Bruins Nation - UCLA Bruins Host Texas A&M Aggies in 2017 Season OpenerBlog Of The Bruins, By The Bruins, For The Bruinshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48017/bruinsnation_f.png2017-09-06T12:00:05-07:00http://www.bruinsnation.com/rss/stream/160132192017-09-06T12:00:05-07:002017-09-06T12:00:05-07:00UCLA Football: Texas A&M Post-Game Roundtable
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<img alt="Texas A&M v UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dYrL5X27nrslMoC5WuJEhQIvrp8=/0x0:4245x2830/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56542775/842355696.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The writers and editors of Bruins Nation discuss UCLA’s wild 45-44 victory over the Aggies to start the season.</p> <p id="Nf6Ult"><strong>1. </strong><strong>So, yeah. That really happened. The Bruins pulled off a miraculous comeback to knock off the Aggies. Initial thoughts?</strong></p>
<p id="DAGgjR"><strong>markybcool:</strong> Tale of two halves. 1st half we could not run block, pass block, get open, make tackles on D, pressure the QB and overall looked and played like the worst opening day UCLA team I have ever watched. Then the second half happened. Holding TAMU to FG’s on their second and third possessions of the 3rd quarter set the stage. The D started pressuring the QB, and the O made almost every single play that had to be made. Amazing game!</p>
<p id="17Z9NB"><strong>AnteatersandBruins:</strong> I think I was clinically dead by the end of the game. We kept wondering what lit the fire under the team because the first half looked eerily familiar. All of a sudden receivers were catching passes and the defense was stepping up. Still worried about the minimal run game.</p>
<p id="3f0tCL"><strong>DCBruins:</strong> I told the person I was texting during the game that I am texting her during every game this season. Not that I am superstitious. Early in the second half I was thinking: “when should we pull Rosen” to prevent him from getting beat up more. Winning was not on my mind.</p>
<p id="qNsSXB"><strong>orlandobruin:</strong> I had already picked out my song for Friday’s Pregame Guesses: Beck’s “Loser.” Well, that one needs to go back on the shelf (hopefully forever). Seriously, I thought that UCLA would pull a UCLA and either fall short on the last drive or allow a game winning field goal after the Bruins went up with under a minute to go. My wife went to bed at 44-10. I told her she is not allowed to watch UCLA games in the man cave anymore. She must watch from the bedroom!</p>
<p id="ju1gbt"><strong>Dimitri Dorlis: </strong>The amount of things that had to go right for this comeback to occur remains unbelievable. The Bruins had to succeed on essentially 5 2-minute drills, while simultaneously keeping the Aggies off the score board. Wait, sorry, not just keep the Aggies off the score board, keep the amount of time taken off the clock to a minimum. It required the right mix of skill and luck, and they somehow pulled it off.</p>
<p id="OZpslG"><strong>Joe Piechowski:</strong> I’m still not quite convinced that we actually won the game.</p>
<p id="nM75FX"><br><strong>2. </strong><span><strong>Josh Rosen</strong></span><strong> ended the game throwing for 491 yards and 4 touchdowns. Is it safe to say he’s pretty good at this whole football thing?</strong></p>
<p id="knT3C7"><strong>markybcool:</strong> Time and playmakers are all he needs. His skillset as a pocket passer will translate well at the next level. As a matter of fact, he might be donating money back to the university someday after his lucrative NFL career is finished just like the UCLA QB he reminds of did, Troy Aikman.</p>
<p id="z8TeFU"><strong>AnteatersandBruins:</strong> I’ll take yes on this one. He clearly has talent and just needs a guy on the other end he can connect with. It was kind of funny that he was looking like Tom Brady last night. </p>
<p id="0ARZH8"><strong>DCBruins:</strong> Rosen is not that hard to figure out. If he has time to throw he is a great college quarterback. If he doesn’t, well, things get trickier.</p>
<p id="g63N5G"><strong>orlandobruin:</strong> Josh was a tackling dummy in the first half. The offensive line has to do a better job to allow him time to throw. Credit to Fisch and the offensive in the second half is they modified the offense to more quick strike plays, especially crossing routes to Caleb Wilson (remember two and three years ago when Mazzone was our offensive coordinator and the Bruins NEVER ran crossing routes? LOL.) Rosen delivered, no doubt, he proved to the country that he can sling it with the best college football has to offer, and he will do fine at the next level.</p>
<p id="XgkGON"><strong>Dimitri Dorlis:</strong> Josh Rosen is not very good.....wow there is no way in hell I can sell that, huh? Yeah, Rosen was unconscious in those final 20 minutes, and while he got lucky on a few throws, that luck felt like a reward for all the right decisions he made surrounding those throws. Credit also to Jedd Fisch for finding a way to keep Rosen upright, which allowed him to prove just how good he can be when given time.</p>
<p id="WRthD1"><strong>Joe Piechowski:</strong> If that game doesn’t change the minds of any doubtful NFL scouts, nothing will.</p>
<p id="tJtlBm"><br><strong>3. The Bruins needed a lot of things to go right to pull off the comeback. What stood out to you the most during the second half?</strong></p>
<p id="hjS5ST"><strong>markybcool:</strong> Just that UCLA kept going, even after the two field goals in the 3rd and the fact that at the 4:08 mark of the 3rd they were down 44-10. Not many teams, college or pro, look at that score and think to themselves...we can do this. Well UCLA did. I think the biggest thing that stands out to me and makes this comeback more improbable is that they did it without getting any TO’s, punt returns kick returns for TD’s. They did it ALL with their D and O.</p>
<p id="nu4ldg"><strong>AnteatersandBruins:</strong> Their sticktoitiveness got them the win. As bad as it was, they didn’t lie down and take the trampling. What also stood out were players like Darnay Holmes and Jaelan Phillips--young guys--that didn’t give up and kept pushing. My crew kept thinking we needed a turnover to pull it off, and they didn’t even get that. It was all grit.</p>
<p id="SjAl3b"><strong>DCBruins:</strong> I heard the stat that the first half was our worst first half since that Arizona loss a few years back. That game the team completely quit on Coach Rick Neuheisel. It was the beginning of the end for him and should have been the end. For all Mora’s flaws, both real and perceived, the team never quit. The defense stayed in the game and Rosen, well, nuff said.</p>
<p id="XLG7SP"><strong>orlandobruin:</strong> Caleb Wilson. The kid was a Godsend. More particularly, the Rosen to Wilson connection. Wilson will go down in UCLA lore (the fact that he defected from Southern Cal is a nice piece of the story too).</p>
<p id="u1lWDQ"><strong>Dimitri Dorlis:</strong> I remain constantly impressed with Noel Mazzone’s playcalling ability. Not many coaches would chose to throw the ball at a near 50% rate when presented with a 34 point lead and a true freshman quarterback with a weak arm, but that’s why Mazzone gets paid the big bucks.</p>
<p id="nqbI70"><strong>Joe Piechowski:</strong> I’ve got to give a ton of credit to the second half defense. After giving up 38 first half points, they only gave up 6 points in the second half. If either of those two field goals is a TD, we lose. Tom Bradley’s halftime adjustments made a big difference.</p>
<p id="EzrvpI"><br><strong>4. The comeback does help mask that the Bruins were awful in the first half. What does the team need to focus on the most as they get ready for Hawaii this Saturday?</strong></p>
<p id="3XzaFG"><strong>markybcool:</strong> Continue to focus on how to run the ball effectively. Using tempo too. This team has a lot to focus on moving forward. It would be too simplistic after yesterday’s game to think narrow the focus...keep grinding.</p>
