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Myles Jack. Need I say more?
It was a solid win over a Washington team that is much better than its record indicates. It has been amusing to watch Washington fans call for Sark's firing, as if they (i) forgot how terrible they were before he arrived and (ii) that they're no-one-really-cares Washington, not Alabama. But I digress: it was a solid win for our Bruins, one they had to get to stay on track for winning the Pac-12 South for the third year in a row. Yet, despite the win, it felt like the Bruins could have really blown out the Huskies but failed to capitalize on the opportunities to do so: so we're still waiting to see UCLA take the next step and learn to be cutthroat and go for the kill, instead of letting off the gas and letting scrubs like Berkeley or Colorado hang around (side note: congrats to Colorado for finally getting a conference win, although I'm not sure beating Berkeley counts since they're practically a Division I-AA program at this point).
But, it's another week, another win for the Bruins, and they're holding steady in the polls. So, beginning with the USA Today/Coaches' Poll, where our Bruins moved up from #15 to #14, courtesy of our friends at the mothership at SB Nation:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK | CHANGE | HI/LOW* |
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
10-0 | 1544 | 56 | 1 | 1/1 | |
| 2 | Florida State Seminoles |
10-0 | 1487 | 6 | 2 | 2/12 | |
| 3 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
10-0 | 1404 | 0 | 3 | 2/4 | |
| 4 | Baylor Bears |
9-0 | 1386 | 0 | 4 | 4/NR | |
| 5 | Oregon Ducks |
9-1 | 1231 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2/7 |
| 6 | Clemson Tigers |
9-1 | 1217 | 0 | 6 | 4/10 | |
| 7 | Auburn Tigers |
10-1 | 1145 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7/NR |
| 8 | Missouri Tigers |
9-1 | 1129 | 0 | 8 | 7/NR | |
| 9 | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
9-1 | 1030 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 9/20 |
| 10 | Texas A&M Aggies |
8-2 | 928 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 6/15 |
| 11 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
8-2 | 882 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 6/20 |
| 12 | Stanford Cardinal |
8-2 | 865 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 4/13 |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans |
9-1 | 729 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 13/NR |
| 14 | UCLA Bruins |
8-2 | 700 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 10/21 |
| 15 | Louisville Cardinals |
9-1 | 627 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 6/17 |
| 16 | Fresno State Bulldogs |
9-0 | 622 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 14/NR |
| 17 | Wisconsin Badgers |
8-2 | 511 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 17/NR |
| 18 | Oklahoma Sooners |
8-2 | 502 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 8/18 |
| 19 | LSU Tigers |
7-3 | 478 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 6/19 |
| 20 | Central Florida Knights |
8-1 | 446 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 19/NR |
| 21 | Northern Illinois Huskies |
10-0 | 418 | 0 | 21 | 20/NR | |
| 22 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
8-2 | 352 | 0 | 22 | 22/NR | |
| 23 | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
8-2 | 173 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Duke Blue Devils |
8-2 | 131 | 0 | NR | 24/NR | |
| 25 | USC Trojans |
8-3 | 115 | 0 | NR | 22/NR |
Yes, folks, you see that right: Coach O has turned the hapless Trojans around and got them back into the top-25, which makes you really wonder when Haden is going to remove the interim tag. The only reason for a delay, at this point, is if Haden is looking at other candidates (likely Sarkisian and Tedford). In any event, turning to the AP Top 25 poll, our Bruins, despite Friday's win, actually fell from #13 to #14:
| Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (55) | 10-0 | 1,495 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida State (5) | 10-0 | 1,445 | 2 |
| 3 | Baylor | 9-0 | 1,351 | 4 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 10-0 | 1,343 | 3 |
| 5 | Oregon | 9-1 | 1,210 | 6 |
| 6 | Auburn | 10-1 | 1,205 | 7 |
| 7 | Clemson | 9-1 | 1,115 | 8 |
| 8 | Missouri | 9-1 | 1,067 | 9 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 8-2 | 956 | 10 |
| 10 | Stanford | 8-2 | 899 | 5 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | 9-1 | 889 | 12 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 8-2 | 870 | 11 |
| 13 | Michigan State | 9-1 | 749 | 14 |
| 14 | UCLA | 8-2 | 710 | 13 |
| 15 | Fresno State | 9-0 | 572 | 16 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 8-2 | 559 | 17 |
| 17 | UCF | 8-1 | 535 | 15 |
| 18 | LSU | 7-3 | 439 | 18 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 8-2 | 430 | 21 |
| 20 | Northern Illinois | 10-0 | 426 | 20 |
| 21 | Louisville | 9-1 | 412 | 19 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 8-2 | 318 | 22 |
| 23 | USC | 8-3 | 187 | NR |
| 24 | Mississippi | 7-3 | 119 | NR |
| 25 | Duke | 8-2 | 94 | NR |
| Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota 77, Notre Dame 11, Texas 10, Georgia 5, Nebraska 1, Cincinnati 1 |
You know it's a crazy college football season when the Duke Blue Devils break into the top-25 of both polls. But for the Bruins, they'll be in prime position to turn this into a special season, with an end of the season slate of #19/22 Arizona State, #23/25 Southern Cal, and likely #5 Oregon (hard to see the Ducks falling to Arizona or Oregon State at this point to give Stanford the edge in the Pac-12 North) in Eugene for the conference title. Three straight wins and Jim Mora can go into the new year 11-2 with the Pac-12 title in tow, and playing at home in the Rose Bowl on January 1. Let's see if he can get it done.
And Jim, in case you're reading this: no more punting in short yardage situations in opposition territory - let's just JACK those dudes up!
Myles Jack, need I say more?
GO BRUINS