daily News:
Asked if
ithe was disappointed he wasn't able to get Brehaut in Saturday, Bruins offensive coordinator Norm Chow said: "Yeah, he certainly deserves a chance, but so do a lot of other guys, like the backup linemen. Everyone deserves a chance to play. You have to understand the idea is to try to win and do the best you can."
Makes sense to me. I am not going to worry how much time Craft or Brehaut gets next game.
What I do like is that not only our program is showing a sign of pulse, but there is an energy and it is all going in thr right direction. Finally, I am seeing some tangible signs (record wise) of smog clearing up with appearance of (Bruin) blue in (UC) Los Angeles and I am liking it. Let's start with the LA Times coverage which actually is surreally positive. From Chris Foster in the LA Times:
Coach Rick Neuheisel had already framed its meaning this week, saying, "Last year there were 23 teams in Division I that started 3-0, out of 119 teams, and 20 of those 23 went to a bowl game."
Before the Bruins get too giddy, this is the ninth time they have entered Pacific 10 Conference play with a 3-0 record since 1971. Only twice have they gone on to win the conference title and go to the Rose Bowl.
Still, this was progress.
Similar sentiments can be read into reporting of Kevin Craft's performance. Well, I guess it helps when the kid is always gracious and humble no matter what the game result is:
Craft completed 13 of 24 passes for 186 yards. He had one pass intercepted, but also had a second touchdown pass nullified by a penalty. He said afterward he wasn’t concerned whether he’d get another chance this season.
"You know, I don’t really have that mind-set," Craft said. "I just kind of felt that I would get a chance to get back out there. I don’t ever want to see a kid go down like Kev did. I know his spirits are still high. But it was also fun to get out there too."
His coach was appreciative of his effort:
"I’m so pleased for Kevin Craft," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He had taken a lot of abuse, none of it intended to be malicious, but when you don’t do as well as you hope at a position that is as much a focal point as quarterback, it’s a tough thing to swallow."
And his team-mates were also rooting for him:
"I just knew he was going to come out today," said offensive tackle Mike Harris, one of twoa returning starter from last season. "This whole week of practice he just had a fire in his eye that I didn't see last year. I knew he had something to prove today." Now Craft's third quarter performance was ugly. No way around it. However, I think Craft went off rhythm for a bit after a specific play call in second quarter. UCLA had a 3rd and 1 at its own 46 yard line with a 10-3 lead. At that point Craft had complete 5 of 7 passes in a classic ball control game. So with a 3rd and 1, coaches dialed up a long bomb, which ended up being underthrown and intercepted. I think that's when Craft got out of sync for a while and the complexion of the game changed. That's probably a call Chow (assuming he called it) will like to have back. Obvious penalties were killers all night. If Craft's TD to Moya was called back because what appeared to be a correct call on Paulsen, the game's complexion could have been different. As usual SPTRs played their roles, however, we have to do a much better job of playing a cleaner game. Our blocking around the edges need to get much more polished while Ayers need to find a way to play smart and within control. From the Daily News:
"We have to fix that," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "(Saturday), just in the urgency to try to keep things going we were lining up wrong, guys were trying to make plays and blocking below the waist. "We have to fix all that, and this is the perfect time to do it. We were lucky to get to do it without having (a loss) in our ledger." UCLA, which has a bye next week and plays at Stanford on Oct. 3 in the Pac-10 opener, will rest today and Monday before a revamped practice scheduled next week. "It'll be a training camp-type atmosphere," Neuheisel said. In addition to working on minimizing the penalties, I am hoping the coaches will also refocus on our special teams. While the kicking game was great again, the kickoff coverage reverted to the bad habits of last year, when the players were overpursuing their lanes. I think this is something that is correctible and I really hope will be improved upon in next two weeks. I did like Thigpen returining kickoffs. He clearly showed the burst of speed we were hearing about from those practice reports. Classof66 has already laid out his concerns about our defense. I think his concerns do have merit. Specifically our defense need to be much better prepared out of the gate. However, I also think we need to give some credit Bill Snyder and the Wildcats. I loved the gameplan he had devised against UCLA. His offensive scheme was all about misdirection (via his spread option reads) and it did wonder to neutralize our speed and aggression. We did adjust by the time fourth quarter rolled around. However, I would think the tapes from last night will come in very handy when we prepare with other teams using similar schemes (cough*Oregon*cough). Going forward, Bruins now have two weeks to prepare for a Pac-10 opener against another well coached football team, who we were lucky to beat at the Rose Bowl last season. I sure hope our defense is working over time to figure out how they will stop the running attack of Toby Gerhart and improved QB play from Stanford Cardinal. Just like Tennessee those guys will be out for revenge, and we will need to go in there with same fire and intensity we did in Tennessee. The bye week will also hopefully get some guys to heal back and return to the team and hopefully we will have kids like Viney, Knox, Carroll and Presley participated with renewed focus and determination. I am excited to read about the news coming out of Spaulding in next couple of weeks heading into Palo Alto. This is fun. GO BRUINS.
