Another game, another week and once again Neuheisel's Bruins were out manned and outgunned, losing to a more talented team with explosive fire power.

Bruins gave it a good shot and they certainly gave a great effort:

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gus Ruelas (via ESPN)

However, they had no answer for the explosive combination of Tutitama, Thomas, Gronkowski, and Grigsby. Bruins fall by a score of 10-31. Here is the box score and AP recap.

On the bad side our offensive continues to remain ineffective. Special teams was a nightmare and the defense still had issues with tackling at times.

On the positive side we saw some improved play from our OL. Coleman made a nice impression and Walker's defense gave a great effort despite having to deal with short field.

Right now, we have no choice but to remain patient. As Papadakis noted during the broadcast our biggest issue right now is "personel deficiencies" on both sides of the ball. And it will take Neuheisel and his coaches a while to turn this thing around as Papadakis put it, "Dorrell didn't leave Neuheisel a lot to work with."

We gave it a best effort, but we simply didn't have the ammo. For now though we have to stay patient, take these losses (just like we did during Howland's first two years ... and note it will take longer to turn around a football program), and take this game by game. We don't have a lot of other choice.

Chin up and hang in there. And of course use this thread to fire away with your post game thoughts.

GO BRUINS.

I have been waiting for this … well since the end of last game.

We have had a week to nurse over our wounds from last Saturday’s humiliation. It doesn’t get any easier today when the Bruins return to the Rose Bowl take on another desperate Arizona team that will be fighting for Mike Stoop’s job, who is still looking to get his program going in his 5th season at Tucson.

Bruins are banged up. We have gone on and on about our issues re. talent, experience on both sides of the ball. Yet, we know they will have a chance if they show the same fight, they did in their last game at home:

Photo Credit: section3 2008 bruins's photostream (flickr)

Let’s hope the true-blue, die hard fans who show up today, fire them up to bounce back as underdogs.

The kickoff time is scheduled for 12:00 pm PST on FSN.

If you need to get caught up on all of our notes concerning this game from this game week, 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 UCLA's official site and the WWL.

So let's go ladies and gentleman. Time to get started with another game thread filled with our passion buckets.

Fire away.

GO BRUINS.

As strange as it may sound, in some ways I have been looking forward to this game day more than the one involving Tennessee.  The reason is pretty simple because it presents the best opportunity for our football team and out community to move forward.

We will start our game day round up with Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise, who zeroes in on the key matchup at the Rose Bowl:

The key matchup is UCLA's offensive line vs. Arizona's defensive front. The Bruins have done nothing right when it comes to run blocking, and the Wildcats aren't the best defensive front UCLA will see this season. The Bruins need to keep running the ball, and this could be the game for it.

Needless to say there is a lot of pressure on our offensive line to perform today. We have discussed this week, how these guys have been responsible for generating a ground game, which has been averaging an astonishing 29 inches per game. Chris Foster from the LA Times has an article in which he calls out the OL from the freshmen class of 2006:

"What it has been to this point is there is always one guy who is making a mental mistake or not using proper technique," tackle Nick Ekbatani said. "His guy is making the play. It seems like there are four guys on the right body and we have one going to the wrong guy."

That it seems to be a different guy each time calls into question UCLA's much-ballyhooed recruiting class of 2006, which included seven offensive linemen -- Ekbatani, Brandon Bennett, Jake Dean, Andy Keane, Micah Kia, Sean Sheller and Sonny Tevaga.

SuperPrep Magazine rated that class of linemen sixth in the nation.

Sheller, a projected starter, suffered a knee injury in an all-terrain vehicle accident this summer. The rest?

"It's been a bit of a disappointment, that's the bottom line," said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com. "That was viewed as a recruiting class that was going to give UCLA a leg up in the trenches."

Instead, the Bruins keep digging deep holes.

