Inside UCLA’s Ugly Numbers: Implosion In Seattle Edition

I am sad that we lost. I am sad that we continue to lose. I am sad that we most likely will continue to lose more games this season. It’s all very sad but I can live with it ‘cause that’s the thrill of sport. Sport is competition. If we didn’t like competition then we wouldn’t love winning and be sad when we lose.

What I HATE though is less than 100% effort. This is a result of many things, but mainly the coaching staff. Please, nobody here tell me different. Because of the weak offensive calls and gutless defensive calls the coaching staff has ignited nothing but MEDIOCRITY into our guys. It appears in the second half, and even parts of the first half, we played as if there wasn’t much to fight for, not much to look forward to. It’s all effort, my friends. it’s all effort. If I saw more effort, I’d be sad but not angry. I blame you coaching staff, I blame you. So boring, so uninspiring. I wish us all luck. We all need it the rest of the season ‘cause that’s our ONLY hope. Maybe that’s all the coaching still is going with now. Perhaps they even know they can’t teach or incorporate anything else.

I love UCLA. I love you all. I am sad and angry. I’m not sure how much more mediocrity and little effort I can take.

I have already commented today on the pain of comparing the current state of affairs with the Dorrell era – and that is truly sad. Nestor, your opinions are usually pretty good and valued all the more by the effort you and the other contributors put into BN. But in this post your reliance on the facts seems to say it all more than opinions ever could.

I’ll go into next season with high hopes, but relentless optimism is getting increasingly hard to accept.

Lets just say, for the purpose of keeping our slim bowl hopes alive that we do beat our next opponent. Do we honestly think that we can beat south central at the rose bowl December 4th?! Spineless offensive play calling is what is killing us! The only consistent thing that I do see from our offense is 3 & out, 3 & out, 3 & out! We need a more aggressive play caller on offense & we need to go back to a more pro style offense.

For sure, a number of us Bruins are disappointed about the results of the football team to date. I am most disturbed, today and for tomorrow, with the recruiting and training of the QB’s who have been brought onto the team during the Neuheisel arrival. Looking at a review performance ESPN showed us last night of Neuheisel’s fantastic QB performance in the Rose Bowl back a few years, one would wonder why Coach N does not bring and train the QBs we have signed and brought on board in Westwood. Further, coach Chow who has really trained QBs for years … what has happened here. The Pac10 is years ahead of us in the offense department and has been for years. There are more holes but let’s start with the key to the game … the QB ….(who can RUN and PASS and CONTROL the game for our University.
Go Bruins….

To put more insult to injury, one of our big offensive recruits Darryl Jackson dumped us last night for Oregon. I can’t say I honestly blame him. Apart from getting beat on national television yesterday, our pathetic play can & will have a direct affect on our recruiting. I also hate to admit this, but I really do admire South Central’s offense. No gimmicks, just good old fashioned offense that continually keeps the defense guessing & the chains moving. I can’t believe that I just said that last sentence but you have to give credit where credit is due. I am looking forward to the day that i can say that about our offense!!!

25

Anyone know the significance?

CRN gets $1, 250,000 per year for what we witnessed last night.
CNC gets $1,000,000 (with a subsidy I think) or at least close to that.

Are they really worth that?

UCLA is now averaging 5.03 yards/pass attempt. That is 119th out of 120. But more frightening … there are 23 teams that RUSH for more than 5.03 yards per attempt.

The total amount of points scored and allowed by UCLA in 6 games following a bye week under Rick Neuheisel.

It speaks volumes to the ineptitude of this staff when it comes to gameplanning and preparation.

It was my kids’ “College Sports” day at their elementary school here in the San Fernando Valley today (my son is six, my daughter’s five). My wife forgot about it, but I remembered this morning and quickly dressed them in their UCLA gear, not saying a word about what happened last night (my kids didn’t watch the game, anyway – they’re still a bit too young for football, as I discovered when taking them to the Spring Game earlier this year!). I was just overcome with melancholy as those four letters tightened around them. Kept thinking those letters deserved a whole lot better than what they got last night.

Fortunately, my children love the fact that I went to UCLA and are always doing the Eight Clap with me, so they boosted my spirits with an impromptu cheer as we left for school. I suppose there’s a lot to be said for blissful ignorance, or, just maybe, for what’s ultimately important in the scheme of things.

1 win and six losses when the opposing team scores more than twenty. Three wins and zero losses when they do not. UCLA has scored more than twenty in half the games

Someone said, “when did we become Northwestern?” on this blog a few weeks ago. The numbers say we are not even at that level. IF WSU were not down so low, we would be dead last in the Pac10.

And in many ways it is worse than the numbers. We look so ugly even when we do something right. I said at the beginning of the year that the win-loss record was not as important, given the difficulty of our schedule, as how we looked in the games. Did we compete? Did we progress? By that more admittedly subjective standard we have regressed significantly this year.

