And folks thought ... that was just some kind of shallow words ... from our prodigal son.

I really don't know where to start?

We have heard the snickering, lampooning, sneers ... from all over the college football world (both traditional media and the blogosphere) since CRN's arrival in Westwood. We have heard about his "baggage". We have heard the same one-sided recycle stories over and over and over gain.

Well ... now it just doesn't matter.

Our Bruins just sent an unmistakable message by blasting shockwaves around the college football world. No doubt as to one of the prime candidates for the player of tonight's game:

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images (via Yahoo Sports)

Kevin Craft puts on the best performance by a transfer QB in a UCLA uniform since John Barnes (coincidentally on WWL). And he pulled it off after throwing 4 picks in the first half, based on ... relentless optimism. If you care to go through it right now, here is the box score and the AP recap.

Tonight is just a start. We are experiencing the kind of high we haven't experienced since 13-9. We know there are tough times ahead. We are going to experience our share of adversity. It is going to happen.

But after what we have seen tonight ... nothing will matter. We are going to rock and roll through rest of this season and rest of CRN's career in Westwood.

Monopoly is a touchy word these days. There is no question right now which school rules this town when it comes to on field accomplishments since Cade's departure from Westwood. However, one thing is clear tonight ... the feelings of  optimism and good vibes around a football program ... no longer belongs to just one school in LA.

Yes ... there is a lot of football to discuss around this game. We have lots of analyzing to do over next few days.

For now as I am simply exhausted from emotion and delirium, I will leave you with what CRN told the WWL sideline reporter after the game:

"It's good to be back at UCLA baby!"

Just like Howland ... In Neu the Bruin Nation trusts.

Now thread it up ... in our first (of many) Rick Neuheisel victory thread.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE:  Couldn't agree more.  And here's an image for you out of towner's.  Go Bruins!  -M

We have waited to put up this post for months.

I think we have said just about everything that can be said about this game. We have discussed as much as can about the kind of emotions and feelings of anticipation we have been going through to watch this ...

Photo Credit: billaday's photostream (flickr)

... our boys entering the Cathedral of college football under the leadership of new UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel.

The kickoff time is scheduled for 5 pm PST. If need to get caught up on all of our notes concerning this game from last few weeks/months, you can do so by going here. Also you can click on the links below under "Related Item" for updated game stats and track the game via WWL, CBS Sportsline, and UCLA's official site.

So let's go ladies and gentleman. Let's fill up up the first game thread of the Rick Neuheisel era with everything we got in our passion buckets.

Fire away.

GO BRUINS.

Kickoff is officially just eight hours away. But why wait that long to unleash our passion bucket?

Photo Credit: maveric2003's photostream (flickr)

For those of you who live outside Southern California and want to join other fellow Bruins to watch the game, here are some locations to get together from around the nation:

• Bay Area Bruins are putting together three parties. One is going to be at the Stadium Pub in East Bay at 1420 Lincoln Avenue, Walnut Creek. If you want to join this party please RSVP to Rich here. There is going to be another one at Palo Alto at the New Old Pro Sports Bar at 541 Ramona Ave. You can RSVP to Jerry here. And if you are in San Francisco, you can head over to Pete's Tavern at 128 King St. RSVP to Roscoe here.
• Alums in NYC will be watching Southern Hospitality. Southern Hospitality located at 1460 Second Avenue at 76th street. Go here to RSVP (in the last min).
  
• Alums in Washington, DC will be watching the game at the Green Turtle Sports Bar at 601 F Street, NW. More info. on the Green Turtle here.
  
• In Chicago, the Bruins watch their games at Joe's Bar, located at 940 W. Weed St. Here are the details.
  
• If you live in Honolulu you can head over to Round Table Pizza Waikiki, in the Ohana East Hotel at 150 Kaiulani Ave.

Again, those are the get-togethers we know of. For more on alumni club football watching parties visit this site. If you have info on where the alumni group are watching the games in your town, post the info here. One note to keep in mind - even though these get togethers are hosted by alums - of course, they are open to every member of Bruin Nation.

Otherwise, if you are hanging out here, we will have our first official BN open game thread of the Neuheisel era up about an hour before the kickoff.  Until then if you need to get out any last minute thoughts, observations, pre game jitters or just yell at the "pundits" on WWL this thread is for you.

Fire away in our 2008's first pre game party thread.

GO BRUINS.

Finally. It’s game day.

We have been counting down to this day since the very moment our Ben Ball season ended in San Antonio. I am sure many of you are already busy getting your tail-gaiting gear all packed up. We will have our BN game thread up about an hour before kickoff (5 pm PST) and a pre-game party/open thread up around 9 am PST. Before we get to that let’s set the stage with a quick trip through the Southland MSM.