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AP Poll is out
We are in the Top 30, which seems about right, right now. We are definitely on the right track, and just need to keep doing what we have been doing.
And UW is in the Top 25
which is rather absurd
by SuperBruinMan on Sep 20, 2009 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Only lost to LSU
AP writers are looking at the resume. It’s better than a lot of top 25 teams.
Vandy was more impressive against LSU
UW is 2-13 their last 15 games, has not played away from home this year.
If UW deserves to be ranked, FSU deserves to be top 5 with that logic. They beat number 8 BYU at home by more than 20 points.
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Sep 20, 2009 4:52 PM PDT up reply actions
But also lost a game
to Miami. So no they don’t at all by that logic. You are completely misrepresenting my position and then arguing against that misrepresentation. I never argued UW should be a top five team after beating a top five team. Why would Florida State all of sudden deserve that treatment for beating a top ten team? UW is ranked late in the poll for beating USC and playing LSU very close. That’s what the writers see, and all I was doing was explaining that rationale. Your issue is with the AP, not with me.
It was an isolated upset
If they keep winning, they should be included. They’re more likely to be 2-4 than 5-1, though.
by SuperBruinMan on Sep 20, 2009 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Read what I wrote
The AP is looking at UW’s record and quality of wins/loses. That is how they justify ranking UW now. The great thing about a football season is that teams play again the next week unless they have a bye, their season is over, or are simply waiting to play in a bowl game. The poll can adapt to these factors. But right now, UW beating USC and playing LSU close indicates, in the minds of AP writers, that they are worthy of being a top 25 time right now.
Fair enough
I just don’t think voters should care about the “resume” this early in the season.
by SuperBruinMan on Sep 20, 2009 6:35 PM PDT up reply actions
What else should they care about?
It seems like a perfectly reasonable expectation of the people voting to reward teams that have played good competition and played well against them early in the year.
I understand that there are preseason expectations that help establish the elite teams before the tough portions of the schedule. But the preseason rankings rarely wind up being entirely accurate.
Maybe Washington really is much better than they were last year considering a healthy Locker, a new class of recruits, and a significant upgrade in coaching. The rest of the season will decide how good they really are.
To me, its a more authentic poll when you weigh both preseason expectations with quality wins/losses no matter how deep we are into the season. It’s great to see a team like Houston get rewarded for beating Okie State in Stillwater. Washington has played two powerhouses and competed very well. Certainly they have earned a spot in the top 25 over a team like Georgia Tech who hasn’t played up to preseason expectations by playing poorly against both Clemson and Miami.
I don’t think Washington will end the year in the poll, but they’ve played their way in for now.
It should just be the best 25 teams
Obviously the voters need to be flexible enough to reward teams that do well, but after only 3 games preseason expectations are still more likely to be accurate. IIRC, most people predicted that UW would be 9th in the Pac-10. After a close loss and a close win at home against teams that were supposed to be good, does anyone really now think they’re the 3rd best team in the conference? After the first few games it’s fair to say they won’t be as bad as expected and certainly won’t be as bad as last year, but they’re just not one of the top 25 teams in the country.
by SuperBruinMan on Sep 20, 2009 7:32 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm with mdjohns on this one
I think the vote should reflect what the teams have done on the field and not some preconceived notion of which teams are best.
