Pardon My Venting: I'm Trying To be Constructive ...
by uclahy on Oct 10, 2010 2:26 AM PDT
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PrintSOME POINTS TO PONDER, FROM THE MINOR TO THE MAJOR.
I actually, personally, like our coaches, want them to succeed and I am sure they are torturing themselves with WTF is going wrong, too, but because I do respect them, I believe they have to be asked some tough questions and be held accountable, just like we all are in our own jobs. The season is only half over and, if we are going to improve, which I still believe we can given our talent, some real soul searching must be done. Normally, that means looking in the mirror of whoever is in charge.
• Whether it was by our design or because of Cal's defense, the coaches reverted to the losing strategy of trying to pass out of the Pistol to make things go instead of running, running, running. Given that objectively we have the worst passing attack in major college ball, that was a prescription for disaster. Yet our coaches pursued it to the bitter end. Why?
• Once it was obvious the coaches had given up on running the Pistol, they stayed with the now non-running Prince come what may. It didn't matter how many times he overthrew, under threw, threw behind or into the ground, held the ball too long, fumbled or got intercepted, whatever, he was the horse they rode, just as he has been their one and only horse for the past 1 1/2 years. Why?
• Did you hear how a coach named Spurrier went for it on fourth down on his own 35 early in the game against number one Alabama to get momentum on his side? Did you notice that the same South Carolina coach recruited the number two rated running back from high school, some freshman kid named Lattimore, and immediately made him his feature back running him up to thirty times a game? Did you know who got the number one rated running back, the Gatorade Player of the Year, some freshman kid named Malcolm Jones, and barely plays him because he's too inexperienced and fumbles too much?
• Can anyone tell me how a defense can sleepwalk through the first half and play lights out in the second? Is the defense just unprepared most every game or are they actually prepared but the coaches can't motivate them? Or is there some rule that we have to wait until halftime to make adjustments when we are getting run over by the other team the first two quarters?
• Can our coaches on defense make an effort to at least just stop the run, once, please? Put 7, 8, 9 whatever it takes to just stop the other side from getting 7 yards every time they run the damn ball. Can't we make their quarterback have to throw the ball more than ten yards to beat us? Is that asking too much?
• I know we can't demand too much of the coaches in the middle of only their third, fricking year, but is it too much to ask to at least not get embarrassed the entire game when we play a school from northern California?
• Of course, the 800 pound gorilla for all of our offensive problems boils down to two things. Our brilliant offensive head coach and his guru of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks have failed to develop a single player into a decent, D1 quarterback since they got here. Then they installed an offense that requires the kind of quarterback they either don't have or simply refuse to even play.
• I do feel Coach Chow's pain. Many of his play calls would have worked brilliantly if he actually had a quarterback who could throw the ball accurately. For example, on Stanford's only interception the UCLA player had his man beat down the sideline for an easy touchdown, only the ball was thrown five yards behind him right into the hands of the defender who was rewarded with an easy pick for his absolute incompetence.
• The other teams seem to always get the ball to their fastest guys. Can't we? Why not?
• Are we to believe that Cal and Stanford have superhuman athletes compared to ours?
• Which coaching staff is better? Ours or Washington State's? Ours or SUC's? What do you think Mike Riley, coach of Oregon State could do with our players if he had them for one fall camp? I refuse to answer on the grounds that to utter the words will make me throw up.
• Have you ever seen so much talent making so much effort, busting their butts every play, only to be so unprepared, out of position and just plain embarrassed? Have so many coaches ever gotten so little out of such talented players?
• Are you just a little tired with all of the hot air, promises and excuses for the coaches' failure to show consistent, disciplined play by their team?
• We are not trolls. We are not whiners. We do not expect miracles, a BCS bowl, 8 or 9 wins or even a winning season every year. What we do expect is that, in the words that Coach lived by for 99 years, that our players be successful, that is, earn the self-satisfaction of knowing that they have done their best, win or lose.
• That is our number one beef with our coaches. Our athletes do not come close to playing their best under this coaching staff. 70-7 says it all. Losing to a KSU team filled with players that could not even make our team says it all. Having players with the talent to beat a Texas team on the road into submission only to embarrass themselves the next two weeks says it all.
• We are not saying to fire anybody now or in the future. We are saying it's time for our coaches, with all of their vast years experience, to start walking the walk and stop talking the talk. Forget about the wins and losses right now. Simplify the strategy. Let the kids play. And just play those kids who block, tackle and play with a fireball in their gut every play, whatever year they are in school or however talented they are. The sooner you do that, the sooner we will start to live up to our potential.