I personally don’t feel it is all that productive to constantly bash the previous head coach (even though he bears a major share of the responsibility for where we find ourselves today (along with the previous Chancellor Al Carnesale and Vice Chancellor Peter Blackmun, who meddled into the hiring process back in 2002). However, for the purposes of perspective it is necessary to keep in mind what kind of talent, coaches are working with in the current regime. No wonder Bob Palcic, who is considered one of the best OL coaches in America, is calling this “the biggest challenge” of his decorated career:

"The five best," Bruins offensive line coach Bob Palcic said. "I'm just looking for the five guys I feel can execute the game plan. It's not specific to run. It's not specific to pass. You've got to be able to do both."

In 38 years of coaching, the respected Palcic, in his first year at UCLA, is still searching for a capable combination.

Asked if he was ever searching this much three games into a season during his coaching career, he said, "Never. It's the biggest challenge of my career. That's the way it is. The biggest challenge of my career."

Hopefully, Palcic’s boys will be able to move in a positive direction today. I know I believe in what Coach Palcic can do given what I saw firsthand in the kind of line he put together last time he was coaching at UCLA. If you need a reminder just look up the game tapes of UCLA’

More on what the Bruins need to do today from Kevin Pearson:

The Bruins also must play smart. They have been penalized only six times in two games and must keep that up.

They also must hold on to the ball. Turnovers will kill most teams, and this one is not talented enough to make up for wasted possessions.

Asked this week what gave him hope that UCLA could rebound and beat Arizona, Coach Rick Neuheisel pointed out that everyone showed up to practice, which was a promising start. In trying to rebuild this program, Neuheisel has stressed mental toughness, not only to avoid the bad losses but also to have the resiliency to respond when they occur.

"The test will be when there is a bump in the road in a game, and all of the sudden, will everyone sit and wonder, 'Oh here we go again'?" Neuheisel said. "It cannot happen. We have to be resilient.

"Ultimately the hallmark of this program is that we have to be tough. When you take one on the chin, the best thing a competitor does is get back up and get back in the ring."

Speaking of getting back up, we have discussed about Walker and his boys bouncing back from last week’s humiliation. In Arizona they are taking on a QB, who has a history of lighting it up against the Bruins. In addition to Tutitama and prolific receivers such as Gronkowski (who is making his season debut after sitting out the first three games due to health issues) and Thomas, Walker is worried about Arizona’s running back. From Dohn:

Wildcats tailback Nic Grigsby had no problem running through UCLA's defense last season, rushing for 124 yards. He is averaging 125 yards per game this season.

"If you give (Tuitama) seams and he gets his confidence going, that's the whole thing," UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. "The little running back concerns me a little bit because they can get you in space.

"You worry about taking care of all the wideouts and the tight ends and all the throws, and all of a sudden they hand it off to the little guy and he finds a crease, and there he goes. It's executing and tackling."

While UCLA is a three-point underdog, it has won 17 of its past 20 home games, and in the last four years made a living of winning at home after disastrous performances on the road.

"We've got a lot of people that don't want to have that feeling again," UCLA cornerback Alterraun Verner said. "I think that is the motivation, but also we learn from those mistakes. I'm pretty sure most of this team is mentally tough."

For more on the game here are other games notes from the LA Times and the Daily News. Also as the OC Register notes, despite last weekend’s disaster our coaches continue to recruit aggressively, as they are hosting a large number of recruits at today’s game.

Hope ATV and his team-mates get to bounce back today that will enable them to put 0-59 in the past, and make a statement to those young kids getting a taste of UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. It will also be the perfect way of moving this program forward.

We will have our game thread up about 30 mins before the game.

GO BRUINS.

It's that time again ... here are the Pregame Guesses for the UCLA-Arizona game.

(For those who don't remember how we play -- check this link.)

If you haven't joined in yet, there is plenty of time. No one is yet running away with the competition. (BYU results are here; Tennessee results are here, after Arizona, I'll do a three game total to see where everyone stands.).

This week we've got Arizona. I don't know what it is, but there's something about their head coach, Mike Stoops, that makes me want to ask at least one question involving penalty yards. I don't know if Arizona commits a lot of penalties or not, but the guy is always stomping around the sideline frothing at the mouth -- he's like a walking unsportsmanlike conduct. (When you consider the fact that Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson's greatest skill is working the refs, it almost guarantees a penalty question.)

