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UCLA’s 2012 Football Schedule is Out: No Thu/Fri Night Games

Pac-12 just released its official schedule for 2012 football season. Here is how our schedule shapes up:

Sat., Sept. 1 UCLA at Rice
Sat. Sept. 8 Nebraska at UCLA
Sat., Sept. 15 Houston at UCLA
Sat., Sept. 22 Oregon State at UCLA
Sat., Sept. 29 UCLA at Colorado
Sat., Oct. 6 UCLA at California
Sat., Oct. 13 Utah at UCLA
Sat., Oct. 20 BYE
Sat., Oct. 27 UCLA at Arizona State
Sat., Nov. 3 Arizona at UCLA
Sat., Nov. 10 UCLA at Washington State
Sat., Nov. 17 Southern Cal at UCLA
Sat., Nov. 24 Stanford at UCLA


The full Pac-12 schedule can be viewed here.

Star-divide

Coach Jim Mora will officially kick off his Pac-12 season with a must win game against Oregon State at the Rose Bowl. Other items that stand out to us:

  • We play Southern Cal the weekend before thanksgiving. That is how it used to be during the 90s when Bruins routinely beat the Trojans
  • Our last game of the season is against Stanford
  • No games against Oregon or Stanford Washington
  • No Thursday/Friday night games. We don't have to worry about getting embarrassed on national TV.
  • We do not get a bye until our 8th week

The schedule is more than manageable. The road trip to Pullman against Mike Leach's Cougars will be tough. Other road games look very winnable. Bruin fans should expect Mora to put together a big first season that should feature about 9 wins and ending the streak against SC.

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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Needs a correction

2nd bullet says Our last game of the season is against Stanford

3rd bullet says No games against Oregon or Stanford.
I think you mean we don’t play Washington.

by bruinscv on Jan 4, 2012 12:35 PM PST reply actions  

9 wins if everything goes right...

but I still think realistically 8 wins is more doable (still including a win against $C).

Go Bruins

by INawe on Jan 4, 2012 12:56 PM PST reply actions  

I am going to look for 9 wins as well

However, if we get 8 regular season wins with a victory against the Trojans (and tough, gritty games in every contest) and then close out the season with a bowl win – I will be all right with that.

by Nestor on Jan 4, 2012 1:08 PM PST up reply actions  

Margin of victory/defeat...

…plus the “eye test” is what I will be looking at more than anything. Are we playing disciplined? Are we executing? Are we WRAPPING UP THE BALL CARRIER (Gah!)? I will also be looking to see how we play on the road and if we improve as the season goes on. I’m sure there will be a transition and perhaps a surprising loss or two sprinkled in the early part of the season. With that being said, this team (with this schedule) should be able to get 8 or 9 wins…no question.

by hicalliber on Jan 4, 2012 1:43 PM PST up reply actions  

Agree

I agree with your prediction. 9 wins (+ bowl game win).

Go Bruins!!!

uclak

by UCLAk on Jan 4, 2012 1:23 PM PST reply actions  

It's not a prediction

It’s an expectation. There’s a difference.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 4, 2012 2:41 PM PST up reply actions  

+1

Done with the Hope and Wishing…It’s time for EXPECTATIONS.

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 7:57 AM PST up reply actions  

Who wants to see us play a national weeknight game anyway?

We have stunk these up for years. Let’s earn our respect first by just winning for a change.

7 home games. Nebraska, Houston OOC. OSU, Utah, Arizona, SUC and Stanford. Only Nebraska, Houston and SUC are likely to be ranked. Of course, we lost to five of these this past year. New QBs at Houston and Stanford. 4-5 wins should be expected.

5 roadies. Rice, Colorado, Cal, ASU and WSU on the road. Mediocre teams at best. We beat four this past year and Rice is Rice. At least 4 wins should be expected.

If we win the South we most likely play Oregon, maybe UW or Stanford again.

7 overall would be underachieving, a D.
8 should be mimimum expected, a C.
9 would be meets expectations, a B.
10 possible if Hundley clicks, an A.
11 unlikely but a Rose Bowl would be an A+.
12 + a dream season.