We will start with Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise, who IMHO has the best writeup for this game day. Kevin sets the stage for our big Monday night:

In facing the traditional Southeastern Conference power, UCLA will take the field with its projected third-string quarterback getting the start and an offensive line that is as inexperienced as they come. The defense is as strong as ever, but question marks hover over this program as its new era officially begins. […]

Despite the problems facing UCLA this season, this Tennessee team is beatable and has issues of its own, including suspect special teams and a new quarterback and offensive system.

Those factors may play into the hands of UCLA and allow the Bruins to earn some much-needed respect.

UCLA is viewed as a program in a state of flux and has won more than seven games just twice in the past decade. Pundits across the nation have written the Bruins off as also-rans, saying they are incapable of beating any of their non-conference opponents (No. 16 BYU and Fresno State are the others), thanks to a schedule that is among the nation's toughest. […]

Although a victory would be ideal, a close loss in a hard-fought game could help clarify where this program is and where it is trying to go under Neuheisel's leadership.

That sounds about right. As for starting the season on such a big stage, it’s a risk. As Brian Dohn notes though Neuheisel did a cost-benefit analysis and considers the debut on the national stage a win-win situation for UCLA:

Opening the showroom doors to the nation was a calculated gamble by Neuheisel, who - unlike his predecessor Karl Dorrell - continues to demonstrate his willingness to embrace flamboyancy, even if the payback isn't simple to gauge.

The Bruins were scheduled to open the season two days ago against Fresno State, but Neuheisel agreed to move the game so his debut as UCLA's coach could be broadcast against a marquee Tennessee program across the country.

"To have that kind of exposure, people talking about UCLA football in anticipation of this game, is terrific," Neuheisel said. "Getting our program where we want it, it's important to play on these kinds of stages. -

"To go and lay an egg would have an initial negative repercussion. But you can always point to the fact that, 'Hey, look, they wanted to see UCLA. We're not going to lay an egg the next time.' I don't like to talk in those terms, because I prefer to look at things will always going well, but I don't think you can pass up this kind of exposure, especially when building a program."

Well, can’t tell you how many times I heard references to Neuheisel and UCLA, all weekend while watching games on ABC and WWL. I heard more references to our program during this past weekend than last five years under Karl Dorrell. Even if the outcome doesn’t come out in our favor tonight, recruits around Southern California and the country are getting a clear cut message that Bruin football is going to be a national factor from here on out. It’s just a matter of time we get things in order.

Dohn’s report referred to low expectations for this season. Chris Dufresne from the LA Times has a piece up on expectations for UCLA this season. He pretty much echoes the main points we have discussed here this off season (just click on the “dose of reality” tag below this post) laying out the expectations for our team to go from somewhere between 4-8 and 6-6. Not only that while discussing the lowered expectations for this season, Chris also spelled out why it was completely legit to have the high expectations everyone had set for Dorrell’s 5th season at UCLA. Anyway, we have discussed this topic enough. But had to point out how Chris has become yet another reporter from the traditional media validating the way we have calibrated our expectations last few seasons.

Speaking of expectations, coaches are high on Rahim Moore and he is embracing all of it:

While a handful of true freshmen from UCLA's heralded recruiting class will play in today's season opener against No. 18 Tennessee at the Rose Bowl, Moore is the only one who will start.

"I've got high expectations for Rahim," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "I don't think you put a freshman into the fray unless you have high expectations for him. I don't think that's fair. But for Rahim Moore, part of it is because of absolute need. We needed him to rise up, and I think he's answered the call."

Moore will start at one of the safety positions, filling in for senior Bret Lockett, who is suspended because of a violation of the program's academic policies.

While the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Moore, who prepped at Dorsey High, is one of the most gifted athletes on the team, he believes there are other reasons he is starting.

"It's not really about all the talent and stuff," Moore said. "Coach Walker wants to see how mature you are, and not only does he watch you on the field, he watches you off the field.

"I've seen sometimes where he was watching me out of the corner of his eye, and I know he saw how focused I was coming in, and how I had good grades in summer school, and good reports. That showed him a little sign of maturity."

For more on the game here is another overview from the LA Times.