Photo Source: The Wizard of Odds

I'm also tempted to do an over under on the number of times FOX analyst Petros Papadakis references his own playing career during the telecast, but that would force me to listen with the sound on, but at the moment, my plan is to watch the game with the sound down on the TV, while Metallica's Death Magnetic plays on continuous loop at near-maximum volume in the background. (If you want to hear a great on-air battle between Petros and Joe McDonnell -- go here, it's pretty funny. This is after Petros called Joe out for saying that Patrick Cowan's injury was a good thing. Joe's show is becoming more like the Raiders all the time -- a once great franchise that has seriously lost its way ... and aren't you glad I didn't say Bruins?)

Anyways, here are your pregame guesses for Arizona:

Total number of Penalty Yards (both teams combined), within 10. (Ex. If the total is 150, then anything between 140 and 160 is correct -- and that's inclusive).

Number of touchdown passes for Kevin Craft

Total tackles for Reggie Carter

As always, just put your answers in the subject line of your comment. LIke this:

100, 2, 10

It just makes it easier to add up the scores.

Thread closes at 11:30 am PST Saturday.

As we wind down the game week we will finish it up with a round up primarily focusing on our defense. Arizona game will be an opportunity for our team to bounce back. It will especially be a huge game for our defense as it will look to atone last weekend’s embarrassment. ATV is going to be one of the defensive leaders, who will be in the spotlight tomorrow afternoon.  Austin Collie absolutely destroyed him last weekend as he was giving the BYU receiver lot of room to work with. Well it sounds like Walker and ATV will have chance to get back in the grove this weekend by going back to an aggressive man-to-man scheme. From the OC Register:

Walker said he's not ready to abandon aggressive, man-to-man schemes because of one bad game from his top cover man.

"That's kind of our style," Walker said. "We've got be smart how we use him and how we use everybody, but with a guy like him who's made a lot of plays, I'd be shocked if he doesn't bounce back from it."

Verner's challenge this week might not be as daunting as shadowing one of Max Hall's favorite targets, but Arizona likes to spread the field and take its chances behind veteran quarterback Willie Tuitama.

Verner isn't sure Saturday will offer him much of a respite. Then again, he's not looking for help.

"Of the 27-odd games I've played, this is like the only one that the person ended up having a lot of catches," Verner said. "I'm not discouraged at all. People are going to be open and people are going to makes catches and plays, so I'm not down at all."

More on this from Dohn:

"It's the same. Nothing has dropped," Verner said as the Bruins ready to play Arizona Saturday at the Rose Bowl. "Same as when Iplayed Tennessee. Same as when I entered fall camp. Nothing different."

Defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker spoke briefly with Verner earlier in the week to gauge his confidence, and was satisfied.

ATV and his team-mates will have to brace for another aerial assault this weekend as they are going to take on a wounded team with a passer, who has killed us in the past. It will mean they will have to come out and play the same kind of physical defense we watched them play against Tennessee three weekends ago.

Speaking of having to play physical defense, another guy who potentially will have a big role this weekend is Steve Sloan, who will be stepping in at the MLB on Sat. From Chris Foster in the LA Times:

"Steve had a good training camp and showed us he was ready," defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. "He needs the opportunity."

Linebackers coach Chuck Bullough said Sloan "was the most improved player we had during spring ball. He just knows what is going to happen out there before it happens."

Said Sloan: "I've been in the program a year now. I get it."

Sloan, 6 feet 3, 235 pounds, played some in the Bruins' season-opening, 27-24 victory over Tennessee, after Carter sustained a minor knee injury. However, when Bosworth was injured in the first quarter last week against Brigham Young, freshman Sean Westgate took over at the weak-side spot with Carter staying in the middle.

Having Carter on the field with him will help, Sloan said. So too have conversations he has had with Christian Taylor, the Bruins' middle linebacker last season. Though Taylor was a senior last season, they still talk about once a week, Sloan said.