<p id="rXEJZx"><strong>AnteatersandBruins:</strong> Rosen’s arm will not last the season if he has to throw 59 passes in each game. I’m going to be optimistic and say that offensive line play will improve enough that the run game will get going and Rosen won’t be scrambling to throw the ball away like he was in the first half.</p>
<p id="X8yV0q"><strong>DCBruins:</strong> Play to strengths. Pass to set up the run. Protect Rosen, maybe more short quick passes. On defense, the secondary is good, maybe very good. The defensive line may be suspect. Blitz or stay away from nickel packages except in obvious situations.</p>
<p id="pysrOp"><strong>orlandobruin:</strong> UCLA has to do better stopping the run. The Bruins were gashed in the first half and, really, but for the fact that Mazzone stopped calling running plays in the 4th quarter, UCLA could and should have still suffered the loss.</p>
<p id="E3avsR"><strong>Dimitri Dorlis:</strong> More than anything else, the coaching staff is going to need to do some serious self-scouting regarding the flaws that were on display in that first half. The offense is going to need to figure out how to run the ball with any kind of consistency, and the defense should probably be in their base 4-3 set for the majority of plays going forward.</p>
<p id="Ib6YNl"><strong>Joe Piechowski:</strong> The offense still needs to work on the same things we’ve spoken about all offseason. They need to protect Rosen and they need to run the ball more effectively. Defensively, we need to stop the run.</p>
<p id="PG3DZe"><br><strong>5. The Extra Point - Sound off!</strong></p>
<p id="OtFHJv"><strong>markybcool:</strong> I predicted 3-0 heading into Stanford, and I am sticking with that especially after that game. This team has lots of work to do, but they gave me a game yesterday that I will remember for the rest of my life, and how many times can we as a collective Bruins Nation pretty much agree with that fact?</p>
<p id="Djk38h"><strong>AnteatersandBruins:</strong> I have to give a major shoutout to J.J. Molson--he was perfect on Sunday and looked ten times better than last year. He started preparing for 2017 as soon as the 2016 season ended and it shows. He looks more poised and prepared for games, and clearly has the psychological aspect of the game under control. Other kickers may have pushed a PAT for the win, but he shot it right up the middle.</p>
<p id="Jkzqhe"><strong>DCBruins:</strong> While the players and coaches deserve credit for never giving up, two coaches blew it and cost and almost cost their teams the game. UCLA Defensive Coordinator Bradley’s idiotic sticking to nickel defense against a team that was running us over and could not pass to save their lives for so long is very concerning. He dug a big hole and has to do a better job adjusting. Yes, they were in a spread offense but neither A & M quarterback could pass. On the other side, we have to thank Noel Mazzone. What kind of moron passes that much when you have a great running backup quarterback who can’t throw. If he ran every time he passed the ball, the clock may have run out before UCLA could win. Mazzone proved that he needed to be fired at UCLA and will likely get Sumlin fired at Texas A&M.</p>
<p id="AyD3Ic"><strong>orlandobruin:</strong> Thank God we got rid of Mazzone. A&M fans are calling for Sumlin’s head, but Kevin Sumlin doesn’t call the offensive plays. UCLA fans know who does. On another note, from an emotional level, this is arguably the best comeback I have ever experienced as a UCLA fan. Stanford in ‘05 was great. UCLA over Gonzaga in tournament hoops in 2006 was amazing (with tons on the line--and Gus Johnson), and UCLA over Southern Cal in ‘96 (coming back from down 3 scores with less than 7 minutes to play) was sublime, especially considering the opponent. This game is right up there with them.</p>
<p id="CC5ld6"><strong>Dimitri Dorlis:</strong> I’m writing this on Wednesday morning, and I’m still mentally exhausted from that game. I have no idea how the team is doing, but the short turn-around may be a bigger deal than we’re letting on.</p>
<p id="7Ne3iS"><strong>Joe Piechowski:</strong> I was prepared for a long season. It may still end up being a long season, but I certainly have more hope now than I did midway through the second quarter. With the Chosen One, all things are possible!</p>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla_bruin_football/2017/9/6/16262454/ucla-football-texas-a-m-post-game-roundtableDimitri Dorlis2017-09-06T10:00:04-07:002017-09-06T10:00:04-07:00The “Eye Test”: An Epic Bruin Comeback Hides Serious Flaws
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<img alt="Texas A&M v UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_B0kJn9bGtgHKcQG1rs0rKwb8OE=/0x0:3600x2400/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56542191/842338052.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>UCLA pulled off an improbable comeback, but it was only necessary because of a terrible first half.</p> <p id="VLxtl5">Hello everyone, and welcome back to The “Eye Test”: 2017 Edition! It feels good to be back in the saddle, taking a deep dive into <a href="https://www.bruinsnation.com/texas-a-m-aggies-ucla-bruins/2017/9/4/16252354/ucla-bruins-takes-fans-roller-coaster-ride">this roller-coaster of a team.</a></p>
<p id="XSxpz3">With that said, I need to take care of some housekeeping up front. At the end of last year, I started to think of ways to revamp the article, because I wasn’t wholly satisfied with the previous setup. Over the course of the year, some of the sections became rather repetitive, and there was a weird level of overlap between the content of the sections, in that I was trying to split things up to provide content for each area.</p>
<p id="qoeMDF">So I decided to revamp the entire thing.</p>
<p id="SzIBc7">What you’ll find is 5 main sections: Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Coaching, and Discipline. These 5 main sections represent the 5 main components that any team needs to find success. Inside each of those sections you’ll find a rotating set of sub-sections based on things I want to highlight or that stood out to me. At the end of each section will be an overall grade for that section, and at the end of the entire article those grades will be tallied for a final grade. Those overall grades may not necessarily reflect the individual grades in each section.</p>
<p id="JN9xsY">Seems simple enough.</p>
<p id="jqOq7o">I’m doing this in part because I did not feel I was able to focus on the players nearly as much as I could, so the Offense, Defense, and Special Teams sections will mostly focus on them, with exceptions when I see fit. Coaching feels pretty self-explanatory, and Discipline will focus on things like penalties and how the team carries themselves.</p>
<p id="jccSlo">Alright, enough talk. Let’s get into this!</p>
<h1 id="Pe5za0"><strong>Offense</strong></h1>
<p id="r6rCWx"><strong>Quarterback</strong> - Great, I revamp this entire column, and end up starting with a section that is going to get me in a lot of trouble.</p>
<p id="95ofRT">Look, Rosen was unconscious in those final 20 minutes. Sitting in that stadium, it began to feel like every single throw he made was going to go for a big play, and even on a 6th rewatch (yeah, I’ve been through this footage a ton the past few days) he goes for some throws that absolutely took my breath away. But he absolutely got lucky on a few of those throws, and Josh will be the first to tell you that fact. In fact, he did exactly that in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxqmHQ1QFM">postgame presser</a> (h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/mattjoye">Matt Joye</a> at <a href="http://scout.com/college/ucla">BruinReportOnline</a> for the presser video):</p>