All outcomes assume a victory over SUC. No Mora excuses.

by uclahy on Jan 4, 2012 1:29 PM PST reply actions  

Overall, I like this schedule

I used to think playing somebody other than your rival school to end the season was kind of odd, but now that I actually see it (and see how it avoids putting it on Thanksgiving weekend), I like it.

One BIG qualm though, which goes back to a point I’ve made in the past:

School starts on Thu, Sept 27. Move-in weekend for the dorms is the one before: Fri, Sept 21 – Sun, Sept 23.

This means 2 home games before move-in, and a third happening ON that weekend (hard to get dorm students out there, especially first years). Then we have 2 away games. Would love to see that balance played with in the future to “backload” our home games a bit more.

by JeremyD on Jan 4, 2012 1:57 PM PST reply actions  

But on the other hand

Do you want to send the team out on road games so early in the season? I wouldn’t, especially with a new coach. It’s up to the idiots at the Moron Center to figure out how to get asses into the stadium.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 4, 2012 2:42 PM PST up reply actions  

I would only want to swap one home & road I think

Say, swap @Colorado with vs.Oregon St. (as an idea). I share your concern about too many early road games and in general, I’d prefer to start the season with an easier home game, to get the jitters out. But when I look at this schedule through the eyes of a student, especially an incoming first year, I see:

7 home games
2 before I move to UCLA
1 the weekend that I move in
3 on Saturdays throughout the quarter
1 on the Saturday of Thanksgiving

That’s 3 that are “easy” to get to as a student, and 4 that are harder/impossible (depending on where I live) to attend. Not a great value.

We’ve discussed how it feels like students get the shaft at times in athletics (see: Pauley), and this feels like it again a bit.

I know there’s only so much that can be done, but it’s just something I noticed.

by JeremyD on Jan 4, 2012 3:23 PM PST up reply actions  

I agree but....

….I want a team so hungry and good that they would play anyone, anywhere, anytime and not give a crap about the venue or attendance.
Win and they will come…..

by tazmiami on Jan 5, 2012 8:46 AM PST up reply actions  

Expectation: 8 wins minimum

Prediction: 7-5, 5-4 in the Pac-12, 3rd in the South.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 4, 2012 2:59 PM PST reply actions  

More like what I see as our season

We have the same players that lack fundalmentals, training, skills development, discipline, and field leadership. I don’t think Mora can turn around this program that is used to losing in the few months he has before the season starts. At best 7 games, including a loss to “Sourthen Cal.”

by Angelitos on Jan 5, 2012 7:31 AM PST up reply actions  

Mora is the highest paid coach in UCLA history

He didn’t come here for chump change. All over college football coaches with abilities have been able to generate dramatic results of improvement with favorable schedule. You do not have to look any further than what Michigan did this past season, which turned itself into a Sugar Bowl championship winning season, after fielding arguably one of the worst defenses in college football the year before.

The resume around Mora has been hyped as being a defensive mastermind. If he is worth what he is, he should be able to deliver a solid season (not BS 6-7 win seasons) with dramatic improvements that will be discernible to UCLA football fans.

by Nestor on Jan 5, 2012 7:40 AM PST up reply actions  

Mora Disagrees

I heard a sound bite where he said he doesn’t have a 3 year plan, he has a 1 year plan.

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 8:01 AM PST up reply actions  

I like what I'm hearing from him

I hope I’ll like what I will see from him.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 5, 2012 8:25 AM PST up reply actions  

You can have that as your prediction

but you need to have much higher standards than that and expect this team to perform the way it should. Except for the field leadership, all the things you mention above are coaching related. If you get rid of a coach and pay the next one double the salary, then you should be expecting a much better performance.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 5, 2012 8:29 AM PST up reply actions  

Agreed

Just saying what the next season results will likely be. My expectations are different of course, just very hard for me to imagine a coach, who has just about zero college experience and questionable coaching performance in the NFL, turn around a losing, unsupported program that would result into 8 wins minimun. As Nestor points out, for the $ we gave him we should expect a dramatic turn around, but very unlikely to me, given Mora’s past experience.

by Angelitos on Jan 5, 2012 9:56 AM PST up reply actions  

Let's hope for the best Angelitos

I have reservations about Mora’s past experience as well. However, I have been encouraged by his initial moves. It seems like he did have a “plan” in place. That is something to be hopeful about I think. I will continue to maintain high/reasonable expectations but I also think there is a good shot he will get it done. Let’s send him all the good vibes we can without losing sight of the big picture.

by Nestor on Jan 5, 2012 9:58 AM PST up reply actions  

The important thing you don't list is talent

because we have quite a bit of that. The rest can be taught.

