Spaulding Roundup - Working for the Weekend
by freesia39 on Oct 28, 2011 5:58 AM PDT
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PrintThursday the Bruins finalized their preparation for this weekend's visitors to the Rose Bowl, and Coach Rick Neuheisel had a few quick comments for the beat reporters after practice.
To start, Neuheisel mentioned that the team must get off to a quick start and play agressively from the get go.
"It’s always important to get off to a good start," Neuheisel said. "We can’t go in the tank if they get off to a fast start, but we’ve got to make sure that we do everything we can to start quickly and play aggressively from the get go."
When asked about the psyche of team, Neuheisel said they are "excited to play. We've practiced well. We've got what it takes to rise up in this circumstance and we've got to dig deep and play a whale of a ball game." Three cliches in one sentence. He has future broadcaster written all over him. If Tim McCarver can do it...
Injury wise, Chris Ward will only play in an emergency. Jerry Johnson will play but he was "resting" the last hour of practice. One can assume that his snaps will be very limited this weekend.
Brotherly love, after the jump.
Eric Kendricks, redshirt freshman, is the younger brother of Mychael Kendricks, senior linebacker for Cal. Eric Kendricks recalled a story from his recruitment:
He attended the game with other UCLA recruits and was sitting with his father, former Bruins running back Marv Kendricks. Both forgot why they were there when Bears linebacker Mychal Kendricks intercepted a pass late in the game.
As his brother ran 68 yards for a touchdown that clinched a 45-26 Cal victory, Kendricks said, "My dad and I jumped in the air and started cheering. Then we remembered we were in the UCLA section. We sat back down."
Thankfully, Eric chose UCLA over playing with his brother:
"This place has always been in my heart," Eric said. "I have been a Bruin ever since I was a little kid."
We need to foster these relationships more. We were unable to land Mychal, but Eric has been playing more this season, and is now third on the team in tackles.
Earlier in the day, Neuheisel was interviewed on ESPN Radio 710 on the Mason and Ireland show. If you'd like to hear the complete audio, head over here.
As for some of the interesting sound clips...
On why UCLA hasn't turned it around:
"If you’d have asked me when I got hired would that have taken place by now, I would have absolutely said yes. But for whatever reason, every time we’ve taken a step forward, we’ve had to take a step backward. Whether it be because of injury or what have you. We just have to keep churning and keep working our tails off and keep looking for the best way to be successful and that’s what we’re doing. We can not wallow in self pity or worry about what happened. We have to go forward and fix it."
On why he is the right coach for UCLA:
"I can recruit to this school as well as anybody in the country can. I know this school, I believe in this school and I’m very, very familiar with the inner workings of this school. I have always wanted to be here. This is, as I’ve said many times, my dream job. It has not been a dream since I’ve been here and I’m certainly well aware of the naysayers out there and I understand their concern and their disappointment. And to be frank, I’m disappointed in how things have gone as well."
He also states that starting over is someone else's decision, but that would be a "terrible mistake." Of course, he is fighting for his job.
However, when asked about saving his job:
"...I don’t feel like I have to apologize for the effort that we’re putting in. I would love for us to have a better record at this time, but we are going to keep fighting and those who believe in us are going to enjoy the contest because you are going to see guys doing everything they can to honor UCLA and UCLA football."
Some of us here would say that he would have to apologize after that effort last Thursday, and for what appears to be a team out of control. Saturday will be very telling to see if the Bruins have learned from last week and are looking to finish the rest of this season strong.
Go Bruins.
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I am genereally sympathetic to Neuheisel
His comment about not needing to apologize for “effort” is Baghdad Bobesque.
by Nestor on Oct 28, 2011 5:17 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Yep. Loving the school and being in the dream job should at some point yield to reality.
If he loves the school as he says, he should resign.
Don't worry...
another dose of reality will be forthcoming this saturday!
btw...
That photo of RN shaking JRJR’s hand sure looks like a “Been good to know you” handshake! ;-)
If only
the team looked like a football team, I could perhaps have a little room to believe Rick.
But day in and day out, Rick’s teams have looked atrocious. Out of 44 games, I can perhaps name 2 in which the players have looked remotely like they belonged in D1 football. Honestly, this is not an exaggeration. I can only name last year’s win against Texas, and the previous year at Tennessee. Maybe a couple of other games in 2009 (WSU, OSU). That’s it.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Nail on the head!
+100… While channel surfing college games on Saturdays I can’t help but notice the polished level of football being played by both the winners AND losers. We look like a crummy high school team.
In fact, we got trounced by a team of high schoolers from Texas.
How many freshmen were they playing? Players who were in high school when we were starting spring practice not only beat us, they kicked our butts. How is that even POSSIBLE?
No one disputes the fact that Neuheisel loves UCLA, works hard and can recruit. Those are givens. But he can’t develop players, he plays the wrong ones and he makes poor decisions in games.
Enough!
by Seth Chandler on Oct 28, 2011 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
Lucky me.
@ Tennessee and @ Texas were the only two games I’ve attended in RN’s tenure!
by orlandobruin on Oct 28, 2011 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions
As Reagan said...
“There you go again.”
He should apologize for what we saw on the field. Still and always, Slick Rick. I wanted him here badly too.
Just Numb
Same old stuff. Not falling for it again. As the great leader once quoted .. “Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice… shame on You? We can’t get fooled again”.
OT, Arizona lost to Seattle Pacific last night. Wonder how we did in the closed practice. I like the idea of being able to have a closed practice against a D1 school. Good for everyone involved.
DGB
by westwood12003 on Oct 28, 2011 9:06 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
At McKale Center no less
outrebounded 29-20 with no inside presence. Hmmmm. Matchup dream with the current edition of the Bruins. Way too early to tell.
by 84 on Oct 28, 2011 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions
Reading Between the Lines
That transcript is interesting. Neuheisel admits that he has not performed as a coach, but he seems to also infer that he has not had the institutional support that many successful football schools offer their programs.
Here is what he said that caught my attention:
I know that given the tools and given some good fortune, we are going to get this thing squared away and if you want to start over again, that’s someone else’s decision, but I think that would be a terrible mistake
We are making strides and I still believe recruiting can go very, very well and I still believe that this program can be one that is very special as well but we have to decide that that’s exactly what we want to do and I look forward to being part of that process if we go that way.
Reading between the lines
It’s as if he’s trying to tell us something…maybe HE thinks DG sucks as much as we do but he obviously can’t say so!!!
by AnteatersandBruins on Oct 28, 2011 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
I know that if he had run Coleman up the middle against Stanford...
…instead of Franklin at least one of the four downs when it was first and goal on the three in that first drive, we would have had a better chance of scoring.
Neuheisel can say what he wants. And maybe he’s right about not having everything he needs. But the fact is that he hasn’t done the best possible job with the tools that he actually has.
by Seth Chandler on Oct 28, 2011 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, a few comments made by Rick earlier in the season also caused
me to suspect that there may be some underlying issues with administrative support. Neu is far more cautious with his words than candid. I wish he’d be more forthright and say what’s on his mind. But it’s probably too late. His comments, however true, will likely be interpreted as the “blame game”, or throwing the school under the bus or whatever. Fact is, most folk love Rick Neuheisel, the man. I do. But, what’s love got to do with it. Randy Cross is right. I’d hate to see us leave the Pac (ok, perish the thought). But at the same time, the program must compete in the 2010’s and beyond… whatever it takes. One more… the fact that UCLA get’s the most freshman applications than any school in the country, I know, causes the “Academics” on the campus to not really give a hoot about the athletic department. I recall my time serving on various boards while at UCLA as an undergrad rep (including ASUCLA’s Board of Control, etc.. the Admissions Committee, and others,) and even back then, there was a “down the nose” look at the athletic department I didn’t understand, nor appreciated. UCLA is rife with internal politics. At other major programs, the athletic department puts the school on the map. Not here (at least in the minds of Murphy Hall). Funny. UCLA basketball, more than any thing else, made me want to be a Bruin.
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
NBA: Where Greed Happens. RIP 10/10/11.
I had to have tooth #18 pulled this week due to an absess at the root.
The experience was much more pleasant than watching this team every week . . . at least I had novocaine to numb the agony in the endodontist chair.
Whats to stop them?
They’re dentists. Charnaw said he was in there for a tooth root problem (which endodontists deal in). Maybe the problem was so bad that the endodontist just said “screw it, there’s no saving the tooth – I’mma pull it”
Specialists are focused to that particular field of dentistry.
A true endodontist can’t, his practice is limited to that particular field. He would refer to an oral surgeon or back to the referring general dentist for the extraction.
...
If you think so, but not according to dental board of California. I’m a dentist btw.