• Call me crazy, but I think it's the coaches, stupid.
Somebody, please figure it out before I go even more crazy.
GO BRUINS!
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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I feel ya...
this loss is so maddening that it’s keeping me up tonight. Being a UCLA football fan = masochism.
Defense 2-Face
Totally agree about the D. I know I should be happy that our D held them to 7 points in the 2nd half. However, it just makes it even more frustrating that they didn’t do better in the 1st half! On the other hand, our offense was just lost for the entire game…
I thoroughly disagree on a few points
• Of course, the 800 pound gorilla for all of our offensive problems boils down to two things. Our brilliant offensive head coach and his guru of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks have failed to develop a single player into a decent, D1 quarterback since they got here. Then they installed an offense that requires the kind of quarterback they either don’t have or simply refuse to even play.
It is extremely inaccurate to say that Chow’s failure to develop someone into a big time QB is a time for panic. He has had two things going a) A QB with no offensive line b) A True Freshman c) A new offensive scheme, which passed the ball for than 30 times for the first time since last December.
Give me a break, you can’t call out the coaches in that department. However, in terms of guys like Malcolm Jones and Thigpen, that’s where you can be upset. Raw talent is on the sideline most of the time behind guys who don’t even put their hands out for balls in their lap.
And this just doesn’t make sense;
• Whether it was by our design or because of Cal’s defense, the coaches reverted to the losing strategy of trying to pass out of the Pistol to make things go instead of running, running, running. Given that objectively we have the worst passing attack in major college ball, that was a prescription for disaster. Yet our coaches pursued it to the bitter end. Why?
We ran the ball 26 times, and got 26 yards. We were down by 28 POINTS! You would be griping had we continued to run the ball and ran out the clock, so I have no clue what you mean by let’s run the ball when we are in the biggest hole we’ve ever been in at halftime.
by Josh Schlichter on Oct 10, 2010 7:09 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
PANIC!!!!!!!
Well, not really time for that yet. As pointed out before we still need an o-line that can pass block, w/o that teams that have the talent and can “figure” out the pistol will destroy us.
I really don't want to quibble over the minor points of this game, but
1. I think we went to the pass early and often, but I admit I destroyed my tape of the game before reviewing it, but that is what I remember. We tried to get Prince to pass very early to get the Pistol going, like at KSU and Stanford.
2. Once we had to pass, then given KP’s worst passing stats in college football, we should have gone to RB much sooner.
3. As for the running, we really didn’t run the option in the Pistol much at all. Of the 26 runs only 2 involved KP taking the ball himself. Almost all of the runs were simple handoffs up the middle or a planned counter off tackle that were stuffed, not really the way we ran the Pistol the prior three games. Yes the formation was the Pistol, but the play call was classically legerdemain and predictable.
4. When operating on all cylinders the Pistol can result in very quick scores just running the ball. That’s how we scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against WSU last week, remember? Al it takes is one big run.
5. But, really, you may be able to nitpick my minor points, fair enough, but you can’t defend the humiliating performance of our team yesterday. That’s on the coaches, unfortunately, again and again.
Bottom line, the team is not improving week to week and neither are our individual players. I would cite many examples, but I’m not here to criticize the kids who are busting their butts every week IMO.
GO BRUINS
I'm still not sure you're making sense
Re. #2 Reread that
2. Once we had to pass, then given KP’s worst passing stats in college football, we should have gone to RB much sooner.
So because the worst college quarterback is required to pass, let’s turn to his back up. Are you kidding? Come on, you can get all mad about me nitpicking, but don’t post baseless suggestions about how Brehaut would be so much better than Prince.
Being predictable is what UCLA has been all year. They have succeeded with being predictable. Any team that has 54 rushing plays in a game (or whatever it was) is predictable. When you are knocked out of your element, credit to Cal for dominating the box in this game, teams that are predictable lose games. Asking KP and co to have balance in a jiffy against a much superior (and a defense with Mike Mohamed) defensive unit compared to the last 3 teams that we have faced is unrealistic. No one worth listening to on BN was asking for a completely, totally balanced team yesterday, and we just got beat in the category where we needed to be strong.
And, asking for Prince to turn into Kaepernick, bust big plays, and asking Chow to run the veer every play is also unrealistic.
Those are not minor points, they are general. I am quibbling with you over the baseless, unrealistic stuff you are posting here while ranting. The filter can come off sometimes, but not completely.
by Josh Schlichter on Oct 10, 2010 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think he was trying to say
that while Prince may be the better option working out of the pistol (making reads and directing a run-based offense) Brehaut seems to be the better option when we are forced to resort to a pass-first approach.
