Making sense of the weekend?

by layout on Sep 6, 2009 11:45 AM PDT Comment 13 comments

UCLA had a pretty good win and Tennessee smashed the Hilltoppers. Can anything about these two games be compared?

Also, a place to post thoughts about other PAC-10 games.

I don't know much about SDSU. How does their defense stack up against a PAC-10 team. They didn't provide a whole lot of resistance against the bruins. Is that poor defense or good offense?

After their first two drives, the UCLA defense figured out how to stop SDSU pretty well, but for those first two drives they were moving the ball pretty effectively. Are they actually good or was that just the UCLA defense taking a while to get in to the game?

I didn't see the game but Tennessee put up a very big number on the Hilltoppers. Reading about Tennessee, it sounds like their defense is good and well coached, but after holding the Hilltoppers to 7 points, can you really draw any conclusions?

I haven't heard much about Tenessee but I've heard lots about Lane Kiffin. NCAA violations and talking about teams he hasn't faced yet.

It's hard to see how the teams will match up with as little as I know but looking at last year's victory, Bruin potential and knowing that our kids are going to give a 110% effort in practice and the game, I am mildly optimistic about our chances.

Outside of the UCLA game I watched highlights of the USC game and part of the CAL game.

USC beat up on SJSU, that might be a tiny bit more impressive than beating the Hilltoppers.

CAL blew out Maryland, that impressed me.

Most of the time when I watch CAL play SUC, I wish there was a way they both could lose, but this year if UCLA can't win the PAC-10, I hope that CAL can knock SUC out of that spot.

I would love to read what other fans think about our upcoming game and how the rest of the PAC-10 is looking.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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If you want to read about what "other fans" think about our upcoming game

Then go over to blogs belonging to “other fans” to get their perspective.

by Nestor on Sep 6, 2009 6:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think he meant other Bruin fans

But there are definitely other threads around here where those opinions are expressed.

by mdjohns4 on Sep 6, 2009 8:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry Nestor,

I have to apologize for not studying every scouting report and watching every game.

I didn’t do it.

I didn’t see any other threads that covered the rest of the PAC-10. That’s the conference UCLA plays in and we will be playing all nine of the other teams.

I didn’t do my research but there is a bunch of new data after all the games. I wanted to know what other, more informed people thought, so I asked.

Yeah, I’m a little lazy but I think they are questions that a lot of people might have.

I’m not trying to be rude or anything but I’ve been jumped on a couple times for perfectly innocent posts.

Are you upset that I don’t consider SDSU, SJSU or the Hilltoppers to be comparable to a PAC-10 team? You shouldn’t be, it’s good scheduling to have an easy non-conference game to work out your kinks. I know I’ll never forget our national championship chances get flushed down the toilet from one huricane rescheduled game in Florida. That really sucked.

No one will call UCLA’s non-conference schedule easy because we’re playing Tenessee next. I expect it to be a challenge. Even if they hadn’t changed coaches it would be a challenge, maybe even more so. No one likes being on the losing side of an upset. This year I think we will have to be better than Tenessee to beat them, I would like to have an idea of where we stand.

I would also like to point out that we are in the second year of a rebuilding process, I doubt UCLA will go undefeated. I just want to see them compete in every game. I think they will do that.

by layout on Sep 6, 2009 11:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I misread your post

I thought you were soliciting the opinions of fans of other teams. You didn’t. So on that note my bad.

However, the tradition of this place is to do research, come up with info, and then ask folks opinions. Otherwise just throwing up lazy questions, turn this place into a message board.

Moreover, if you want to just get a conversation going, you could have used the fanshots “chat function” and throw up the same post. Again, I’d like people to respect how this community functions instead of just throwing up lazy drafted posts.

Thanks.

by Nestor on Sep 7, 2009 8:21 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was impressed with Washington.

They hung tough with a very tough LSU team for 3.5 quarters. And, their guys looked hungry, sharp, and determined. I was surprised to say the least. I have grown accustomed to be skeptical that came out of South Central. But, I have to admit. It looks like Sarkisian can coach football, after all.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Sep 6, 2009 6:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

LSU was ranked in the 30s in defense last year

and are worse this year, at least talent wise.

Washington deserves props for the defensive job they pulled off last night, but the offensive output was against a d that wouldn’t be top 3 in the pac 10.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Sep 6, 2009 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

Both of these posts tell me something I didn’t know a few hours ago.

Now I’ll expect Washington to be a team with good D and an average or slightly worse offense.

by layout on Sep 6, 2009 11:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

While I understand...

…what you are trying to get at, you also need to bear in mind that we’re only one week into the college football season. Beating SDSU is nice and all, but let’s be realistic: it’s SDSU and at best, they’re a mediocre team. Our win doesn’t give us a lot of data on what to expect going forward.

Likewise, U$C beating up on SJSU (which has absolutely no business in D-1A football) gives us no meaningful insight in what kind of team the trOJans actually have. I don’t put too much stock into Cal’s demolition of Maryland either. Maryland doesn’t project to be that good of a team.

Most teams play a soft opening game: Florida destroyed whichever scrub school was willing to get bent over for a big payday, but it tells us nothing of how good the champs will be this year.

So while I understand what you’re asking, it’s too early to give you any kind of legitimate answer. We won’t really be able to get a solid scouting report or handle on any Pac-10 team for at least another few weeks (especially since there are sure to be injuries that will dramatically change things).

by Bellerophon on Sep 7, 2009 3:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

SJSU has actually made some good strides under Dick Tomey

obviously they’re still not that good, but they’re much, much better than the team that was on the verge of being kicked down to 1-AA a few years back. They were 5-4 at a point last year and fell apart to miss a bowl, but they’re not as bad as public opinion thinks they are.

by bucknellbruin on Sep 7, 2009 4:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know it's early,

But we are not going to get any more info before the Tenessee game and then we’ll be looking a the result of the Tenessee game and still wondering how the Bruins will stack up against the rest of the PAC-10.

You can’t really measure progress without an initial expectation.

by layout on Sep 7, 2009 10:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs