The "Eye Test": Bruins' GPA After Reality Bites in Utah

I am not going to blog my usual detailed Monday "Eye Test" post this week. There is really no need to go into too much detail to analyze what we are seeing on the field.  freesia's observations in post-game thread were on point, as were the big picture reflections from gbruin this am.

Still since we have been doing them for every game, I think I will just go ahead and jot down the simple grades for every category, so that we can keep track of the overall GPA average for the season.

Let's go through them after the flip.

1) Is our defense prepared for each and every team we play?

Quoting freesia here:

We had one job - stop John White.  Guess who we didn't stop?  John White.  167 yards.  Two touchdowns rushing.  One touchdown receiving.  COME ON.

Let me add a quick note. As noted by freesia Utah came into this game as one dimensional team with a QB who was playing in FCS program last year (which ended up folding). Bruins were down 3-7 and were facing a critical 3rd and 13 in their own red zone in the first drive of second half. Even Bill McDonald, who doesn't really know much about this game wondered out loud that Bruins needed to bring the heat. Instead the "bend don't break" nonsense stayed in bend format and you know what happened rest. A total EPIC FAIL. The grade for this category is an F:0.0.

2) Do we call offensive plays to catch our opponents off guard?

Well the Bruins brought in Derrick Coleman in the very first series and put him in on 3rd and 6 situation. That was about the only "interesting" thing we got from Rick Neuheisel in a game in which he potentially had his "job on the line" (even though he should have been canned two weeks ago). One would think with his career on the line Neuheisel would go all out. Not so much. I understand the Bruins had to be "conservative" in the snow. However, the run to pass ratio in first half was absurd when Bruins only attempted 1 pass in their first 19 plays. They never made any effort to take their advantage of mismatch at TE early. They never made any effort to get their explosive players in space. Instead we were treated to nsufferable and predictable Neuheisialian offense that has bored us to disgust for three+ years. The grade for this category is an F:00.

3) Do our players look like they know what they should be doing at all times?

Again read freesia's post and this from gbruin:

Once again, the Bruins came in to a winnable game, and never had a chance at winning.   The players were poorly prepared (anyone want to stop the Utah running back?), poorly coached (12 men in the huddle, again?!, wasting a timeout at the start of the second half, another bad offensive scheme), and poorly disciplined (penalty after penalty after penalty).  It showed what we get with Rick Neuheisel - a team that loses winnable games more often than it wins them, a team that makes the same mistakes over and over, a team that isn't competitive in the conference, let alone on a national scale.

As noted by Telemachus for the game thread, "Penalties" (12 of them for 91 yards) was the leading "rusher" and "receiver" for UCLA Bruins. The grade for this category is also an F: 0.0.

4) Do our players play for 60 G-D minutes every game?

Our players played as hard as they could most of the game. However, their effort was fruitless because as mentioned they looked ill prepared and shackled with vanilla, boring and pathetic conservative schemes. Still for their effort I will give a generous grade of B+:3.3.

5) Do our players execute?

See answers to question number 3.  I'd also add that as courageous as Kevin Prince has been for UCLA, he hasn't been consistent at all when it comes to completing easy passes. Then again it was a total stumbling, bumbling team fail. I mean senior OL Mike Harris racked up 4 penalties himself! Ok, I will give some points to Tyler Gonzalez. So not a total fail in this category and we will give a grade of D-:0.7.

6) Do we have leaders on the field?

I didn't see much. Sorry I didn't see any leadership from any level of this team with supposedly a "divisional championship" on the line. The grade for this category is F: 0.0.

Final Grade Card for Utah Utes

Based on the discussion here is how it shapes up:

1) Is our defense prepared for each and every team we play? [F: 0.0]
2) Do we call offensive plays to catch our opponents off guard? [F: 0.0]
3) Do our players look like they know what they should be doing at all times? [F: 0.0]
4) Do our players play for 60 G-D minutes every game? [B+: 3.3]
5) Do our players execute? [D-: 0.7]
6) Do we have leaders on the field? [F: 0.0]

Utah GPA: 0.67

The grade card for Arizona State was 2.78, California was 3.28, Arizona was 0.13, Washington State was 1.95, grade card for Stanford was 1.97, grade card for Oregon State was 2.12, grade card for Texas was 0.22, the grade card for San Jose State was 0.67, and the grade card for Houston was 2.05. So the cumulative GPA after 9games according to our "Eye Test" is now at 1.58 (down from 1.69 from last week).

So there you have it. The only thing I will add to this post for now that no matter what transpires in next two regular season games, we will need a wholesale regime change in Westwood. I will have lot more on the need for regime change - NOW - tomorrow am.

GO BRUINS.