To that end, I wish voters would penalize teams that schedule cupcakes to start the season. I don’t care if they are the most talented team in the country, Florida should not have been rewarded w/ the #1 ranking the first two weeks for beating Troy and Charleston School for the Blind.
by insomniacslounge on Sep 20, 2009 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions
I also vote with mdjohns and insomniac
I disagree with the pollsters, though. I think UCLA deserves a few more votes. That said, I really don’t care. If we win one cheesy, measly, crummy game each week, then we’ll come out OK at the end of the year. Just one game a week.
You have an interesting
way in arguing your case for what constitutes the best 25 teams. LSU is #9 primarily due to preseason expectations, and USC is now #12 after falling from their preseason induced ranking of #3. Yet you write about how UW had a close win and a close loss to teams “that were supposed to be good.”
You ever so subtly hint at the fact that preseason polls and preseason expectations aren’t that accurate. They must be weighed with how teams perform on the field. Three weeks into the season, it certainly looks like SC is not the championship contender pollsters expected them to be. It also looks like LSU might not be good enough to make it to a BCS bowl. Yet they are still very good teams relative to the rest.
I certainly don’t think you can disprove an argument for Washington being the third best team in the Pac 10 right now. How poorly they did last year shouldn’t bear too much weight on how well they’ve played this year. Washington was 0-12 primarily because Jake Locker was not on the field. He is widely considered the most talented quarterback in the Pac-10. Before he was injured last year, they got stomped by Oregon and Oklahoma, both very good teams. They lost to BYU by 1 on a missed extra point IIRC. Then he got injured after throwing 9 passes against Stanford.
UW is a much improved team, and I would believe that they are indeed the most improved team in the Pac 10. If we like our chances with Kevin Prince, I’m sure Husky fans like theirs with Locker. They had the 14th ranked recruiting class in 2008, a true freshman leads them in receiving alongside a capable core of receivers returning from last year, and an improved running game with Chris Polk. They put more points on SC than Ohio State and did it in the rain. I think it’s time we forget about last year’s Washington team as if it matters anymore.
If we’re going to evaluate Washington’s team this year we have to evaluate stats, facts, wins, and losses from this year. They might not be top 25 worthy, but they certainly haven’t done anything to suggest they’ll be the Pac 10 bottom feeders they were last year. A 6-6/7-5 finish with a bowl game is not out of the question yet.
But if I were a betting man
(and I am) I’d go with 5 wins
Stanfords offense plays into UCLA's hands
and defense plays right into UCLA’s style.
With 2 weeks to prepare for a team that hasn’t faced a defense like UCLA’s I love our chances in that game.
Also Craft with a worse supporting cast beat the Cardinal last season, so I’m confident UCLA can go up to the farm and get a “W”.
Aaron Hester should be able to go for the Stanford game but even if he isnt I still have confidence in our defense.
Kevin Prince and Aaron Hester should be back for the Oregon Duck game and UCLA will need them to beat the Ducks.
Am I looking past Stanford….NO, but I think they will not beat UCLA coming off a BYE week.
Don't be satisfied with 3-0
OK, we are 3-0. Better than most expected. I thought we “could” be 3-0, and it would say something about improvement from where we were. But before we start thinking that we are back, let’s bear in mind the October schedule:
At Stanford
Home with Oregon
Home with Cal
At Arizona
At Oregon State
This is a very tough schedule. I think people initially wrote off Oregon after Boise State held them to almost nil on the ground and Blount got suspended. But they are still a talented team and extremely capable of beating us at the Rose Bowl.
In my book, Cal is going to win the Pac-10 this year and end Pete’s succession of Rose Bowl invites.
We then have 3 road games against the middle pack of the Pac. Legitimately, Oregon State is probably in the 3/4 spot in the Pac-10 with Oregon.
Honestly speaking we are in the thick of it with Arizona and Stanford. I do not view any of the 3 teams (Bruins, Cardinal and Wildcats) as significantly better or worse than anyone else and they have the home crowd.
October will say a lot about our team. 3/5 or better and we are back to the upper echelon of the Pac-10. We become bowl eligible in October and can start thinking about trying to get to the right bowl. 2/5 we are where we should be right now and constantly reminding ourselves that we are better than we were last year. 1/5 got some work to do to win at least 2 of the final 4. 0/5 I wouldn’t say its a “set back” but is entirely possible and makes November a tough month.