<blockquote><p id="JUfhNf">Yeah, we were an inch away from losing that game probably 10 times. I mean, from almost throwing a pick to a D-lineman, to two tipped balls. I fully was trying to throw that ball away – the touchdown to Theo. I was not throwing that to anyone. He just hit my hand, I just got lucky. It just is what it is. I missed a read on that play, actually, going to D.A. <span>Jordan Lasley</span> was pretty wide open on his vertical, or on his go ball, and I came back late to D.A. Sometimes you just need luck.</p></blockquote>
<p id="w1N2MB">I mention all of this because in the first half, Rosen was not all that good. Yes, there were some extenuating circumstances that explain part of that, but Josh does deserve some of the blame. He was holding on to the ball too long, not going through his reads quick enough, and ended up with 2 fumbles. If I were to play armchair-psychologist for a second here, I think part of the reason for this bad 40 minutes was that he just didn’t trust his receivers, a fact that was exacerbated by a few early drops from Christian Pabico. But as soon as he started targeting his new best friend <span>Caleb Wilson</span>, things really began to change. Rosen targeted Wilson 18 times, and connected on 15 of those. That’s insane, and Texas A&M had no answer for it. Josh literally collapsed a few different times from sheer exhaustion after the last touchdown pass, and I can’t say I blame him.</p>
<p id="Vf2hlS">We’ve known that Rosen has all kinds of talent, and finally in the second half, once UCLA began giving him a consistently-clean pocket, he picked apart the Aggie defense with a precision that, honestly, reminded me of Tom Brady. In order to win the game, Rosen had to go on 5 straight 2-minute drills, and he succeeded. It was a masterful performance. But it came 40 minutes into the game, so I have to give him a <strong>B</strong> for the game.</p>
<p id="a3nwOD"><strong>Tight Ends</strong> - Good performance.<strong> A-</strong>.</p>
<p id="ftR8km">Ok, I guess I could explain.</p>
<p id="omUkbT">If this grade was for <span>Caleb Wilson</span> alone, this would have been an A easily. Wilson was just on another level throughout the game, as Jedd Fisch noted at halftime that Wilson provided a schematic advantage that Texas A&M had no answer for. He was only targeted 5 times in the first half, which gives you an idea of just how many passes he saw come his way in the second half. Of his 15 catches, 5 of them were chunk plays of over 15 yards, and he even had some solid blocks when he needed to.</p>
<p id="3pQxqH">The reason this grade isn’t perfect is because Wilson wasn’t the only tight end on the field, as <span>Austin Roberts</span> had a bit of a nightmare game. He only caught 1 of 2 passes thrown his way for -1 yards, and happened to completely miss a block that led to one of Josh Rosen’s fumbles. It’s not surprising that, once UCLA began its comeback, <span>Roberts</span> was nowhere near the field. <span>Roberts</span> was one of the best players during last year’s nightmare of a campaign, so you’d hope he bounces back going forward.</p>
<p id="4BQ2lQ">Still, Wilson’s performance was so good that I couldn’t ding the overall grade too much.</p>
<p id="MiXxtm"><strong>Running Backs</strong> - I feel for Bolu Olorunfunmi. He’s a fun guy to watch bowl over guys, and he’s a fellow Central Valley kid so I’ll always root for him. But he did not have a great game by any stretch of the imagination. 10 carries for 31 yards (with a long of only 7) just isn’t going to get it done. Misreading pass protection and allowing a few big hits on Josh Rosen doesn’t help. Adding a fumble on this whole pile is just the cherry on top. Bolu is a great change-of-pace back, but this game really proved that he’s just not ready to be the lead back.</p>
<p id="JAfu09">Surprisingly enough for me, <span>Soso Jamabo</span> played a hell of a game, and probably should be the starting back going forward. 7 carries for 46 yards isn’t an amazing output, but I’ll give him a bit of a pass there because he didn’t enter the game until the last drive of the first half, at which point UCLA began to abandon the run game almost-entirely. Jamabo actually rattled off 2 chunk play runs, and was only denied a third because the end zone prevented him from gaining more yards. His catch and run on 4th down during that final drive was a rather difficult play to pull off, but was a huge conversion. He even looked good in pass protection, which was a big issue for him last year (especially in the season opener against A&M). So combined, I’m going to give the RBs a <strong>C-</strong>, because Olorunfunmi had a nightmare game and the production overall just wasn’t there.</p>
<p id="MMimDm"><strong>Wide Receivers</strong> - Overall, this was a pretty solid performance from this group. Definitely a better performance than anything we saw from the position group last year, so credit to new WR coach Jimmie Dougherty for the turnaround. Part of what helped was shortening the WR rotation - gone seem to be the days of playing 8-9 wide receivers, as it seems the rotation was shortened down to 4 receivers total (plus 2 tight-ends). Of those 4, 3 had good to great games. <span>Darren Andrews</span> also went double-digits on catches to go along with 2 touchdowns. <span>Jordan Lasley</span> remained a big-play threat, as 3 of his 4 catches were chunk plays, and the 4th happened to be that touchdown catch to take the lead 2 plays after a crucial drop on a 3rd down. <span>Theo Howard</span> was a bit more quiet, but both of his catches were 15+ yards downfield, and he made a great play on his touchdown grab, coming back to the ball and beating the Aggie defenders.</p>
<p id="I5Um9d">The only receiver who had a rough game was Christian Pabico. Pabico ended up with 0 catches on 4 targets, and struggled to create any separation. I also feel he deserves a partial credit on Bolu’s fumble, as he missed a block on the run so badly that Bolu didn’t see the hit that knocked the ball out coming. On the final drives of the game, Pabico did not see the field, which was maybe the smartest decision Dougherty made, choosing to roll with his 3 most talented receivers. I think Pabico’s fall camp performance will give him another shot, but if he underperforms against Hawaii next week, I’d expect to see more of <span>Eldridge Massington</span>, <span>Alex Van Dyke</span>, or <span>Damian Alloway</span> (although I also wouldn’t sleep on Audie Omotosho seeing some time as well).</p>
<p id="jnmuZp">But overall, the drops were kept to a minimum, which was a huge sticking point last year, and the group performed reasonably well, so I feel ok giving a <strong>B</strong> here.</p>
<p id="T6sT6W"><strong>Offensive Line</strong> - The line did not play well. This is not surprising, as they did not play well last year, and many of these players were on last year’s line. Run blocking in general was subpar, as the line just couldn’t create any holes. Pass protection was a bit better, but I’m only grading on a curve because Texas A&M sent a ton of pressure in the first half that the Bruin offense just couldn’t account for, and they did better in the second half when A&M stopped sending extra attackers (one of many inexplicable coaching decisions by the A&M staff in the second half).</p>
<p id="OBshPF">If there’s anyone to single out for particularly poor play, then it has to be Kolton Miller. Poor Miller just got beaten like a rented mule repeatedly by the Aggie defensive ends, including on Rosen’s first fumble, where the Aggie DE used a simple spin move to slip right past Miller. Kolton Miller, along with <span>Scott Quessenberry</span>, were supposed to be the veteran leaders of the line, but while Quessenberry had one of his better outings considering the talent across from him, Miller had a performance to forget.</p>