OOC is Rice and a Keenum-less Houston which should be wins. Nebraska is tough but we have them at home and they have been caught by a lot of lesser teams. And I don’t think there is much indication that the PAC-12 is going to be much stonger than last year, even Stanford will have huge question marks losing Luck and most of its offensive line. And I don’t really like their coach, his conservative play is going to kill them like it did in their bowl.

he big question marks are the teams in a similar situation to UCLA; Wazzu, Az St and Arizona. If they get better (and I have faith that Leach will have Wazzu competing, RichRod probably needs to recruit his own players to make Arizona work and the Sun Devils are a huge question mark, they may be falling apart especially if they lose their QB) the schedule could be difficult.

Here’s my expectation of how the seaon falls out. Rice and Houston are wins. Nebraska is a close loss. One stupid loss stemming from inexperience against Oregon St/ Colorado/ Cal/ Utah. One loss possibly to one of the Arizona teams, whichever gets their act together first. Loss to Wazzu, we just play them too late. Beat Southern Cal and 50/50 vs Stanford (who I think will be talking new coach by the end of next season). 8 wins is realistic and 9 a possibility.

by JimmyBurke on Jan 5, 2012 9:22 AM PST up reply actions  

Expectations versus predictions

Right there with you tasser. We should always have high expectations. It is the knobs in Morgan Center who have allowed expectations to slip and have tolerated mediocrity.

greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Jan 5, 2012 8:05 AM PST up reply actions  

I have never tolerated

what passes as UCLA football of the past decade. I’m with BN about changing the culture and atheletic leadership. I’m just tired of loosing as the next UCLA Bruin

by Angelitos on Jan 5, 2012 9:59 AM PST up reply actions  

Schedule FAIL, IMHO

Ending with someone other than $c – and a non-division team at that – seems like idiocy from the Pac-12 schedulers.

Dream scenario for Larry Scott should be unbeaten rivalry teams meeting on the last weekend of the regular season for the right to play in the Pac-12 title game. Second best should be unbeaten division teams facing off for the right to play in the Pac-12 title game (e.g. matching teams up like a regular season Stanford/Oregon finale in the North). Worst case scenario, IMHO, is two opposite-division teams playing each other and either (a) both knowing they will meet in the title game the following weekend and not wanting to show their hand or (b) one team knowing it will be in the title game regardless and the other team still able to affect the outcome of the division.

This sucks.

by VeniceBruin on Jan 4, 2012 3:47 PM PST reply actions  

Just cleared my weekend of Sept 29

As the official-unofficial BN host, I plan on arranging some stuff for Thurs and Fri night before the game, and maybe Sat night, depending on the game time. Whether I am buying tickets through U.C.L.A. remains to be seen. If Chianti is still destroying our athletic dept, we can always buy GA tix through CU and still go to the game to cheer on the team.

greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Jan 4, 2012 8:05 PM PST reply actions  

Same with Arizona...

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 4, 2012 10:30 PM PST up reply actions  

Beating U$C is not a minimum expectation this year

I hate the Trogans as much as anyone but saying that a win over U$C is expected and a minimum expectation is unrealistic. We’re talking about a team that will be pre-season top 5 and will easily be the most difficult game on our schedule, regardless of the fact that they are our rivals. I look for 8 wins, and 9 if we can upset the Trogans as it will definitely be an upset if it happens.

by rgalloucla on Jan 5, 2012 7:43 AM PST via mobile reply actions  

No, Beating

$C should always be an expectation. There have been many times when $C is ranked higher than us and yet we whoop that @ss. No excuse, no moral victories…IMO.