As mentioned above, we will have a pre-game/party thread up around 9 am PST and then the game thread will go up around 4 pm PST. They will give you an opportunity to fill up your passion buckets (if it’s not overflowing already) before Neuheisel and our Bruins storm out of the gates tonight. Let’s Go.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE: IF YOU JUST PUT "JOHNSON" IN THE COMMENTS AS YOUR CONTEST ENTRY, I'M GOING TO ASSUME YOU MEANT DOMINIQUE JOHNSON. IF YOU WANT JERRY JOHNSON, BE SURE TO LET US KNOW. -- ACHILLES

```

Let's start this post off with a major league Hat Tip to Halos Heaven.

Halos Heaven is, of course, this network's blog for the Los Angeles Angels. I'm an Angels fan and became a reader of that blog this season. I wish I had the time to post there, they do a real good job covering the team and there are a lot of good fans there posting.

What does that have to do with the Bruins?

Well, I'm stealing borrowing plagiarizing adapting one of their game day rituals for the Bruin football season. See, before every game, they ask readers for their pregame guesses. Earlier this week they asked:

7:05 PM on FSNW - Pregame Guesses:

1. # of Angel offensive strikeouts
2. # of Angel defensive double plays
3. # of HR in game, both teams combined total

Another time this week they asked:

Pregame Guesses: Name 3 Angels who will safely reach base twice in the game.

And another time:

Pregame Guesses:

1. # of Twins batters recording a Plate Appearance in 1st inning
2. # of Angels batters recording a Plate Appearance in 1st inning
3. Over/ Under 17.5: # of pitches thrown by the Angels Starting Pitcher in the 1st inning.

For every answer you get right, you get a point. So, you can get three points for every game. After every game, they put up the results and there are season long standings.

We decided, we're going to play the game, too.

For every UCLA game this season, I'll put up three questions about the upcoming game. A day or two later, I'll tally up the week and I'll try to get the season standings posted, too. We haven't talked it all through yet, but maybe we'll get some prizes for the end of the season -- we'll see what we can do.

If we're having fun with it, I'll do the basketball games, too.

So, here are your Pregame Guesses for UCLA-Tennessee:

1. Name a UCLA player who will catch at least three passes (you may answer "none")
2. Total rushing yards (within 10) for Kahlil Bell
3. Name a UCLA player who makes an interception

Just put your answers in THE SUBJECT LINE of your response to this thread. For example, the subject line of your post might be:

Everett, 65, Moore

or

Austin, 70, Verner

Have fun, Go Bruins (and Go Angels, too)

Let’s start our Sunday roundup with a HT to our colleagues at Canal Street Chronicles, New Orleans Saints’ bloggers who are currently on the run from Gustav. Please join us in extending thoughts and prayers to Saintsational and everyone else along the Gulf Coast, who are bracing for what could be another disaster. My heart goes out to the resident of New Orleans for what they have had to go through in last few years. Let’s hope for the best assuming this time everyone is well prepared to deal with the worst.

On to football. Brian Dohn has an extensive write-up on CRN’s path to UCLA:

During a far-reaching interview in which Neuheisel spoke of his 1984 Rose Bowl MVP performance against Illinois while battling food poisoning, of his on-field success as a coach at Colorado and Washington, of the myriad off-field troubles and seemingly everything in between, nothing brought a bigger smile to Neuheisel than the tale of Biscuit, a.k.a. Lonzell Maddock.

Maddock was Rainier Beach's backup quarterback and close friend of starting quarterback Junior Lologo. Once, before a game, Neuheisel asked Maddock why he was so lethargic. Maddock said he did not eat all day.

"(Neuheisel) started bringing sandwiches before the games for the quarterbacks," Haley said. "That would be the pregame meal with the quarterbacks. They would go over things and eat sandwiches."

In the 2004 Metro League championship game, Lologo was injured in the fourth quarter.

Maddock then drove Rainier Beach for the winning touchdown with 53 seconds to play.

"Boy, that was great to see," Neuheisel said. "I was so proud of him."

Witcher (Darren Witcher, Rainier Beach DC a the time - BN Ed.) said it was the confidence Neuheisel instilled in Maddock that made the drive possible. Terry Donahue, Neuheisel's coach at UCLA and the person who gave Neuheisel his coaching start, said he understood how that could happen.

IIRC this is the first time Dohn has brought up Neuheisel’s experience as a QB coach at Rainier Beach. This is something we have discussed number of time since last December. Particularly of note Dohn notes while Neuheisel’s critics sneered at this experience as nothing but a “PR stunt” they forgot to notice how he came back for a second year at Rainier Beach, even after settling his lawsuit with University of Washington.

In any event, I thought these comments from Donahue were interesting:

Donahue, who lobbied for Neuheisel to get the UCLA job, said he knew immediately Neuheisel was coaching material.

"By nature, he's one of those guys that is fortunate enough to have the psyche and the mind-set that everything is always going to be OK, regardless of the circumstances," Donahue said. "It's a tremendous strength of his. He doesn't easily get down or discouraged. He doesn't see the dark side of things.