<p id="RmkhQa">Overall, this game did nothing to make me believe that the run game issues had been fixed, or that pass protection won’t get Rosen killed again at some point. Hopefully OC Jedd Fisch recognizes this and schemes appropriately. Something like that 4th quarter might be a good place to start. <strong>D+</strong> grade for the line, let’s try to do better this week.</p>
<p id="wZrINS"><strong>Overall</strong> - If this were a first half grade, this would probably be a D. If this were a second half grade, this would probably be an A. I’m gonna split the difference (and give a bump up for how well they played in those final 20 minutes) and go with a <strong>B</strong> grade overall.</p>
<h1 id="GjPfSL"><strong>Defense</strong></h1>
<p id="McDfuj"><strong>Gameplan </strong>- Normally, this would go in the coaching section, but I’m going to put this here because it’s going to go a long way to explaining why the overall grade is so low while some of the individual groups got decent to good grades.</p>
<p id="PUUOsc">The gameplan Tom Bradley came out with for the majority of this game was absolute trash, to the point where I have to start questioning Bradley’s competence.</p>
<p id="uCu29y">That might be hyperbole, but let me explain. Common sense says that when designing a defense against an unproven quarterback in a system that loves to run, you stack the box and make that unproven quarterback beat you. This is an even easier decision when you have a strong secondary going up against an unproven wide receiver group, while the only returning starters on the opposing offense are the offensive line and the running backs who combined for over 1700 yards on the ground.</p>
<p id="785oik">This really shouldn’t have been that difficult. Except Tom Bradley, in his infinite wisdom, decided to sit in a nickel package for the entirety of the first half, and didn’t abandon it until the second drive in the 3rd quarter.</p>
<p id="0fugql">Seriously, this was coaching malpractice. UCLA spent the vast majority of this game unable to stop the run, in part because they were missing an extra linebacker to fill in gaps. Texas A&M was routinely running against 5-6 man boxes, which makes having a running game incredibly easy since you just need to put a hat on a hat. <span>Adarius Pickett</span> ended up as the leading tackler in this game in part because the Aggie running backs were consistently able to get to the second level. Now, to be fair, the run defense still wasn’t great once the Bruins switched to their base 4-3 defense and brought Lokeni Toailoa in, but it was a hell of a lot better than what it had been in the first half (because they only gave up 5 chunk runs instead of 7, and none longer than 20 yards this time).</p>
<p id="CxsGCb">I really want to emphasize that the defensive “adjustment” did not help get UCLA back into this game. UCLA was allowed to get back into this game because starting QB Nick Starkel broke his ankle, and Noel Mazzone decided to start passing the ball rather than just continuing to run once that occurred. Seriously; after kicking a field goal to go up 44-10, Texas A&M ran only 13 run plays for 59 yards (4.5 YPC) (also if you’re trying to check me and notice that my numbers are off compared to what Statbroadcast says, know that they count sack yardage in their total rushing amount, which is stupid. If you weren’t trying to run, I’m not taking those yards from you) while 10 pass attempts (2/10) for 20 yards and 2 sacks. <a href="https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2017/9/5/16254970/the-bullcast-lets-unleash-on-that-meltdown-shall-we-texas-a-m-ucla-podcast-aggie-football">Our friends at Good Bull Hunting noted in their recap podcast </a>that the Aggies could have protected the lead had they just taken a knee on every down rather than pass the ball and continually stop the clock, and they probably would have come away with the win. Really, it makes me wonder how that UCLA team with both Tom Bradley and Noel Mazzone as coordinators managed to win 8 games, considering how much both guys tried to lose this game.</p>
<p id="qo6eje">Bradley gets an <strong>F</strong> for this game. Try to actually earn a paycheck next week.</p>
<p id="nATZZ2"><strong>Defensive Line</strong> - You know, the defensive line didn’t actually have that bad of a game. They got put into an impossible situation regarding the run game, but they generally occupied blockers pretty well. The problem was the lack of linebackers to fill in the gaps.</p>
<p id="pCMgn3">Even better, in pass rush the defensive line actually improved over the course of the game. Normally you’d expect a defensive line that got abused that badly in the first half to get weaker as the game progresses, but they did improve. Part of that has to do with Jaelan Phillips, who looked like a true freshman in the first half but showed that he can be a disruptive force in the second half, ending the game with 1.5 sacks. <span>Jacob Tuioti-Mariner</span> had a decent start to what could be a very good year, also picking up 1.5 sacks. <span>Keisean Lucier-South</span> had maybe the most impressive day for the line, looking like a much-improved player, ending up with 1 sack. Also Phillips and KLS were both credited with 2 pass breakups each, showing off their active hands.</p>
<p id="si1vNe">One last guy I want to highlight was junior-college transfer Chigozie Nnoruka. Nnoruka made an amazing play on the final A&M drive, chasing Kellen Mond down from the nose tackle position to make the game-ending tackle. Nnoruka highlights the depth that was on display on the line, so credit goes to everyone for improving through the game. Gonna go with a <strong>B</strong> here.</p>
<p id="UUM6TK"><strong>Linebackers</strong> - Poor Josh Woods and <span>Kenny Young</span>. UCLA’s constant use of the nickel package left him as the linebacker trying to fill in on run stopping, as <span>Kenny Young</span> was forced to be something of a do-everything linebacker, having to diagnose the plays almost immediately and react to either a run or a pass. It wasn’t good for either player. Woods constantly made the wrong read on which gap to fill, leading to big runs, while Young just isn’t cut out for the <span>Eric Kendricks</span>/<span>Jayon Brown</span> role. He’s much better as something of a <span>Myles Jack</span>, able to hang with wide receivers and tight ends with his athleticism. This was something of a square-peg, round-hole problem.</p>
<p id="3UxWLf">Lokeni Toailoa, however, had a very good game in limited action. He really is the successor to that Kendricks/<span>Brown</span> role, as he’s a natural middle linebacker, strong in run defense and a sure tackler. He’s not great in pass coverage yet, but that should come with time. At this point, Toailoa really should be on the field as much as possible, and if we have to go nickel, rolling with Young and Toailoa feels like the best option.</p>
<p id="nHsLyo">Overall, not a great game for the linebacker unit in general, so we’ll go with a <strong>C-</strong> here.</p>
<p id="tNEYaM"><strong>Defensive Backs</strong> - You want another reason why staying in the nickel for so long was a bad decision? Just go back and watch the play of the secondary.</p>
<p id="5L0JoH"><span>Darnay Holmes</span> was the real deal in his first game, getting 2 pass breakups to go with 5 tackles (and one bad penalty, but we’ll get to that). Nathan Meadors was almost an island out there, only allowing 1-3 passes towards him to be completed, and the one that was only went for 4 yards. <span>Jaleel Wadood</span> led the way with 3 pass breakups. Adarius Pickett was, in many aspects, the MVP of the defense, leading the way in tackles, providing one of the only presences in the run game, and just being a force all over the field.</p>
<p id="1WTlDi">The Aggie quarterbacks combined to go 9-30, and only 5 of those completed passes went for longer than 10 yards. I know that the Texas A&M quarterbacks were untested, but this unit is really good, and Tom Bradley should probably allow them to showcase their talents more often instead of trying to protect them with the nickel package. The unit gets an <strong>A</strong>.</p>