"Sloan is a lot like Christian," Bullough said. "He's very intelligent and very hard nosed."

If Steve plays like Christian on Saturday, it will bode well for our defense and the whole team.

Elsewhere, on the offensive front Scott Glicksberg might be starting over Sonny Tevaga at right guard. Hey, whatever it takes to jump start an OL that so far has generated 29 inches per carry.

 GO BRUINS.

Looks like Vegas (per Dexter Fishmore) has installed Arizona as a 2 1/2-point favorite for Saturday. Given what I have read up on the Cats (see notes here and here), I don’t really disagree with that line. I think given what we have seen after three weeks this season, Arizona is a slight favorite heading into this game.

But … here is something that can work for our Bruins. The passion bucket at the Rose Bowl:

Photo Credit: el molino12's photostream (flickr)

For all the perception re. UCLA fans being too So Cal, during last six seasons despite being saddled with mediocre head coaches, Bruins have compiled a home record of 25-7 (.781). They are going to need everyone’s support on Saturday to pick them up a little after last weekend’s night mare. The game is on at 12:00 pm PT and it will be shown on FSN.

As for rest of us, here is another weekend to join up with fellow alums/Bruins in your area to watch the game. Here are some locations on Bruin get together across the nation:

• Alums in NYC will be watching Southern Hospitality. Southern Hospitality located at 1460 Second Avenue at 76th street. Go here to RSVP.
• Alums in Washington, DC will be watching the game at Bar Louie, 701 7th St., NW #D (Chinatown-Gallery Place Metro Station). You can RSVP by emailing here.
• In Chicago, the Bruins watch their games at Joe's Bar, located at 940 W. Weed St. Here are the details.
• 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 Jamie & Keenan here.  

As for the locals heading over to the Rose Bowl here are couple of tailgates you might want to consider dropping by:

• South Bay Bruins are having a tailgater in Lot H (4 hours before game time). They are charging 15 bucks for "food & drinks, plus an excellent central location in Lot H, directly in front of the Alumni Band and UCLA Cheerleaders." More info here.
• The OC Bruins are also having their own tailgate about 3 ½ hours before the game. They are also charging 15 bucks for a menu that includes Assorted Quiches: Spinach, Sausage, Lorraine, etc. Pastries, Donuts, Bagels & Fresh Fruit. Champagne Mimosa's, Draft Beer (courtesy of The Tavern on Main), and Bloody Mary's. RSVP info here.

As usual, 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. Also we will serve up the usual reminder that even though these get togethers are hosted by alums - of course, they are open to every member of Bruin Nation.

For rest of you if you are wondering about game watching info in your area, this would be the thread to post your questions, info or organize parties within your area. Consider this a game watching party organizing open thread.

GO BRUINS.

In our first look at Arizona last night, we noted how Sonny Dykes, Wildcats’ OC had called out Willie Tuitama after his nightmarish game against New Mexico. A day later it looks Sonny walked back from his previous comments and took the responsibility (similar to Dewayne Walker mentioning how he had to take a good look at his own game scheme for BYU) for last weekend’s offensive malfunction:

"I didn't do a good job of calling the game when things didn't go well," Dykes said. "We got away from the game plan a little bit instead of staying with what we do and we got a little frantic."

Arizona will look to manage the game better against UCLA on Saturday. Kickoff is noon at the Rose Bowl.

That means if the Bruins get a quick lead, don't count on UA abandoning the run and focusing only on the pass.

"Willie had to throw some better passes, but it was definitely more me than him managing that game," Dykes said. "Against that defense, you have to stay balanced and run the ball more. We sort of played right into their hands and threw more than we should have. I didn't do a good job."

Tuitama completed 27 of 50 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns, but also had his first two interceptions of the season and two lost fumbles while staying in the pocket too long.