While every game is a big game, the Stanford game is crucial because the next 2 are against Oregon and Cal respectively at home before we hit a 2 game road trip to finish the month. We don’t want to forget what winning is about so we need to stick to business and not get comfortable about 3-0.
Some good points
We will definitely not get “comfortable” after 3-0. In fact we never really do after big wins. However, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a good start on a Sunday which finds UCLA with a better record than U$C. It’s part of sports.
Meanwhile, we will not forget the big picture in terms of what this program needs to do show discernible improvement this year. We never do around here.
there is no unbeatable team this year
KAL looked shakey at Minnesota, a middle of the pac big 10 team. I wouldn’t anoint them yet.
I think its a total mystery whose gonna win, but I see KAL being just as likely to slip up as SUC. They have a history of poor performance in big games
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Sep 20, 2009 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Great analysis!
The job security of a college football coach, it has been said, is dependent on the performance of 18 – 22 year olds.
Overall, the team gets a C in my gradebook.
Line protected well, and run blocked well between the tackles, but as you pointed out need to open up the outside. Receivers played OK, but took 2 chop blocks. TE’s held and released downfield “covered up” but run blocked well and ran good possession routes. RB’s looked good, but where is the receiving out of the backfield? FB’s played well, and I thought QB play was OK. Last season Craft managed well on scripted first possessions, as he did yesterday, but I thought his errors were largely from locking in on a primary receiver and throwing to him. I totally agree, this started in the second quarter and continued through the third. By the fourth quarter, it seemed Craft was looking at the whole field again. My major offensive criticism is red zone field goals, which is to say I hope to see drives that don’t consistently stall inside the 20 or so.
Defensively, this defense reminds me of Walker coached defenses. They started the season(s) somewhat inconsistent but typically showed weekly improvement. Seemed to coincide with more aggressive blitzing schemes – my own observation with absolutely no data to back this statement up. Fewer penalties of aggression will go a long way to getting this group up to full speed.
I will take ugly wins over 58 1/2 minute “moral victories” a la notre dame.
BTW, good to see previous weeks opponent held number one team in the nation and heisman trophy winner to 4 points more than UCLA did (in Florida, no less) and scored offensively the same
by sam_in_hb on Sep 20, 2009 1:52 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
This bye could not have come . . .
. . . at a better time. CRN said next week will be like training camp. We can work on fixing some of the problems without having to worry about gameplanning. Hester, Prince, Stokes, and others have an extra week to get healthy.
I agree with dodgers that we match up well with Furd. We still need to play the game though, and Gerhart is a beast.
I sure would like to know what KSU did
on the O-line to sustain numerous long drives against Bullough & Co.
As for the "Clear blue Horizon"...
I’d throw in a Purple and Gold sunrise as well.
by GogetemBruins on Sep 20, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions
Meh
It was a good win for UDub but I am more excited about our Bruins and thinking about the next game. Sark is turning out to be a good motivator. However, he has Jake Locker. Remember how good Charlie Weiss looked with Brady Quinn (who ironically happened to be a Willingham recruit as well).
UDub will be a tough game at the Rose Bowl but I am not really thinking about them now. I am going to worry about Stanford which is going to be a huge game for us.
Un-Meh...
Not just a good motivator, but also a very good recruiter. I like the Quinn/Locker segue as it pertains to results. We will see.
I am very pleased for UCLA. I am also very happy for the husky faithful. They have been suffering as long as we have. There is room for both, and besides the pac 10 is better off with a strong Husky program
by GogetemBruins on Sep 20, 2009 6:21 PM PDT up reply actions
Well which is it going to be, Bruins?
We played a good game against KSU, won by a confortable margin (which really should have been more but for the TD that was called back.) Our second or third string QB looked good. Our defense looked good. And we’re 3-0.
Or to put it another way, we didn’t have a good game against KSU. The game was in doubt most of the way. Our QB was bad. Our defense was run against at will. We’re lucky we’re not 0-3.
