OL Coach Colletto Plays the Blame Game (More Excuses)

The blame game continues and excuses continue to flow out of Westwood. This time it has to with the total lack of running game. First Colletto blames the QB's inexperience for UCLA's ineffective running game:

Offensive line coach Jim Colletto pointed to several factors that have contributed to the Bruins' struggles running the football behind a line that has four first-year starters.

The inexperience level of quarterbacks Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan and their ability to check out of dead running plays are part of the equation, as are running backs making bad reads and missing holes. Base defensive looks can change weekly, and several of the defenses the Bruins have faced have been geared to take away the run, with eight- and sometimes nine-man fronts.

"It's been bits and pieces of everything," Colletto said. "On defense, 10 guys can all get knocked on their fannies and if one of them doesn't get knocked down, the offense doesn't make 1 yard. On offense, 10 of them can do their job perfect and if one of them screws up, you make no yards. I don't think it's an excuse, but part of it is youth. Some of the inconsistency is there at different positions on different plays, and they don't do what they're supposed to do, and trying to get them all on the same page is a real challenge."

Wait it gets better. He then make excuses for the lack of running game because he is not getting to coach them like he was able to in the NFL: "They don't get a lot of turns," Colletto said. "You get used to having those pro guys all day long in meetings and in walk-throughs. Here, you get them for an hour. That's probably my biggest mistake, getting used to the amount of information and stuff they can deal with. I'm getting used to that a little more.

"Our running game is relatively simple in its normal form and so you get to say, 'Well, we can do this, do this and do this.' But pretty soon there are so many different plays up there that have to be blocked against different (defensive looks) that you never get everything in focus."

That has led to inconsistencies - to missed assignments, shabby technique, whiffs on blocks. On the first play at Notre Dame, one of the linemen had the linebacker he was assigned to block walk right into his gap and was sighted. But when that lineman dropped his head, the linebacker moved back out. When the ball was snapped, the lineman had nothing but space in front of him and to the outside there were two defenders and only one blocker.

Colletto forgot to mention how he was ... uhm ..he seems to get fired from most high profile jobs he has ever held.  What a loser. After four years of Dorrell we have one of the worst offenses in the Pac-10. And we cannot barely muster up a yard per carry against a mediocre defense with good athletes like Markey and Moline available to carry the load. And he blames the QBs and not having the same meeting times he had in the NFL?