I just wish Donahue felt the same way when he hired Bob Toledo over Rick Neuheisel as the OC following 1994 Rose Bowl. If Donahue had gone with Neuheisel at the time, perhaps neither UCLA nor Neuheisel would have to endure the consistent traumas (interrupted by a 20 game winning streak courtesy of number 18) of last 13 years. Oh well. Better late than never I guess. In Neuheisel we are getting a coach who has been humbled by mistakes, has paid his dues, and now more than ever will appreciate the opportunity UCLA has given him to lead this program back to where it belongs.

Moving on to the day to day stuff, Chris Foster from the LAT reports that Craft is getting more comfortable:

Chow continues to work on Craft's decision making but said, "I've seen tremendous improvement the last few weeks. All he has to do is manage the game. Make sure the game moves along, that we're not offside, we don't drop balls, we don't fumble balls. Just take care of the movement of the game."

Craft has done that before. He was not flashy at San Diego State, but he did lead the Aztecs to two victories during a 3-9 season, completing 69 of 121 passes for 737 yards and four touchdowns.

Neuheisel said he had seen Craft improve through a difficult transition.

"I can't even imagine how tough it was, getting here and trying to find your classes while learning a completely new offensive system," Neuheisel said.

"Then to be thrust into a position where you have to take the bull by the horns and act like you're the leader of a team."

In that article Foster tries to concern troll by pointing out that “transfer quarterbacks have had limited success in the Pacific 10 Conference.” As examples of successful QB he offers up the names of two QBs from Southern Cal -  Brad Otton (Weber State) in 1995 and Tim Green (El Camino College) in 1984 – who were the last JC transfers to win the Pac-10 title. What Foster forgets to mention that no person with a functioning brain is expecting UCLA to win the Pac-10 title with Craft. As we have discussed all off season given the realities facing this program in terms of overall talent level and its schedule (arguably the toughest in the Pac-10), a winning season would be an incredible accomplishment.  So it’s foolish to bring up those names to compare Craft.  And in terms of JUCO QBs, one name that might be applicable here is – Aaron Rodgers – arguably the most prolific QB Tedford developed as a HC at Cal, who arrived at Strawberry Canyon as a totally “ignored” JC transfer from Shasta.

So the expectations Foster tried to impose on Craft is kind of absurd (and not based on logic). Thankfully as reported by the OC Register our coaches are doing what they can to take the pressure off Craft:

Chow figures to take some pressure off Craft by giving him some easy throws early. He might sprinkle in a trick play or two later. Not that he gave away his game plan, but he indicated that Tennessee's defense might have talent, but it's not big on deception. That might help Craft figure out what he's doing.

"I think they like to play where they just cut their kids loose, let them get after you," Chow said. "Those are the hardest kinds of teams to play, because you're not exactly sure scheme-wise what their point is, what they're getting at. It makes it hard."

While Chow has been working on to make Craft more comfortable, Walker has been preparing to deal with the Clawfense:

Walker is miles ahead of Chow, largely because he has better players. He also has had the advantage of facing Chow's offense, which bears a lot of similarities with what he expects from Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson.

The scariest thought for the Bruins is that Tennessee might employ a spread, five-wide receiver set, testing the lack of depth in the UCLA secondary.

"Shoot, I may have to suit up if they do that," Walker said.

Motivation shouldn't be an issue. Most of the Bruins' players have been excited about this game since the spring. It's not often you get a Southeastern Conference school visiting your home stadium on national TV with a chance to prove you're better than people think.

I think the key here again goes back to confidence.  I get the sense that the coaches have done everything possible to instill a measure of confidence that we haven’t seen in this program for years. 

There is no question Tennessee will be the favored team tomorrow with more blue chip talents on both sides of the ball. There is no one expecting our guys to pull out a victory (for good reasons). However, if our guys stay calm and execute the plan coaches have prepared for them in last three weeks, they will have an opportunity not just to win the game, but at least to start the process of establishing the foundation for long term success at the Rose Bowl. While our coaches and players maintain their confidence, we will have to stay patient.

GO BRUINS.

We have less than 60 hours to go. I am assuming there will be many of us here who will be taking in the first full Saturday of college football action to get ready for our Big Monday. So we will put up a college football open thread later this afternoon where anyone watching the games, can offer up running commentary.

Meanwhile, let’s continue to gather our notes for the Monday night’s matchup against Tennessee. We will start with Tennessee’s defense. Neuheisel is concerned about the speed and athleticism of Vols’ defense (per Dohn):

After that (Eric Berry’s freakish playmaking abilities – BN Ed), what stands out to Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel is the speed the Volunteers' defense possesses, speed the Bruins will see up close Monday when No. 18 Tennessee visits the Rose Bowl.