<p id="tb0fKX"><strong>Overall</strong> - Here’s the biggest thing: there is so much talent on this defense that giving up 44 points, regardless of the situation, is unacceptable. UCLA got put in a hole in part because Tom Bradley was either too stubborn or too stupid to recognize what Noel Mazzone wanted to do in the first half. The reports after the game that the team hadn’t practiced the base 4-3 defense for almost 2 weeks prior to the game is leading me towards the former, but either way this was not a good look. Defense gets a <strong>D+</strong> this week, and hopefully they perform better going forward.</p>
<h1 id="tVCPFv"><strong>Special Teams</strong></h1>
<p id="UfVIrx"><strong>Place kicking</strong> - <span>JJ Molson</span> went 1/1 on field goal attempts, and 6/6 on PATs. Molson did a very good job, and I give him extra credit for not being phased by that last extra point, even going so far as to calm his teammates down after the kick to remind them that they still had the kickoff. This unit gets an <strong>A</strong>.</p>
<p id="ZVw4RJ"><strong>Punting</strong> - <span>Stefan Flintoft</span> won the punting battle during fall camp, and rewarded the coaching staff by averaging 46.8 yards on his 5 punts, including pinning 2 of them inside the 20. We’ll give him an <strong>A</strong> and consider this a baseline for the rest of the year.</p>
<p id="OhXRl9"><strong>Return unit</strong> - Pickett only returned 1 punt, and lost a yard on it. There was one punt that was allowed to roll into the end zone, while another 2 were allowed to be downed inside the 20. Darnay Holmes averaged 20.8 yards on his 5 returns, while Octavius Spencer only got 11 yards on his lone return. So not a great performance here. Gonna go with a <strong>C</strong>.</p>
<p id="SuLAds"><strong>Coverage unit</strong> - Officially, Texas A&M did not get a punt return because a holding call negated a long return from Christian Kirk. On kickoffs, Kirk averaged 28 yards on his 4 returns, with a long of 37. This unit also did get a block on a field goal thanks to the fingertips of Adarius Pickett. Again, things could have been better here, but it didn’t lose the game, so I’ll go with a <strong>B-</strong>.</p>
<p id="DWt38t"><strong>Overall</strong> - The key to any special teams grade is whether it manages to win or lose you the game. In the end, the Bruins made all of their kicks, and the unit in general looked better than last year, so I’ll go with a <strong>B</strong>. Definite room for improvement in the return and coverage units.</p>
<h1 id="kkyv1c"><strong>Coaching</strong></h1>
<p id="0HwlAS">I’m not going to break this one into sections, especially since I already covered the defense in that section (that will also affect this grade, just FYI).</p>
<p id="wx3puL">On offense, credit should go to Jedd Fisch for finding a way to adapt his offense to take advantage of what John Chavis was trying to do. <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/9/5/16252416/ucla-texas-am-game-2017-comeback-what-happened-how-josh-rosen-caleb-wilson">Ian Boyd over at the SBNation mothership did an amazing job of breaking down the offensive changes Fisch made</a>, so I urge you to go read that, because it also has moving pictures and is way better than I could ever hope to do. It’s also not shocking to me that the offense had issues at the beginning of the game. It’s a new system against an established defense - flaws and kinks were bound to exist. So again, credit goes to the entire offensive coaching staff for adjusting, and let’s see how the offense progresses going forward, because they seem to have a really fantastic combination on their hands.</p>
<p id="4R1Zij">I’m going to do a compliment sandwich for how Jim Mora did in this game. Good thing: UCLA did very good managing the clock near the end of their comeback. Obviously they were helped by some bad decisions to pass, but the timeouts were used effectively, and the offense moved with an urgency to get those scores in quickly. </p>
<p id="OU72K3">Bad thing: Jesus Christ Jim, this was one of the biggest games in your tenure here at UCLA, and you let the team come out that flat and look that unprepared? The team got booed off the field at halftime for a reason, and had things continued, we might be looking at a scenario where Jim Mora doesn’t last into October. I mentioned it earlier, but the defensive performance against an offense the Bruins were intimately familiar with was particularly egregious.</p>
<p id="3g73pP">Good thing: This team could have easily quit at halftime, so credit to the coaching staff for refocusing them and getting a complete buy-in from the team. One of the best signs going forward is that this team never gave up, and that the halftime adjustments worked. If UCLA can avoid putting themselves in such a big hole going forward, you have to like their chances against almost-anyone going forward.</p>
<p id="RMZFy3">Overall, the first half performance was so bad that it’s going to lead to a <strong>C-</strong> grade for the game. This coaching staff has to be better going forward, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Hawaii is going to provide a unique opportunity to show growth from the coaches.</p>
<h1 id="mhySPX"><strong>Discipline</strong></h1>
<p id="oxN7NQ">Penalty breakdown - A look at each of the penalties committed by the Bruins:</p>
<p id="Gye63D">6:51, 1st Q - Late hit out of bounds on Darnay Holmes. Bit too aggressive trying to stop a run play that had broken into the secondary. I’m willing to chalk it up to inexperience at this level, but this wasn’t a great penalty to take.</p>
<p id="1eJX0T">8:05, 4th Q - Taunting penalty on Adarius Pickett. Good lord what a dumb penalty, starting with the fact that Pickett was taunting WHILE UCLA WAS DOWN 2 TOUCHDOWNS WHAT THE HELL. This kickstarted a Texas A&M drive that almost lost the team the game. The Bruin defense just had a rough game from multiple angles.</p>
<p id="P9xwut">6:59, 4th Q - Offsides on Nick Terry. Just jumped the snap too early. Gave the Aggies a free first down.</p>
<p id="nnkeXu">3:15, 4th Q - False Start. The offense hadn’t fully reset after a first down, and Rosen snapped the ball a bit too early because he saw a mismatch in coverage (he would have had an easy touchdown throw to Caleb Wilson had the play actually gone on). UCLA would score on the next play, so it didn’t hurt the Bruins in the long run. Just need to tighten up the execution a bit on the 2 minute drill.</p>
<p id="MBLOu1">1:30, 4th Q - Delay of Game. Not sure how the team managed to get a delay of game penalty here, but I’m guessing they took the luxury of a stopped clock a bit too far. This was the first of 2 penalties that almost derailed the final drive.</p>
<p id="bo8e10">1:07, 4th Q - False Start. Again, the offense was rushing and never got set. Rosen just needs to take his time here. Second of 2 penalties that almost derailed the final drive.</p>
<p id="Km8Xqh">0:20, 4th Q - Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty. This one was officially given to <span>Kenny Young</span> for removing his helmet while on the field, though this was essentially a penalty on the entire team. If there was a time to be ok with getting a celebration penalty, doing so after getting a final defensive stop to cap off a 34 point comeback is probably one of those times.</p>
<p id="Fie257">Total: 7 penalties for 56 yards</p>
<p id="jpm5NX">We have to split these penalties into two piles. In one pile are the small execution penalties, like the false starts, that were caused mostly because the team was in too much of a hurry. Those presumably don’t happen going forward. The other pile has the bad, undisciplined penalties, especially the taunting penalty in the 4th quarter. Those can’t happen, and did almost cost the Bruins before they could mount a comeback.</p>
