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The Talent Excuse

So some KD apologists are haplessly trying to advance a pathetic argument that it wasn't a surprise UCLA lost last weekend because Oregon had more talent on the field. And no doubt these losers (I can't think of a better word for describing people who are happy and content with supporting a loser head coach) will advance the argument should Notre Dame (and then Cal) embarrassed us in the coming weeks that we didn't enough talent on the field.

Well is that the case? Remember the recruiting class breakdown we did this summer to show how UCLA is failing to close the talent gape with Southern Cal in terms of talent based on recruiting classes from 2002 to 2006? Well let's see the average rankings, and number of 5, 4, and 3 star recruits, and rating averages of Southern Cal, California, Notre Dame, UCLA, and Oregon from last five years:

Avg. Rank Team 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars Avg.
3.8 Southern Cal 19 57 33 3.78
16.25 Cal 2 28 46 3.16
23.2 Notre Dame 4 33 52 3.28
24.8 UCLA 3 29 59 3.11
32.8 Oregon 4 17 54 2.81

All numbers from Rivals.com database.

What do you see? Of course thanks to Toledo and Dorrell's buffoonery we have fallen way behind Southern Cal in terms of elite recruiting talent on our roster.  We have slightly fallen behind Cal but by not all that much.

Again if you want to snicker about the importance of Rival's recruiting rankings and their predictions on 5 star recruits, then I urge you to read this must read post from Brian at MGoBlog.

Although a UCLA football program based should never have less talent on its football team than Cal. But still it's manageable.

But you can see how ND barely has more talent on its roster than UCLA and how we have way more talent than Oregon on our roster?

So what's the deal?

Why is there the perception that Cal, ND, and Oregon are unwinnable games for Bruins on the road?

It really comes down to coaching - doesn't it?

And you know it wouldn't have mattered even if we have more talent on our roster than these other teams.  Because by the end of the day we still have a quitter posing as our head coach, who will surrender before the game is over, and will always play not to lose (his job).

In a reality based Bruins Nation this stupid and mind boggling talent excuse will never fly.

GO BRUINS.