"They've got a strong defensive line, that's for sure," Bruins receiver Terrence Austin said. "Their guys are athletic. The big guys are fast and strong. The linebackers are fast and athletic, sideline to sideline. And the secondary is probably the most athletic in the group of the defense.

"They're as athletic as `SC, and as aggressive as `SC. They're physical. I haven't really seen one play on film where everybody isn't trying for the ball. Once the ball is heading in one direction, the whole defense is flying one way."

The Vols return six starters on defense, led by Berry, who had five interceptions in 2007.

It is also a defense that under coordinator John Chavis, who has held the position since 1995, does not blitz often, although there are occasions he decides to pressure the quarterback.

"Speed and ability to change direction," Neuheisel said when asked about the Vols. "They just have great athletes on the defensive side. It's certainly no knock to anybody on their staff; I think they're brilliant in that they try to keep it simple. They let their athletes play."

Vols have also received some more good news on the defensive front. They are going to have Gerald Williams, a JUCO LB (who had committed to the Vols in 2005) available for the UCLA. He just received his clearance from the NCAA. Here is the AP wire story on WWL, and the celebratory reaction from the Rocky Top Talk.

Williams, Berry and rest of the Volunteers defense will present a huge challenge for the UCLA offense, which will try to establish a running game to create some breathing room for Kevin Craft. Kahlil Bell is all fired up, but as noted in the LA Times, CRN is going to keep a close eye on KB to make sure he is paced appropriately in his first game back from knee injury:

 Despite Bell's aggressive approach, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has limited his work throughout fall camp and will keep a close eye on him against the Volunteers.

"I'm going to watch his conditioning," Neuheisel said about Bell, who also missed several games as a sophomore because of an ankle injury in 2006. "Given his situation coming off the knee, it was difficult to put him through the paces [that would have been] if he was 100%.

"I don't anticipate him to play the whole game, we'll spell him, but I know he's eager. I'm excited to watch him play."

We are all excited to see KB and other young running backs making their debut on national TV.

Over on the defensive side, our DL has taken note of Tennessee’s effective OL:

When UCLA opens its 2008 campaign against the Vols, the Bruins will be going against an offensive line that is among the best in America, returning all five starters and coming off a season in which it allowed an NCAA-record four sacks.

"It's going to be a challenge for us," Harwell said. "They are a (heck) of a group."

Tennessee was the only team in the nation to give up fewer than 10 sacks last year and did so while throwing 534 passes. But one thing Harwell noticed is that former quarterback Erik Ainge had a lightning-quick release and that there were times when a sack could have happened with a slower quarterback.

"A lot of times it's not really about the sacks," defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. "It's about the pressure and distracting him to make mistakes. If we can force bad throws, that's just as good as a sack."

This year, Jonathan Crompton takes over the reins under center and, despite being a junior, has a slower release than Ainge. Harwell believes that could play into the hands of the Bruins.

"We have to get to him and get pressure on him," Harwell said. "It's going to be a challenge, but we have no choice. We have to get there. It's a must."

Yeap. If the Vols are able to establish a running game and get their young QB enough time to get comfortable early, it will be a long night for UCLA. Hopefully Harwell, Price and their team-mates can come out on fire and disrupt the rhythm of that offense early and often.

We will have an open college football game thread up by 12:30 PST. Enjoy your Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

As promised, let's build on my previous post on Tennessee's defensive highlights by looking at the key guys in in their clawfense. And man ... there is a lot here to be concerned about .

We have been talking all week about Arian Foster and how stopping him (and other Volunteer backs) will be the key to success for Walker's defense. Here is a little tape on what we are assuming Price, Harwell and co have been going over last few weeks:

While you can count on Fulmer and Clawson to establish their running game through Foster, Bruin defensive coaches will have to look out for a little bit of trickery. Keep an eye on Lucas Taylor, the most productive Volunteer receiver (73 rec-1000yds-5TDs), who also happened to play a little bit of QB in high school. He can go Freddie Mitchell on us:

Video courtesy of Joel at Rocky Top Talk.

Speaking of going Freddie Mitchell, keep an eye on receiver Gerald Jones. Last year Tennessee ran a specific G-Gun offense in which they snapped the ball directly to Jones (another high school QB) who plays WR (video courtesy of Rocky Top Talk):

Wouldn't it be cool if UCLA did the same thing with OR?

Josh Briscoe is the other Tennessee receiver who had a solid season last year (56 rec-557yds-6TDs). And as he showed during Tennessee' s 2008 Orange & White game, he is going to be looking for another great season:

If there are other highlights of. Tennesee's offense are floating around the tubes, that we need to pay attention to please post them in the comment threads or post them in the FanShots.