<p id="8nhZYh">One other aspect of discipline is how the team looks and competes. I can’t question the effort level in the first half, as the problems were more related to scheme than anything else, and I definitely can’t question it in the second half, when the team continued to compete despite a 34 point deficit. So we’ll take that into account for the overall grade.</p>
<p id="DOlriV">This week for discipline, I’m going to go with a <strong>C+</strong>. We still got a few boneheaded penalties that almost cost the Bruins the game, and in year 6 of the Mora era, that just can’t happen anymore. But the effort shown by the team does bump the grade up a bit. We’ll consider this a baseline for the team as well going forward.</p>
<h1 id="MXBZpm"><strong>FINAL COMPOSITE</strong></h1>
<p id="Dd8nrR"><strong>Offense grade: B</strong> (3.0)</p>
<p id="2pvYWA"><strong>Defensive grade: D+</strong> (1.3)</p>
<p id="FbqpXQ"><strong>Special Teams grade: B</strong> (3.0)</p>
<p id="VAbl56"><strong>Coaching grade: C-</strong> (1.7)</p>
<p id="17cqrB"><strong>Discipline grade: C+</strong> (2.3)</p>
<p id="f8ltQn"><strong>Final grade for Texas A&M: C+</strong> (2.26)</p>
<p id="xgfgLv">You know what, that feels right. If you had to give a grade based on each half, the team would have gotten an F for the first half, and close to an A for the second half. That would average out to a C, and gets bumped up for the execution shown in that final 20 minutes. If you’re in a classroom, you can’t be purposefully absent for the first half of the semester and expect a brilliant ending to get you a great grade. The fact that the Bruins earned a passing grade here reflects just how lucky they got.</p>
<p id="vEBafq">This should also give us a good baseline for the season going forward. We managed to see UCLA at both its absolute worst and absolute best, all in one game, so those are the standards I’ll be measuring against going forward.</p>
<p id="DobjJx">Go Bruins!</p>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla_bruin_football/2017/9/6/16258716/eye-test-epic-ucla-bruins-comeback-hides-serious-flawsDimitri Dorlis2017-09-05T16:04:13-07:002017-09-05T16:04:13-07:00Huge Comeback Win Not Enough to Get UCLA Football Into Top 25 Polls
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<img alt="Texas A&M v UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4lYSLp8phVaLFAwgsU4b0aiEK0E=/1x0:3448x2298/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56530171/842336436.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Bruins’ terrible first half has prevented them from cracking into the Top 25 Polls after their first game of the season.</p> <p id="VYNodC">UCLA’s comeback win on Sunday improved the team’s status in the polls significantly, but not enough to break into either Top 25 Poll yet.</p>
<p id="vrleOI">In the AP Poll, the Bruins received 82 points, which would place them at 27th. They were previously 37th in the AP preseason poll.</p>
<p id="D3nFlu">In the Coaches Poll, UCLA received 47 votes, which would place them at 30th. They were tied for 56th in the Coaches preseason poll.</p>
<p id="qj9CKa">In other poll news, the voters in both polls were not impressed with Southern Cal’s win over Western Michigan as the team dropped from 4th to 6th in the AP Poll and from 4th to 5th in the Coaches Poll. Alabama and Ohio State stayed at #1 and #2, respectively, in both polls. Clemson moved into third in both. Penn State is the new #4 in both polls.</p>
<p id="mSLLSh">Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Washington is the #7 team in both while Stanford is #14. The only other Pac-12 school in the Top 25 is Washington State which is #20 in the AP Poll and #22 in the Coaches Poll.</p>
<p id="M87pZt">Here’s the complete poll:</p>
<div id="1VrUP6"><div data-anthem-component="table:634942"></div></div>
<p id="u9gvzW"><strong>AP Poll Others receiving votes:</strong> Utah 96, UCLA 82, West Virginia 70, Colorado 65, Maryland 45, Oregon 44, South Carolina 44, Boise St. 22, Northwestern 20, Houston 14, San Diego St. 11, Texas Tech 4, Kentucky 4, Iowa 3, California 2, Navy 1, Vanderbilt 1, Pittsburgh 1, Mississippi St. 1, Nebraska 1, Michigan St. 1.</p>
<p id="QqxaYa"><strong>Coaches Poll Others receiving votes: </strong>TCU 80; Colorado 78; Maryland 60; West Virginia 56; UCLA 47; Oregon 42; Arkansas 37; Boise State 36; Nebraska 30; Mississippi State 28; Memphis 21; Pittsburgh 19; Northwestern 15; San Diego State 12; North Carolina State 9; Iowa 8; South Carolina 8; Minnesota 6; Kentucky 6; California 5; Navy 5; Syracuse 4; Texas 3; Vanderbilt 3; Central Florida 3; Arizona 3; Houston 3; Army 2; Georgia Tech 1.<br><br>UCLA is now close enough, at least in the AP Poll, that they should break into the Top 25 before the Stanford game if they can beat both Hawai’i and Memphis. While Mora has still never beaten Stanford, Sunday’s game might just give you some hope that the team will be able to get the monkey off their back this year.</p>
<p id="7T3jlw">But, we’ll just have to wait and see....<br><br><br>Go Bruins!!!</p>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla_bruin_football/2017/9/5/16257748/bruins-huge-comeback-win-not-enough-to-get-ucla-football-into-top-25-pollsJoe Piechowski2017-09-04T17:00:02-07:002017-09-04T17:00:02-07:00UCLA Takes Fans on a Roller Coaster Ride
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<img alt="Texas A&M v UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sM6d8gwLBAAkbW_BEbO_wWOPyZ8=/0x0:5058x3372/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56511091/842355222.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jacob Tuioti-Mariner and the Bruins celebrate a key sack late in the 4th quarter. | Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A rocky start for the Bruins led to a comeback for the ages.</p> <p id="YFeGhP">It took me a bit to walk out of the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p id="tFhwxW">Most of that had to do with needing a moment to sit and regroup after one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history. The Bruins scored 35 unanswered points in the final 17 minutes of the game, which didn’t leave a lot of time for thinking. Those of us in the stands (and while you may believe there was an exodus after that first half, there was still a large amount of the home faithful) could only react to every insane twist and turn. It was impossible to process in the moment. Hell, I’m writing this more than 12 hours removed from the game, and I’m still having trouble processing what actually happened.</p>
<p id="3EA7zy">If I’m going to attempt any sort of recap here, then I have to lead with <span>Josh Rosen</span>. On an opening weekend where potential top picks <span>Sam Darnold</span> and <span>Josh Allen</span> struggled coming out of the gates, Rosen shined, throwing for 491 yards and 4 touchdowns. He did this despite being pressured on 49 percent of his dropbacks, a number that still somehow feels low to what I saw. And in that miraculous comeback, the Bruin offensive line provided enough protection for Josh Rosen to put on a show - in the fourth quarter alone, Rosen went 19/26 for 292 yards and 4 touchdowns. Those are numbers most quarterbacks struggle to put up in an entire game, and Rosen did it in 15 minutes. If there was ever a game to point at when people question Josh Rosen’s ability, it would be this one.</p>
<p id="NvP5Vr">Of course, Rosen and the Bruins were also lucky, a point that Josh was quick to point out in the postgame interviews. A touchdown pass to <span>Darren Andrews</span> went through the hands of Texas A&M DB Deshawn Capers-Smith. The touchdown pass to <span>Theo Howard</span> came on a broken play, on a pass that Rosen meant to throw out of the back of the end zone but, thanks to the hand of an Aggie defender hitting Rosen’s arm, instead fell into the lap of a falling Howard.</p>