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 8:03 AM PST up reply actions  

Nope

Beating Southern Cal is the expectation every year, especially when we host them at the Rose Bowl. No wiggle room there.

by Nestor on Jan 5, 2012 8:12 AM PST up reply actions  

Meow

Here’s your bowl of milk. If you’re good I’ll give you some catnip.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 5, 2012 8:30 AM PST up reply actions   1 recs

I agree

It is unrealistic to expect a win against Southern Cal. Given our last few seasons, it is unrealistic to expect a win in more than half of our games.

by DMACULATEONE on Jan 5, 2012 8:19 AM PST reply actions  

Don't come here with that weak sauce

I am beyond sick and tired of losers who have given up before the season even starts.

Clearly, it is unrealistic to expect some Bruins fans to ever get it.

The talent is there, the schedule is there, and the coaches are getting paid a ton of money. If we can’t expect winning this year, then what’s the point.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 5, 2012 8:32 AM PST up reply actions  

This is what DG's culture of mediocrity hath wrought

It’s OK to lose as long as we try hard?

There was a time when it was UNACCEPTABLE to lose to SUC. Now we have Bruins who see victory over the cross-town morons as “unrealistic”.

WTF?

by Nigel on Jan 5, 2012 9:24 AM PST up reply actions  

I share the same POV on the rivalry as Red Sanders

Sanders said “it’s not a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that!”

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 10:25 AM PST up reply actions  

Given our last few seasons

we now have a new coach. Mora is getting paid twice as much as Neu; I don’t think a 50% improvement in number of victories is unreasonable to expect and demand.

by JeremyD on Jan 5, 2012 9:33 AM PST up reply actions  

Expectations versus predictions

Didn’t I just write this?

Maybe it’s the semantics…we should ALWAYS expect a program that can compete with and beat *$c. A loss to *$c, or anyone for that matter, is a failure, and we have to figure out what the problem is and fix it. For instance, it was unrealistic to predict a win over *$c this last season because we had poor and passive coaching and poor development and use of players. Because my expectations are to beat them, then something needed to be done to address that failure. I think our record against *$c under Chianti’s Reign to Guerrerror is very telling about where one of those problems still exists.

greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Jan 5, 2012 12:22 PM PST up reply actions  

Not only our FB record

but haven’t we lost the Gauntlet for the last three years in a row?

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 1:33 PM PST up reply actions  

Wrong DMACULATEONE

We’ve beat $C more times than they’ve beat us over the last 50 years. We have 8 straight against the condoms.

ps: not sure DMACULATEONE is a bruin. nothing in his profile suggests that he is

"Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time"
~ John Wooden

by Bruin Bro on Jan 5, 2012 12:57 PM PST up reply actions  

The Mora Time Jim spends at UCLA

The Mora Dan Guerrero’s incompetence he see’s.

Go Bruins!

by King J77 on Jan 5, 2012 10:26 AM PST up reply actions  

Actually the opposite

When California needs all the help it can get, he goes wine tasting in a foreign country. Way to support the local economy, Chianti.

greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Jan 5, 2012 12:24 PM PST up reply actions  

or finally.......

mora football = mora than 15,000 people in the rose bowl

by credobruin on Jan 5, 2012 10:19 AM PST reply actions  

HOW Does Stanford Move Into The Slot On November 24?

That one I don’t get. Would rather play them on that bye week rather than after USC week where we could be in letdown mode – win or lose.

Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!

by Minnesota Bruinfan on Jan 5, 2012 10:29 AM PST reply actions  

Yet another Donut Fail

but hey, that’s to be expected

"Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time"
~ John Wooden

by Bruin Bro on Jan 5, 2012 12:59 PM PST reply actions  

Did anyone see UW's schedule?

They play San Diego State, #1 LSU, and Portland state out of conference, then in the middle of the season play Oregon, Stanford, and USC in consecutive weeks.

by captainqtp on Jan 5, 2012 1:48 PM PST reply actions  

UW should be good next year

Their offense can score a lot, and their defense should be significantly better with the new DC they hired. I see them being 3-3 in those games, at worst.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Jan 5, 2012 2:30 PM PST up reply actions  

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