Let's hope Briscoe, Taylor, and Foster don't get off the great start courtesy of the Bruin defense.

They key to containing these guys again will be to stop the running game and put the kind of pressure on Crumpton that will throw off his rhythm in his first collegiate start as a Volunteers QB.

This will be a ridiculously tough assignment for Walker and his coaches.  We are going to need him and his defensive players to step up if we are going to have a shot on Monday night. I think they will be prepared, fired up, and ready to go.

GO BRUINS.

Now that we have studied up on the Volunteers time to take a stroll through the tubes. We will start with their defense. Their defense starts with Mr. All Everything Eric Berry. Take a look via our friends at Rocky Top Talk:

He is just an amazing athlete.

He is a game changer.

And he is not alone in that backfield.

As mentioned before he anchors the Tennessee secondary with Demetrice Morley, who himself is another great safety. These guys have the ability to dominate and change the complexion of the entire game. 

With these two guys in the backfield, I think Tennessee defense will come in with the intention of shutting down our running game, forcing us to win it with our passing attack. They will probably have 6 guys in the box and might mix in run blitz packages to shut down our backs. Last year with athletes like Eric Berry and Jarod Mayo, Tennessee had games when they completely dominated great running backs, as evidenced by their performance against Darren McFadden and the Razorback’s prolific running attack:

Once again HT to Rocky Top Talk for that video.

Obviously Mayo is gone. But Tennessee defense still has athletes such Robert Ayers and Ben Martin, who can cause trouble.  

If I were them, I’d imagine I would dare the UCLA offense to look downfield. The laser speed, athleticism, and ridiculous range of Berry and Morley gives them the luxury to cheat a little bit in trying to disrupt our short routes.   

The key again will be for Craft (or if anyone else steps in for him) to stay as composed as possible, and not try to take the bait by forcing the issue. Bruins will need to stick with the game plan Neuheisel and Chow prepares for the offense, and stick to it as long as they can. Otherwise, if they allow the Tennessee defense to force the issue, and do things that is not in their game plan, it will be a long night. The offensive highlights (gulp) are next.

GO BRUINS.

Wanted to delve a little deeper into the chess match between DeWayne Walker and Dave Clawson. As mentioned in my previous post Tennessee fans are eagerly anticipating the unveiling of the Clawfense on Monday night, which (according to our friends at Rocky Top Talk is supposed to be mixture of “spready-type, West Coast-ish” offense. DeWayne Walker has built a very good defense at UCLA building on his experience from the pros. Our guys have shown they can handle pro-set offense as evidenced in their performance against the guys from across town last couple of years.

The interesting storyline for this season will be Bruin defense’s ability to matchup against spread type of offenses that have wrecked havoc in college football last few years. Sports Illustrated’s Phill Taylor wrote about this topic – DCs around the nation trying to come up with a plan to wrestle the spread offense “beast” – recently in SI’s 2008 college football preview. The key weapons again spread offense per Taylor’s article are nothing earth shattering: speed, solid tackling, and disrupting the timing of opposing QBs (HT to Husker Mike at Corn Nation):

• START WITH A STOPWATCH. The adage You either recruit speed, or you chase it has never been more true. The spread's main priority, to create mismatches in which skill-position players are covered by slower defenders, is harder to accomplish against a unit with serious speed of its own. That's why defenses are plugging players into positions for which they might once have seemed undersized but in which they have above-average quickness.

Players who might have been linebackers in another era become light but quick pass-rushing linemen, such as defensive ends George Selvie (6'4", 245 pounds) of South Florida, second in the nation in sacks last year, and Dexter Davis (6'2", 252) of Arizona State. Big defensive backs, such as USC's Taylor Mays (6'3", 230) and Missouri's William Moore (6'1", 230), become hybrid linebacker-safeties. "It doesn't matter how creative you are otherwise," says Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, the architect of the Red Raiders' pass-happy spread. "If you can't run, you can't stop the spread."

• A MISSED TACKLE IS A TOUCHDOWN. Defenses have to assume as much when they face the spread, which often leaves them stretched so thin that if a defender blows the takedown on even a short reception, help might not arrive in time to prevent a TD. In Division I-AA Appalachian State's 34--32 upset of Michigan last year, the classic example of the spread eviscerating an ill-equipped defense, the Mountaineers' first touchdown came when wideout Dexter Jackson caught a short slant and safety Steve Brown let him slip out of his grasp. The Wolverines didn't get a second chance at the tackle, and Jackson dashed 68 yards for a score.

"It's not always a matter of great X's and O's," says Portland State coach Jerry Glanville, a longtime defensive coordinator at the college and NFL levels. "Part of it is just a case of execution, of tackling properly. I would think that every team getting ready to face a spread would spend time going back to basics, pulling out every tackling drill [the coaches] have ever run." Teams don't need a deep passing game because the chances of one mistake turning something short into something long are there on almost every snap. "A defense basically has to approach every tackle as if it's a touchdown-saving play," says Glanville, "because most of the time it is."