<p id="xWkii0">That luck extended to the coaching decisions of the Aggies. Kevin Sumlin was handed a 44-10 lead with 2:08 left in the third, and made every bad decision imaginable. They snapped the ball early in the play clock, and decided to pass the ball with a true freshman quarterback who had not even won a quarterback battle for the starting job, as starting QB <span>Nick Starkel</span> left the game with an ankle injury. Noel Mazzone did what he does best and abandoned a strategy that had worked extremely well for the first half of the game by ignoring the run game in the second half. That Aggie run game would end up with 382 yards, and we’re going to talk about that, but RBs <span>Trayveon Williams</span> and <span>Keith Ford</span> touched the ball a grand total of 4 times in the final quarter. The Aggie defense, which had looked like world-beaters for the first half, suddenly wilted in the second, especially a vaunted secondary that returned a lot of talent.</p>
<p id="SZm4Q5">For the record, the Aggie collapse would have made a strong case for the sideline move being a genius decision, except it was overcast the entire game, and even rained at one point, making the whole shift moot.</p>
<p id="OWS82G">Rosen was not the only Bruin who stepped up late. <span>Caleb Wilson</span> had a coming out party, and similarly etched his name into Bruin lore. The former Trojan walk-on showed why the school from South Central had made a mistake by catching 15 passes for 208 yards, reminding everyone of the famous mantra of our own uclaluv that “The tight end is always open!” <span>Darren Andrews</span> was his usual, dependable self, adding in 12 catches for 142 yards. <span>Jordan Lasley</span> was his usual, brilliant self, making huge play after huge play, ending up with 4 catches for 100 yards and one last, brilliant touchdown pass. <span>Soso Jamabo</span>, the much-maligned blue-chip running back, came in during the second half and played brilliantly, picking up a touchdown and a crucial 4th down conversion on a screen pass on the final drive.</p>
<p id="bLTPH9">There are caveats to all of this praise, and that would be the first 40 minutes of this game. The Bruin offense looked awful for vast stretches, showing the same issues as last year. The run game still looks like a disaster, the offensive line is still a leaky mess, and Josh Rosen is going to be hit a lot because of it. The Bruin offense went over 25 minutes between 1st downs, which led to a sarcastic cheer from the crowd. These are all issues that, theoretically, could be fixed this season. I’m not going to doubt that it can happen, especially in the wake of a 34 point comeback, but these are not quick fixes. </p>
<p id="JtkJZB">I feel I should mention that I was prewriting this article in my head during that first half. There were a lot of expletives that would need editing.</p>
<p id="nsPlz8">If you’re wondering why it took this long to get to the defense, it’s because their performance was much worse. This unit is not lacking in talent, and Tom Bradley is a well-respected coordinator. And yet the Aggie offense was able to score 38 points in the first half. The defense almost refused to stop the run; if anything was emblematic of their performance, it would have been Trayveon Williams 61 yard touchdown run, which occurred on the first play after the Bruin offense had scored their first touchdown of the game. It took Tom Bradley 3 quarters to figure out that the nickel defense was letting A&M run at will, and that he has a pretty great secondary that probably didn’t need the extra help, but a weaker defensive line that absolutely did.</p>
<p id="FtxSdQ">That last point actually bears repeating, because the A&M offense ended the day with only 89 passing yards. Part of that has to do with Nick Starkel, the passing quarterback, going down with injury and being replaced by <span>Kellen Mond</span>, the running quarterback, but Starkel wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire when he was out there. He ended the day 6/13 for 62 yards and a QBR of 42.3. Everyone thought going into this game that the gameplan would be to stack the box to stop the potent Aggie rushing attack and make an unproven quarterback beat them, but Tom Bradley instead did the complete opposite, and it almost cost the Bruins the game.</p>
<p id="ZUgVke">And again, the Bruin defense was aided by Noel Mazzone’s bizarre play-calling. Nursing a large lead, Mazzone abandoned the run game that had worked so well in favor of having a true freshman with questionable passing skills throw the ball 17 times. That’s the level of coaching malpractice that led for Bruin fans to call for his firing.</p>
<p id="fdeLCq">All of that said, there was still some good on that side of the ball. <span>Darnay Holmes</span> already looks like the shutdown corner UCLA hoped he would be when he signed, a late hit out of bounds not withstanding. <span>Keisean Lucier-South</span> had a coming out party, looking like the best Bruin lineman for long stretches of the game. <span>Lokeni Toailoa</span> came in once UCLA went back to its base defense and instantly made an impact, filling in gaps that had been left empty in the first half. </p>
<p id="TIqMlq">There’s no good place to put this, so let me just drop it here: UCLA’s in-game production still remains awful and tone-deaf. UCLA AD Dan Guerrero was presented with the NFF John L. Toner Award during the first half, complete with an accompanying explanation of how the award is given to an AD who displays excellence in managing their sports programs, “especially football.” That part got an audible laugh out of parts of the crowd, and Guerrero was booed during the ceremony. Beyond that, the sound crew would play radio audio on top of the PA announcer, all while music was also playing. In the third, an ad came out urging people to buy season tickets that was maybe one of the worst-timed ads I’ve ever seen. I went to Texas A&M last year, and their in-game production blew UCLA out of the water. At some point you’d think someone in the administration would be embarrassed enough to fix it, but that’s putting a lot of faith in an athletic director this oblivious.</p>
<p id="kYg368">The problem with this game, in a nutshell, is that the end result was so crazy, so improbable, that it makes any attempt at deciphering it impossible. The sequence of events that led to Josh Rosen collapsing to the ground from exhaustion after realizing that Kevin Sumlin would not extend the game with timeouts had to occur exactly the way they did, and any one deviation from those events likely leads to a Bruin loss. And a Bruin loss would have led to an easier set of takeaways: that the team was completely unprepared for what A&M wanted to do, that the offense, especially the running game, was still a mess even with Rosen’s return, that Jim Mora was now on the hottest of hot seats. The win immediately changes our perception of what happened; the comeback was so grand that you almost forget why it had to occur in the first place.</p>
<p id="pThwQ2">If there is a takeaway, it should be that this team will not quit. It would have been easy, understandable even, for them to quit after being down 38-10 at the half. It was admirable when they started showing signs of life, and even the most optimistic fan probably assumed the game was still over but at least they could build momentum for the next game. But winning this game changes the whole outlook on the season. Bruin fans went on a roller coaster of emotions, from believing the season would be nothing more than a redux of last year’s debacle, to believing anything is possible.</p>
<p id="vgCktY">And the crazy thing is, both of those outcomes are still on the table! That’s just how unpredictable football is. Even after last year’s season-opening loss on the road to Texas A&M, there were a lot of positives to take away (the running game had 125 yards that game, if you’re wondering just how much of an outlier that game turned out to be) before the season took a nose dive. This game can be a catalyst for a great comeback season for Mora and the Bruins; the win could also mask some problems that the team overlooks to their peril.</p>