If you think Prince is a better passer than Brehaut, I respectfully disagree.
I respectfully disagree. I concede prince is the better runner but if we’re going to emphasize the pass put of the Pistol then it’s clearly time to give Brehaut his shot. Between those two, he is the right choice if you want to pass out of the Pistol more.
I can’t say Brehaut would be significantly better for sure, but I think he would based on the way his passes have better zip and accuracy, the receivers seem to be more in rhythm with him and he just seems more comfortable throwing.
That said, if he isn’t successful, then we should try Bell. If it ain’t working it just makes sense to give someone else a shot.
In general, I think this has been a problem of our coaches, staying married to players who just have not got it done while being slow to give younger, faster players a chance. Didn’t Josh Smith have like 2000 all purpose yards at Colorado, yet he barely touches the ball here?
Again, there are larger issues with the coaching staff, unfortunately.
• Whether it was by our design or because of Cal’s defense, the coaches reverted to the losing strategy of trying to pass out of the Pistol to make things go instead of running, running, running. Given that objectively we have the worst passing attack in major college ball, that was a prescription for disaster. Yet our coaches pursued it to the bitter end. Why?
Absolutely Cal’s defense. This is a shining example of Tedford using the bye week correctly, and forcing us to win on the pass. We failed to pass enough/effectively enough yesterday, so Tedford stacked the box knowing full well that we couldn’t take advantage of it. Football 101: one-dimensional offenses only beat outmatched/outclassed defenses. If you want to play with an equally-matched or better defense, you gotta keep them honest, which we completely failed to do yesterday. All of the people predicting that we would not be able to win games without a credible pass threat were correct.
Yesterday was the result of Cal studying tape, realizing that for some reason, KP cannot meaningfully connect with the receiving corps, and exploiting it. It’s also the reason the Cal OL contained Akeem Ayers and neutered our ability to create pressure. If you thought there was a reason the defensive performance looked a lot like WSU, it’s because it did. The reality Tedford discovered is that if you can contain Ayers, you basically have all the time you want in the pocket.
Thanks b d
My point 2 exactly. Once Cal stacked the line to force us to pass we had to go to Brehaut to have any chance.
And if Brehaut couldn’t do it after a half, then put in Bell. You have to give guys chances in a game to really see what they can do when the same guys you start fail to get it done over and over again.
That to me is the main problem with the coaches. Too stubborn and no competition to really play no matter how poorly you play and not letting fresher, faster players have a true chance.
And their failure to make quick adjustments to the obvious, like Cal forcing us to pass or the doubles on Ayers. That means others have to blitz, duh, not sit back and get run over.
Agreed to a point, but
you can’t blame Prince for everything that went wrong in the pass game. Yes, he overthrew a couple of open receivers, but I think (can’t be sure, I was there and I don’t want to re-watch the tivo copy to be sure) that the number of times that the ball hit the receiver in the hands only to be dropped far outstripped the number of poor throws. Furthermore, when Brehaut came in, he completed maybe two good passes in a row, and then fell victim to the same problem Prince had, and the same problem Kevin Craft had: nonexistent pass protection. I don’t think I’ve seen the pocket collapse so quickly since KC was getting beaten up on every down.
On the interception Prince threw, the WR hadn’t even turned around when the defender caught the ball. Now, was that the receiver being instructed to run a really deep route and Prince running out of time? Possible, but unlikely. I’m going to say that Prince probably expected the WR to turn around shortly after he threw the ball and come back to get it.
I guess what I’m trying to say is the pass game suffers because of a lack of chemistry/communication/etc. Prince (and Brehaut to an extent) don’t sync up with the WRs, and I don’t know why. Is it because the WRs are incompetent? Maybe. I’m just having difficulty blaming all these drops and mis-communications on Prince missing a day of practice.
Defense in the second half
I like your takes, uclahy, but I very much disagree with your statement that our defense played “lights out” in the second half.
We all know that our defense has done a much better job in the second half of games than in the first half of games. However, nobody should be looking at this Cal game as an example of this. We were completely blown out by halftime, and Cal came out in the second half with a look (and play) of indifference.
Do you, or does anyone else, really think we would have held their offense to only 7 second half points if the halftime score was 28-21? No way. They took their foot off the accelerator, big time.
I hope that when people use fact based arguments about how well our defense does in the second half of games, they don’t use the data points from the Cal game, because the game was over in the second quarter.
by bornagainbruin on Oct 11, 2010 10:23 AM PDT reply actions
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