ROFL...
Way back when …I was in a dentist office getting teeth worked on In Glendale Cal, a patient who had just concluded his buisiness with the dentist walked by and on the way out said to the dentist(About me!) hey he looks like a good second baseman. It was none other than Casey Stengal.
Of course when you’re in the chair you can’t see who it is and you certainly can’t respond. I would’ve loved to have had a chat however brief with him. Opportunities lost. sigh!!!
by GogetemBruins on Oct 28, 2011 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions
I don't know if I can take any more of these fast starts.
The one last week was so that we could get on top and remain interested for 60 minutes. The one this week, apparently, is so that we keep the other team from getting off to a fast start and discouraging us into quitting. Two sides of the same coin, I suppose.
The troubling part of this for me, though, is his not owning the situation that he created. It’s easy and lame to say “But for whatever reason, every time we’ve taken a step forward, we’ve had to take a step backward. Whether it be because of injury or what have you.”
This is, in kindest terms, a cop-out. He’s saying that circumstances beyond his control led to the crappy performances. Sorry, Rick, but an adult would have looked no further than himself to explain things. You’re not a victim.
Relentless optimism is one thing. Blind optimism is another. The former fosters confidence. The latter sees others as responsible for setbacks.
That's what the eye test is for
That was the biggest reason why it came about. We were looking for effort, focus, execution, good play calls. That’s what would have gotten Rick out of the dog house, and those things have nothing to do with injury and all the other excuses.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I'd like to see a fast start.
Win the toss. Start on offense. Points on the board. Onside kick. Shake things up.
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
NBA: Where Greed Happens. RIP 10/10/11.
If we start on defense...
blitz off the bat, blitz the whole first series. 3 and out. Send the world to block the punt. Shake things up. It’s Homecoming. Let’s make it exciting. Go for broke. (We can dream, can’t we).
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
NBA: Where Greed Happens. RIP 10/10/11.
Just blitz all the time
seriously, what’s the worst that can happen? We’ve already seen the worst. And I think the Cal QB is pretty shaky under pressure.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I understand
that most of the contributors to BN have moved on to bigger issues and have given up on Neuheisel and Guerrero, but I am still interested in Saturday’s game. To me, this is more a test of the team’s character than of what the head coach or the coordinators do. I will be there to support them, if they only play in a way that gives me a chance to do that. Cal should not dominate us. Guys have to get off their blocks on defense, not be manhandled, get to the QB at least once in a while. Maybe someone could catch a pass that is on their hands, more often than not. And fight, dammit! That is all I ask. I am just a fan, one who actually saw Babe Horrell’s and Bert LaBrucherie’s teams play, for what that is worth. There is no excuse for these guys not giving what they have to give. None.
And yet
they have done just that, not giving what they have to give, all season.
No offense, but game #45 should not be the “test of a team’s character” for a coach. That should be established by now. Oh wait, it is established…
I know you want to be a fan and be interested, but I refuse to keep setting myself up for disappointment every single Saturday because of clueless coaches and players who don’t seem to care. And this Cal team is strong on defense and has owned us for 3 years. It is going to be an ugly day at the Rose Bowl and I expect the Boos to rain down early.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
This goes to the "when is it OK to root against the alma mater" question.
I want us to win. I expect us to lose. If we’re going to lose, as I expect, it would be much better to lose horribly, as against Azizona, than to lose by 4, as against Houston.
By the way, that four point loss to Houston was the closest margin of defeat under our current coach. The margins of defeat and margins of victory are interesting. Here they are, for your information:
Margin of defeat: 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 14, 14, 14, 17, 17, 19, 21, 21,21,21,21, 25, 26, 28, 28, 29, 35, 36, 47, 59.
Here’s margin of victory: 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 10, 14, 14, 18,. 19, 20, 22, 25, 36.
I am struck by the fact that 6 of our current coach’s 18 wins are by a touchdown or less, while 20 of his 26 defeats are by two touchdowns or more. If we win, there’s a one-third chance it will be a squeaker, and if we lose, there’s a three-fourths chance it will be a blowout. Maybe someone else can come to another conclusion from those numbers, but it seems to me that this coach may have lost the team four years ago.
Three of our four biggest wins (28-3,43-7 and 42-28) were over WSU in the first three years. Victory by 3 this year. They’re catching up. Our big win – by 22 over Texas? Yeah, they caught up. With their freshmen.
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