I don't have to add much to this from Kevin Modesty from the Daily News today on how Toledo went, the trend stayed in Westwood:
The 2000 Bruins went 4-1 to start, 2-5 to finish. The 2001 Bruins went 6-0, then 1-4. The 2002 Bruins went 4-1, then 4-4.
Toledo went, the trend stayed.
The 2003 Bruins went 6-2, then 0-5. The 2004 Bruins went 4-1, then 2-5. The 2005 Bruins went 8-0, then went bust last Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
"I understand, from a historical nature, what most people in here are going to write about," Dorrell told reporters on Monday.
I'd hate to disappoint. So here's more history:
From 1998 to 2004, the Bruins have gone 37-19 in August, September and October, and 10-19 in November, December and January.
Is this just because they've played tougher opponents late in the season? Not really.
In the same seven years of bad pluck, the Bruins went 12-8 against ranked teams through October, and 1-9 against ranked teams from November on.
It wasn't just the loss to Arizona that raised fears of another collapse. It's that it was a 38-point loss, the most one-sided ever for a UCLA football team ranked that high against an opponent ranked nowhere.
Yeap. And please spare me the notion that Modesty has something in against the Bruins because he is a USC alum. He is but so what? Those are numbers you can't refute. Feels just like those Toledo days all over again:Toledo went, the trend stayed.
The 2003 Bruins went 6-2, then 0-5. The 2004 Bruins went 4-1, then 2-5. The 2005 Bruins went 8-0, then went bust last Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
"I understand, from a historical nature, what most people in here are going to write about," Dorrell told reporters on Monday.
I'd hate to disappoint. So here's more history:
From 1998 to 2004, the Bruins have gone 37-19 in August, September and October, and 10-19 in November, December and January.
Is this just because they've played tougher opponents late in the season? Not really.
In the same seven years of bad pluck, the Bruins went 12-8 against ranked teams through October, and 1-9 against ranked teams from November on.
It wasn't just the loss to Arizona that raised fears of another collapse. It's that it was a 38-point loss, the most one-sided ever for a UCLA football team ranked that high against an opponent ranked nowhere.
Photo: Las Vegas Review Journal
Of course, we don't have the off field problems any more, but in reality the disastrous and pathetic loss in Tucson feels just like the abomination in Stanford and in Pullman from 2001. And last two years in terms of season ending meltdowns haven't been any different. Modesty also obliterates the spin coming from Dorrell minions that our 8 game winning streak we piled up through late game heroics is some kind of indication of great character:
I don't doubt this team has character. I'm just not sure this team's incredible run of comebacks - from 10 points down against Washington, 12 against Cal, 21 against Washington State, 21 against Stanford - is the proof of it.
Why are comebacks the mark of character, anyway? How about using some of that moral fiber to avoid falling behind week after week?
Couldn't have said it any better. People were hyperventilating yesterday at the comparison of Dorrell to Lavin. This comparison is not between the personalities of these two individuals. Yes we know Lavin was a morally and ethically corrupt doucehebag who was derelict in his duties as a basketball coach. Dorrell by all accounts is a nice person, is building a clean program, and works hard. But does that mean he is competent? Well, from the numbers above right now we are not so sure. In fact the feeling around this football program is the same bipolar feeling we had around Lavin's basketball program:Why are comebacks the mark of character, anyway? How about using some of that moral fiber to avoid falling behind week after week?
We never know which team is showing up. And lot of the times they are showing up they look poorly coached, unprepared, unfocused, and completely devoid of fundamentals (err like tackling) that great high school teams demonstrate week in and week out. Yes, it's the same feeling we get around this football program just like Lavin's basketball program, when after Cal game certain experts were breathless saying this program had "turned the corner," now those same experts are at a quandary having no clue where it is going.
Yes, it's the same feeling we had when we went through those seven years of Lavin, when the fans were accused of being bipolar when in reality it was the long suffering fans who were getting frustrated, depressed, and pissed off from the bipolar personality of the program on the court. It's the same feeling we had those Lavin days when Lavin and his minions accused he BruinsNation of being unreasonable for expecting a little more than those superficial Steve-16 s, while now Dorrell and his minions are asking us to just be happy at the prospect of winning 8 or 9 games. Yeap, it's the same damn feeling of uncertainty, frustration and bewilderment around an athletic program which has a decent record based on smokes and mirrors, and not appear to be on a solid foundation. Lavin had some incredibly talented athletes like Baron, Toby, JR and Earle Watson bailing him out time and again. In fact he came unhitched when Earle graduated. And now it's the 2LiveDrew who have been bailing out this coaching staff week after week until it all came unglued against one of the worst teams in the Pac-10. Yeap, that is why it feels like Lavin (and Toledo) all over again.
Again, this week we are hearing about how they are going to refocus in practice, altering their workouts so they can get better execution next weekend. Well we heard the same nonsense from coaches and players last week, and got the worst beating in last 57 years of football. Enough is enough. We just want to see an annihilating win over a pathetic, underachieving football team from Tempe this weekend, getting us ready to end the insufferable streak on December 3rd. The buck for Bruin football stops right here:
Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images(via SIonCampus)
Put up or shut time to remove the shadows of Toledo and Lavin from Westwood.