• BREAK UP THE BEAT. The success of the spread, particularly in the passing game, depends heavily on timing. The quarterback often takes a three- or five-step drop and delivers the ball in rhythm to receivers who quickly "find grass," i.e., open spots in the secondary. The most effective defenses devise ways to disrupt that timing on one end or the other. "I like my guys to jam receivers coming off the line," says former Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring, now the linebackers coach for the Dallas Cowboys. "If we make it tough for them to get into their routes, maybe they're still trying to get to an open spot when the quarterback is ready to throw."

So let’s start with the point re. speed. Who will have the advantage on Monday night? It will be interesting to see how our front-7 matches up against the Tennessee backs and TEs. With Harwell and Price anchoring the middle we have two guys as good as combination as any in terms of clogging up the run. However, it will be interesting to see whether Tennessee will try to create mismatches. Here are the receiving numbers of their backs and TEs currently in their 2 deep:

Stat Source: NCAA

Arianne Foster’s numbers look pretty solid out of the backfield. After him there is a drop off. But we don’t have a lot of data points to conclude whether the TEs in Clawfense will remain as much of an afterthought (going strictly by statistics here) as they were under Cutcliffe’s O last year.

We can imagine Walker and his crew will have a target painted on Foster’s back. He is capable of being menace both via the air and the ground. However, our front-7 needs to remain alert about these other guys. Note Jeff Cottam is out with an injury. But don't get too excited. One guy not listed in the chart above is TE Brandon Warren, a transfer from Florida State. Walker knows about Warren:

Warren, a transfer from Florida State, played against the Bruins in the 2006 Emerald Bowl with little impact, but earned some freshman All-America recognition after that season.
“I know he’s a good player, so that’s just another guy we’ve got to worry about,” Walker said.
Warren left Florida State in the spring of 2007 to be near his mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden chose not to release him from his scholarship. Because he was not a full-time student in 2007, Warren needed waivers to play this year.

Also it sure sounds like Stocker can play. He hit the paydirt once last season, and as Joel noted on RTT, Crumpton managed to find Stocker for a seven yard TD pass during the spring game. So John Hale and Akeem Ayers will need to watch out.  Also, with Christian Taylor gone, Reggie Carter will need to be extra aware to make sure his team-mates are in the right position so that they don’t get caught in any mismatches.

Meanwhile, with a new defensive backfield, Walker will get to test out the raw athletic talent of his freshmen DBs early. Rahim Moore is going to get the start at SS. He can bring the lumber. The question will be whether he will make sure he is the right spot (along with his other backfield mates) to make the play.

That takes me to the point of sure tackling. This is probably the most concerning aspect for us heading into Monday night. DeWayne Walker has been very good in terms of instilling fundamentals into our defense. For the first time in years we have a Bruin defense that has been good at basic tackling (something we haven’t seen since in a consistent basis the departure of Rocky Long). Our defense has been great last two years in that department. However, heading into this season we will have lot of new faces getting into the college game as starters for the first time in their careers (or for the first time in case of some of our DBs). So I am sure there will be a lot of anxious moments because if the Tennessee’s spread scheme is clicking right out of the gate, there could be disastrous scenarios in which a mistackle would turn into 6 points.

As for disrupting the timing of the passing game, that’s a no brainer. Already mentioned in my last post on this game if Crompton has all night to stand back and chose his options, it will be a long night for all of us. If we were to have any chance on Saturday, our defense must put pressure on Crompton. They can’t allow him to get comfortable. They don’t need to register boat load of sacks. What they need to do is to make sure he is hurried into making decisions and pressured into getting rid of the ball earlier than he wants.

Disrupting the timing of their passing attack would also entail our DBs to be physical and jamming up the Vol receivers up front. That of course will put a premium on sure tackling.

Anyway you look at it, this will not be easy. Both sides will be rolling out lot of new pieces on Monday night. However, the one advantage Volunteers will have in this matchup is the experience of their OL. So we will probably have the announcers will go back to the old cliché of whoever is winning the battle in the trenches will come out on top.