I’m a little tired of the nay-saying, especially against Craft. I think Craft did everything that could reasonably have been expected of him. Let’s focus on areas to be improved, and there are plenty, but let’s also recognize the accomplishments the team has made.
Speaking of that TD
that got called back, how was our TE (Paulsen) flagged for being an ineligible receiver down field? The only thing I can think of is that someone was outside of him and on the line of scrimmage. Does anyone know what happened there?
I must say I was getting pretty pissed at the ticky tack nature of some of those calls last night. That one helmet to helmet was BS. The play was still going and and their QB was diving forward to low to the ground. Someone tell me how you stop his forward progress with helmet to helmet contact… it’s almost impossible.
From the student section it looked like
Both of the near receivers were on the line. I wasn’t at all surprised to see the flag, though I didn’t hear them announce the penalty.
by SuperBruinMan on Sep 20, 2009 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions
It is Ironic...
No call was made for the Tenn player nailing Prince in the chin with his helmet, yet UCLA gets pummeled by the ref’s for helmet to helmet action.
by GogetemBruins on Sep 20, 2009 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions
correction
change “with helmet to helmet contact” to “without helmet to helmet contact”. I hate that rule in general, btw.
Didn't get a chance to see the game
How did the secondary look? Who started opposite Verner? Any redshirts burned using DBs?
True freshman Sheldon Price started
The secondary played very well. But KSU wasn’t exactly a great passing team. They ran a lot of wildcat sets. Rahim Moore had two great shots at getting his 6th pick in 3 games but dropped them both. Verner had two interceptions, one of them in garbage minutes on a Hail Mary.
Just came back from the Dodgers' game
and it was “This Is My Town” UCLA Day. It was great to see so many Bruins at the Dodgers’ game. CRN had some great takes that were shown on the jumbotron and he received a nice ovation. There were several 8 claps during the game.
I just sense a shift in terms of loyalty in the city of LA. We know there are many bandwagon folks that wear their suc stuff (since 2003), they flip-flop to the latest in thing- what can you say, it is LA.
Lately, it seems that there are more people now wearing their Bruin gear around LA and feeling proud of their team. Of course we have an excellent university, top-notch athletic program, rich history, etc. so people should always be proud of their school. However, something about a football program doing well can do wonders for school spirit and pride.
Down with troy and hail the Sons of Westwood!
by UCLA Championships Made Here on Sep 20, 2009 6:53 PM PDT reply actions
What's good ?
I like coach CRN’s statements that he has seen “glimers” of what we should be. Greatness? There is a right way to do something. And given his prediction of the genius of Kansas State Coach Snyder I would say that Coach Rick understands footbball. KS played a great game against a greater talent.
We are making a slow recovery from days past. But I think a slow recovery will prove to be a more effective recovery.
Go Bruins !
I think it is good we are not ranked....
Since quite frankly we play better with a chip on our shoulder and something to prove. There have been some times in the not so distant past (at Utah) where we got beat by us thinking out shit didn’t smell.
We have a lot to improve on and I’d rather have our guys be hungry and on a mission going into the heart of the season.
And the rankings will take care of themselves if we keep winning, so no need to worry about where we are 3 games into the season.
Powder to the People
did anyone bother to notice...
we were ranked 30th in the AP last week as well. We should be pleased with where we are. Given, we had some major setbacks to deal with this week – two starters and three tallented players out. But, the poll is of journalists…so thank god most of them didn’t watch the game. Yes, KSU got up for the game, but, had it been nationally televised, I doubt we would have done nearly as well. We’re off to a good start, but let’s not get carried away. I think we’re a bowl team, but not necessarily top 30 yet. For those crying about respect, remember, we’re in a BCS conference. Yes, we deserve more respect than a WAC or Mountain West team out the gate, but given the past couple years, I wouldn’t necessarily jump on the bandwagon if I were a writer.
by bruin_nerd on Sep 21, 2009 12:17 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Cheerleaders
Did anyone else notice the cheerleader they cut to several times on the broadcast (at least out here in the East) saying “Let’s go, L.A.”? When did that start? I thought it was always “Go Bruins”. “Go L.A.” to me sounds more like a Giants crowd starting the “Beat L.A.” chant.
It is a minor point, but that irked me.
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