There seems to be a familiar refrain coming from the die-hard Dorrell supporters that have been rushing to the coach's defense after USC molested UCLA on national TV just a couple weeks ago. It couldn't be the coaching. It has to be the talent.
"We can't possibly compete with USC." They just have too much talent."
For those of you who are new to the BN, our very own Odysseus addressed the talent debate in our blog's earlier days. His conclusion--while USC has more talent than UCLA, UCLA definatley has top-tier talent. My point? There is absolutely no excuse--from a talent standpoint--for the beat down that the Bruins suffered at the hands of the thugs and gang members from South Central Community College.
Let's forget the disgraceful performance of Larry Kerr's defense for the time being. (By the way, with each moment that passes without an announcement that Kerr has been relieved of his duties Dorrell loses that much more credibility). What happened to the offense? Every MSM talking head was raving about how this game would be a shoot-out, and how UCLA would have little trouble scoring against USC.
You know where I'm going with this. That pathetic offensive showing falls directly at the feet of Karl Dorrell and his OC, Tom Cable. Bottom line--the coaches failed us--again.
Back to the talent debate.
The talent that most teams rely on is based on the junior and senior classes. Odysseus' analysis shot down the notion that UCLA does not have the talent to compete at the elite level. Unfortunately, the talent that Dorrell has had for the past 3 seasons will be playing their last game in the much anticipated Viagra (or is it Vitalis?) Sun Bowl on 12/30.
You think our talent is an issue right now?
CFN just released their 2005 Sophomore All American First and Second teams. Guess who doesn't have a player on either team? USC has 4 representatives, Oregon State has 3, UA has 2, and ASU and UW each have one.
Let's not even get into the reports coming from the various UCLA message boards about elite recruits at positions of dire need calling UCLA a "finesse" team or just eliminating UCLA altogether after witnessing the events of 12/3 unfold.
What does this say about the next few years of Bruin football under Karl Dorrell?