Well the matchup between Tutitama’s offense and the Bruin defense is going to very interesting to watch for couple of reasons:

1. Which unit will bounce back after its humiliating outing from the previous weekend?
   
2. How will Walker’s unit with serious questions re. its size and speed will be able to handle an explosive QB, who has a history of lighting it up against the Bruin defense.   
   

From the article linked above:

A more traditional defense will be faced this week, although the Bruins might try more blitzing than normal after seeing New Mexico's success.

Tuitama has had success against UCLA. The senior completed 21 of 35 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns a year ago in a 34-27 victory and he orchestrated a 52-14 triumph over the then No. 7-ranked Bruins in 2005 in Tucson.

To be fair the 2005 meltdown took place under Larry Kerr’s watch. Walkers defense did have an impressive performance against Zona two years ago at the Rose Bowl, when it knocked out Tutitama out of the game. Also that was the game when the Cats also knocked out Ben Olson with a cheap shot, which started the string of regular season injuries hobbling the Bruin QB for last two years.

Well the Bruin defense can expect a physical effort from the Zona offense, which will be led by Mike Thomas, the prolific senior WR who has lit up the score board early this season as he leads the conference receivers with 8.7 catches and 100.7 yards per game and is fourth with 138.7 yards of total offense per game. Ryan Finely from the Arizona Daily Star has more on Thomas’ early season success:

The key to Thomas' success, coaches said, is strength and balance. Thomas has added 25 pounds of muscle to his 5-foot-8-inch frame since coming to the UA in 2005. He has also worked with strength coach Corey Edmond on improving his balance.

And Thomas has switched positions, moving from the outside to slot receiver's spot for his senior season. The position switch allows Thomas to run through holes and maneuver as he gets upfield. His improved balance allows him to take hits as glancing blows.

Take Saturday's touchdown catch: Thomas caught a 2-yard pass from quarterback Willie Tuitama on the short side of the field.

Freshman Juron Criner provided a crushing block, giving Thomas a hole to run through. He split two defenders, juked UNM's DeAndre Wright at the 10-yard line and — after getting hit by the Lobos' Blake Ligon at the 5 — stumbled, spun and fell backside-first into the end zone.

"You're not going to knock him down, he's so physical," Stoops said.

Those notes should put Lockett, Moore, ATV, Norris and rest of the Bruin secondary on Def Con 4 mode. BYU receivers man handled and humiliated those kids last Saturday. I don’t buy the fact that it was due to some kind of lack of effort. I think last week these guys got blown away in a perfect storm which was a result of a combination of a pin point, relentless surgical Cougar attack, questionable defensive strategy (as Walker admitted himself) allowing BYU receivers to have room to operate with, and the experience edge receivers like Pitta and Collie had over the Bruin secondary.

Well, this week once again the Wildcats will have an edge in experience because they are going to bring in an offense that returns all but one starter. Also despite their stumble against New Mexico the Zona offense has put up very good numbers. Currently they are second in conference in scoring (46.3 pts/game), fourth in rushing (161.7 per game), and third in passing (292.0 yards per game). We have mentioned the impressive start of Michael Thomas above. QB Tuitama has also put up some good numbers as he is third in conference in passing yardage (792 yards), while RB Grigsby is leading the conference in rushing with 376 yards (avg. 6.6 yards per carry). I get that lot of those numbers were piled up against programs like Toledo and Idaha, but given our performance from the last week and the reality with our personnel issues, we'd be foolish to discount those stats. Plus there is that recent history referenced above.

So for the Bruin defense to step up, it will be imperative for Walker to figure out how to disrupt the Arizona offense making sure he can get his guys to bring some serious heat on Tuitama. Otherwise, if he gets the same amount of time as Max Hall did to make up his decisions, it will be another long Saturday for our defense. While we will need the Killer Bs to seal up the middle and not allow the Zona to get a running game going, the outside LBers and the DEs will have to help out Carter in making sure they don’t pile up chunks of yardage by rushing to the outside. This will be a good time for the Bruin defense to get back to the basics of solid tackling not allowing Zona backs and receivers any extra yards.