We will win next week against ASU which will set up an epic game against U$C – WHICH WE WILL ALSO WIN.

I agree with everyone, we played terrible, we need new coordinators, CRN has one year to turn this around (and he probably won’t and I would be surprised if Hundley comes to UCLA), etc. We lack of discipline which translates into lack of focus, which falls squarely on the coaches shoulders. I agree with it all.

HOWEVER, we always seem to come through when no one thinks we will. This has been our modus operandi under CRN and makes it really, really difficult to cheer the team on everyweek because we are always watching with our heads turned away, but with one eye open and fixed on the television hoping and praying we don’t get embarrassed again. Yet, everytime we are embarrassed the team seems to regroup and refocus and give a much better effort. We will regroup for the ASU game and win. I hope CRN then reminds the team we have not done anything yet this seaon to hold our heads high, shows the team the video of Cheaty Petey calling to throw the bomb on us late in last years game and rallies the troops against those pUSCies from across town.

as in, 2 more games before Rick has to make some tough decisions about one (or both?) of his coordinators.

In the back of my mind, I see RN and NC having an unspoken but tense work is tacit. The recent comments by NC about “I am just here to teach young men” sounds a lot like he could be mailing it in. I further suspect neither man is getting what he wants in terms of offensive direction and execution. To continue the guessing on my part, the players feel this tension and become so tentative, and cautious. If either RN or NC was not with the program, I could see the offense behaving as about 100 other college programs behave, with new players coming off the bench, having good showings, and a more relaxed approach to the game. The tension is so palpable on the sidelines I feel like you could cut it with a knife, and that is my impression coming through the TV set.
Bill

“tense work relationship that is tacit”..not sure that is right either but closer…

How many times have the quarterbacks gone down each year? We seem snake bit. Just when I get optomistic about a replacement quarterback he goes down. Every time I see Boise State play I wonder, " Why can’t we play like that.." Then I notice Boise State has the same quarterback in each game. UCLA has the recurring theme, who is going to be the quarterback from week to week. Tonight I am watching the Boise State team play Fresno State and I’M watching Boise’s play calling and defensive play. Wow, it’s not just injuries snake biting UCLA - it is also coaching. Give us that Boise head coach and some of those coaches. I know, it will never happen.

Blue Me at 3:54 PM mentioned the ranking of UCLA’s recruiting classes the past 5 years. Boise State’s classes haven’t come near those rankings. OK, OK look who they play. Big deal. Look what they have done in their bowl games. Enough said.

Why do we need to put up with two more years of this, Two more years of the Bruins running the ball everydown, I’m to frustrated to writre so its simple its time to make a change, Go after a big time coach whos a proven winner and tell all the alums they want Pac 10 Ttiles, BCS Bowl wins and victorys over FUSC pony up the cash.

Take a look at the Dallas Cowboys. One of the most talented rosters in the NFL rolls over 5 straight times against lesser opponents. Wade Phillips gets fired, Jason Garrett comes in, Cowboys beat the division leader on the road convincingly with a BACK UP QB. I know it’s dangerous to compare NFL to NCAA given the discrepancy in amount of time spent during practice and just the overall talent level in the No Fun League, but the basis of comparison is still there. We have a team of supremely talented players at the skill positions of QB, RB, WR, FS, LB, DE, etc but we can’t get it done. OL can’t get their hands under the pads (looking at you Sean Sheller), 6’5" WR are giving up on jump balls (come on Rosario), and the 9th ranked QB prospect in the nation is lobbing up passes on the road. These guys know the writing is on the wall. Norm Chow is a lame duck and Chuck Bullough is a complete idiot. These guys are waiting to turn the page, while a long tortured fan base languishes.

I’m not blaming our players, I think these guys want to win, but they have no help from jokers like Norm Chow (by the way what the hell has he DONE lately) who trots out an injured QB twice ON THE ROAD in one season and Chuck Bullough you can’t stop 3rd and long ever. Every once in a while our guys talent shines through like it did against OSU (Chow called an awful game btw). But overwhelmingly our players don’t know who the boss is or going to be. I sincerely hope Chow is canned after this season along with Bullough, and I hope they reflect on the talent and opportunity they pissed away on the most beautiful campus on Earth. I also hope CRN takes over offensive play calling and QB decisions, and dumps the pistol. I know CRN doesn’t have a lot of friends right now, but he was pulling for Brehaut playing time while Chow had his head in the sand for an entire season.

The next two games are winnable. If Chuck Bullough gets a clue and brings Rahim Moore closer than 35 yards away from the line of scrimmage, we might be able to force Steven Threet (an interception prone quarterback) into making bad decisions. Also after the pounding served up by OSU against USC, I think that is a completely winnable home game, especially against Matt Barkley with a bum ankle, and Dillon Baxter being an unethical distraction (SUC just can’t help itself).

CRN can make this right, but only if he dumps the baggage.