As always, one thing that can help our defense is a riled up home crowd. I know it’s going to be tough to fill out the stadium as we are still three weeks away from the start of school year. We will most likely not have the full band and lot of our students will be out. But whoever shows up, they will need to be in this game, and spur our guys on defense with everything they have. Our home crowd needs to make sure our defense can get as much emotional boost as possible from a Rose Bowl crowd, all fired up for the first football game under a new head coach.

Our guys can use every advantage they can get in what will most likely be a fairly even chess match. Considering the inexperience and other issues around our offense, this is where our guys will need to get an edge if there are looking to pull out a memorable upset on Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s continue to study up some more on this weekend’s big game by looking at the offensive and defensive statistics from last year. Now right off the bat we have to remind ourselves that we have to take these numbers with grain of salt considering our Bruins are going to unveil a new offense under a new staff and without the returning starters from last season. We also lost 75 percent of our starting secondary and are looking to replace couple of our emotional fire starters in Bruce Davis and Christian Taylor. Similarly Tennessee is looking to not only break in a new coordinator, the Vols are also going to feature a new starting QB – Jonathan Crompton – who attempted a total of 12 passes last season. So numbers from last year will not necessarily establish much in terms of what we can expect on Saturday. However, it would be good to keep them in mind as data points for reference as we try to get a total picture on Saturday’s matchups.

I will start by looking at the numbers comparing the Bruin defense v. the Vols offense from last season:

As mentioned in my last post Tennessee’s fans are looking forward to the unveiling of their Clawfense under their new OC Dave Clawson, which will reportedly feature elements of a spread offense. Whatever it is, I think it will be reasonable to expect these guys to serve up a heavy dose of Arian Foster behind their experienced offensive line. This is where I think where the numbers from last year might be instructive because as we can see Walker has put together a pretty solid rushing defense at UCLA. If the Bruins are going to have a chance this Saturday, it will have to start with Harwell and Price upfront. They will need to do their best to clog up the running lanes for Foster.

Bruins will have to force the Volunteers to beat us with their passing game. We have discussed before how Walker has had issues with spread offense in the past. We can expect a pretty interesting chess match between Clawson and Walker on Saturday. Clawson is going to be breaking in a brand new QB in Crompton, who doesn’t have much experience (actually less experience than Craft who IIRC started 3 games at San Diego State, see career stats via WWL). However, on the other hand Walker is going to be breaking in basically a brand new defensive backfield featuring only one returning starter in ATV. He will probably be throwing in some of his true freshmen including Rahim Moore into the fire who will be going up against a core of Volunteers receivers spearheaded by Lucas Taylor (73 rec-1000yds-5TDs) and Josh Briscoe (56 rec-557yds-6TDs). If Crompton gets decent time in pocket enabling him to find these guys we will be  in for a long night. So it will be up to our defense to make sure not only to contain if not shut down their running attack, but they also need to put pressure on their new QB disrupting his rhythm and not allowing him to get comfortable.

As for what happens when the Bruins are on offense, this is the great unknown at this point of time. Here are the numbers from last year:

But right now we are not sure what we can take from those numbers because we don’t have any data on our current coaches. We have beaten to death about the concerns re. our offensive line and the inexperience of our QBs. The question will be whether our line will be serviceable enough to mount a decent running attack and give our QBs enough time to get a short passing game going which will move the chains?

Looking at last year’s stats it looks like Tennessee’s opponents routinely ran up some huge numbers on the ground. They gave up more than 200 yards rushing 3 times last year (Cal 230/37, Florida 255/46, La.Lafayette 234/48, LSU 212/47). Yes, I doubled checked the stats re. La. Lafayette. Also Wisconsin, USC and even Arkansas St. put together productive running attack against the Volunteers. Does that mean Bruins will have a huge night against the Vols through our running game? Not sure. However, I think the trend lines from last year does point to an opportunity. And it is probably a safe bet that Chow and Neuheisel will attempt to get it going via the running game on Sat night. The question is how they are going to do it. And that’s where it will be interesting for the first time in a long time we will probably not have a running game which will involve repeatedly asking our tailbacks to slam up the middle.

Again it will be up to Craft (or Forcier) to get in the mindset in which they don’t get too excited or feel pressure for having to win this game (easier said than done I know). But I think our coaches will get them to be in a place where they know they won’t have to be heroes on Monday night, instead looking to play an assigned role within Chow’s scheme which will require them to make quick and easy (hopefully) decisions. Chow will probably look for decent play from our QB with a multifaceted running game (through Bell, Carter and our talented frosh) kick started through different looks. Can’t wait to find out on Monday night.
GO BRUINS.