I haven’t seen the line for this game yet. But honestly given what these two teams have accomplished in recent years and the talent level on our offense, I see this game as a toss up as the Rose Bowl. If the Bruins want to start the Pac-10 season on a winning note they will have to bring the same intensity and focus they showed on defense against Tennessee. If they can combine that with composure on offense by cutting down on turnovers, they will have a chance to regain some lost momentum this Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Let's hope by now everyone has completely flushed out the BYU game out of its system because we have a huge game coming up this Saturday against another desperate team.

Arizona is coming into the Rose Bowl as another embarrassed Pac-10 team after a disappointing, sloppu road loss against New Mexico featuring five turnovers. Arizona started the season 2-0 against cup cake opponents such as Idaho and Toledo, but fell apart against New Mexico. Their star QB, Willie Tuitama was not in top form as he fumbled twice and got picked off twice in that 5 turnover disaster. Offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes specifically called Tuitama out after the loss:

UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes' biggest criticism was reserved for his senior quarterback, who struggled to read New Mexico's complex defensive schemes. Tuitama completed 27 of 50 passes for 321 yards. His three touchdowns were basically negated by his turnovers.

"He played as bad as I've seen him play," Dykes said. "I wish I had an explanation. It was little things we've had since Day 1. … We couldn't make the right decisions. It was kind of an embarrassing performance, really."

Said Tuitama: "A lot of things happened because of me, and I have to man up to it."

While Arizona’s offense was turning the ball over, its defense was being run over by New Mexico tailbacks:

Arizona's defense was solid in the first two weeks, limiting opponents to a combined 138 rushing yards on 49 attempts.

But the Wildcats struggled against New Mexico, surrendering 221 yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries. Tailback Rodney Ferguson led the Lobos with 158 yards on 26 carries. His second-effort yardage demoralized a UA defense that repeatedly sold out in an attempt to stop the run.

"We should have been able to defend the run better than that, and that's disappointing because we committed a lot of guys to the run on a lot of those plays," Stoops said.

Fatigue was a factor. By the end of the game, the Cats appeared beat on the interior line — Earl Mitchell, Donald Horton, Kaniela Tuipulotu cycled in at the two defensive tackle positions. Starter Lolomana Mikaele missed his third straight game as punishment for violating team rules.

Arizona must prove it can stop the run — or else adjust its scheme to include more blitzes.

More notes via the Arizona Daily Star:

● Arizona can score points. Arizona's 139 points are the most the Wildcats have ever scored against nonconference opponents to start the season. Credit the Air Zona offense — or blame a light schedule — but it's true.

● Arizona's "no-name" defense is living up to its reputation. And that's a bad thing. The Wildcats must find playmakers and develop leaders if they hope to compete with some of the Pac-10's top offenses. Sterling Lewis and Devin Ross have been bright spots, but no player has stepped forward as a leader.

● Mike Thomas is for real. Arizona's senior wide receiver has caught 26 passes for 302 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first three games. The Wildcats must find a way to get him the ball even more.

Yet, our guys should not have any false sense of comfort going against this team on Saturday. These guys can explode on offense against a Bruin defense which is going to look to recover from the psychological destruction from Saturday.

Don’t forget it was same Tutitama who burned the UCLA secondary by passing for 341 yards and 3 TDs, while completing 21 of 36 passes. There was also Nic Grigsby who rushed for 124 yards in 20 carries, who is back for this season. Zona lost all but one starter on offense. Here are the gory stats from last year.

The notes above mention Mike Thomas. His early season production is not a surprise, as he led the Pac-10 in receptions (83) and touchdown catches (11) last season. In addition to Mike Thomas, Arizona will have also have the services of their best receiver, TE Rob Gronkowski, who is coming back for this game after missing the first three due to health issues.

We will have more on the ‘’Cats later. But this should get us going in terms of starting to think about this game. Arizona is going to be in desperation mode, looking to give an embattled coach a huge lift. So our boys will need to be ready for this team after the devastating Saturday against BYU. 

GO BRUINS.