<p id="lxRYNH">There was a nice lady in our section who was very calmly explaining what was going on throughout the game to her small children. I mention this only because by the end of the game, she had dropped all attempts at conveying emotions with words, instead letting her screams of joy explain the situation.</p>
<p id="oLLsrs">As I walked out of the Rose Bowl to my car, I saw a Texas A&M fan sitting on the edge of one of the sand traps, staring into the distance, not saying a word. I understood exactly how this man was thinking, because there is a distinct possibility that, had I left at halftime, I would have seen a UCLA fan in the exact same spot. College football by its very nature tends to create these strong feelings in fans that you can’t find in professional sports. We live and die on how a group of 18-22 year olds do in a game that children play. The only difference is that, today, Bruin fans get to bask in the happiness that a win provides.</p>
<p id="Itr0Gc">And the roller coaster continues on.</p>
<p id="uTrzPf">Go Bruins!</p>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/texas-a-m-aggies-ucla-bruins/2017/9/4/16252354/ucla-bruins-takes-fans-roller-coaster-rideDimitri Dorlis2017-09-04T12:25:24-07:002017-09-04T12:25:24-07:00SMQB Monday Edition: UCLA Football’s Comeback Win Is the Second Biggest in NCAA History
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<img alt="Texas A&M v UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bZWgjO7u7KGAm9bqrr84YwYa0go=/0x0:5316x3544/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56510757/842352670.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Josh Rosen jumps for joy after throwing a TD pass to Jordan Lasley in the second half. | Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Only Michigan State overcame a bigger deficit when the Spartans were down 38-3 and came back to beat Northwestern in 2006, 41-38.</p> <p id="wWEwPA"><strong>Update (3:00 pm, 9/4/17):</strong><em><strong> </strong></em><em>The fourth down data has been corrected. While the official stats only show two fourth down attempts while there was another successful attempt with 4:05 to go in the game which was resulted in a 26-yard pass to Caleb Wilson and which was followed by a penalty. Because the play was not nullified, it should have been counted as a fourth down attempt and conversion. As such, our data now reflects that. - BN Ed.</em></p>
<p id="bRZCGQ">Wow.</p>
<p id="pxYNpJ">Last night’s game reminds me of Jack Buck’s call of Kirk Gibson’s home run in the 1988 World Series. Buck said, “I don’t believe what I just saw.”</p>
<p id="j3E8Gc">It’s also reminiscent of Al Michaels call of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”</p>
<p id="axaCDf">Now, we have Gus Johnson with “Rosen fakes the spike...in the end zone...TOUCHDOWN! <span>Jordan Lasley</span>! Whoa! The legend of <span>Josh Rosen</span>! In full bloom! Dan Marino would be proud!”</p>
<div id="awubit"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oO4e5a2FEtM?rel=0&" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="GqHNav">If I weren’t there are the game I might not believe it. In fact, I was there and I’m still not sure I believe what happened last night.</p>
<p id="xzflNt">It was the most improbable comeback in UCLA football history. Tyus Edney, Mr. 4.8 Seconds, please meet Josh Rosen, Mr. 43 Seconds!</p>
<p id="kgS5u1">At the same time, it was the most non-UCLA UCLA Football game I have ever seen. As Bruin fans, we have been conditioned to the fact that whenever something could go wrong, it usually does. We’ve seen it over and over and over.</p>
<p id="6szkLS">After the game, Josh Rosen said, “We were an inch from losing this game ten times.” And, he’s right.</p>
<p id="yuL9mG">If Josh Rosen’s 42-yard pass to <span>Darren Andrews</span> doesn’t go through the hands of the Aggies’ Deshawn Capers-Smith and instead goes into his hands, the comeback was probably over.</p>
<p id="sTmG4f">On the last drive, there were a few penalties which threatened the Bruins’ chances. There was a delay of game that made it 2nd down and 15, but on the next play, Rosen found <span>Andrews</span> for 14 yards, making it 3rd and 1. But a false start made it 3rd and 6.</p>
<p id="G6Ed2j">Of course, the next play was a dropped pass by <span>Jordan Lasley</span> which made it 4th down and six putting the Bruins’ backs to the wall again.</p>
<p id="qS1cdE">I have to admit I didn’t believe it was possible.</p>
<p id="aMtbOH">After all, in the first half, the team looked so much like last year’s team that I was wondering if the offense was still being run by Kennedy Polamalu and the line was still being coached by Adrian Klemm.</p>
<p id="7PSE5Y">It was so bad that I tweeted this from the BN Twitter account:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At this rate, Jim Mora might get fired at halftime.</p>— Bruins Nation (@BruinNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/BruinNation/status/904502471103352832">September 4, 2017</a>
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<p id="FflX8Q">So, what changed?</p>
<p id="sYnNOE">Well, for starters, our defense did. After playing pretty much the entire first half in the nickel in an attempt to stop Noel Mazzone’s passing offense, the Bruins went back to the base 4-3 defense in the second half. That slowed down the A&M offense substantially.</p>
<p id="iwzS8Z">Of course, Noel Mazzone was being Noel Mazzone, which meant that he abandoned what was working for the team in the first half and saw his offense get held to just two field goals in the second half.</p>
<p id="lpxzbN">At the same time, UCLA stopped giving the ball away and started moving the ball through the air.</p>
<p id="BSOzQy">It was the second biggest comeback in NCAA FBS history behind Michigan State’s 2006 comeback against Northwestern.</p>
<p id="rOkQG7">Jim Mora, his coaches and his players all deserve a ton of credit for winning last night’s game. They did what they needed to do to win the game.</p>
<p id="2rpwCB">That said, all of the usual elements of the Mora era were still present and we shouldn’t want to accept in a win what we wouldn’t accept in a loss. The Bruins had their fair share of stupid penalties, like <span>Adarius Pickett</span> being called for taunting while the team was losing. The offensive line play was awful in the first half. There were dropped passes at key times as I mentioned above.</p>
<p id="HOUMME">In his postgame comments, even Jim Mora admitted that the team’s play left a lot to be desired. Mora said: </p>
<blockquote><p id="FELDEa">We're not gonna let the euphoria of this big win overshadow all of the things that we need to fix. We have to be able to run the ball better than we did tonight. I thought we'd be able to run it better. We didn't run it well enough. We have to be able to stop the run. I thought we'd be able to stop the run better but they got two for 133 yards in the first half out the gate and...and that can't happen. So, while we're excited about the win, you realize there's a lot of things that you have to improve on. So, we're going to celebrate the win give it a little bit and then we're gonna go watch the film and we’re going to critique it hard.</p></blockquote>
<p id="6Y1kk4">Here’s the full video of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HNDCsEp3k">Jim Mora’s postgame press conference from UCLA Athletics</a>.</p>
<div id="ZwIhBx"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X9HNDCsEp3k?rel=0&" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<h3 id="0O411Z">The Bruins on Fourth Down</h3>
<p id="D2HmqT">Last week, I wrote that, <a href="https://www.bruinsnation.com/sunday-morning-quarterback/2017/8/27/16211398/ucla-football-jim-mora-can-save-his-job-by-keeping-the-punter-off-the-field">if Mora wants to keep his job, he needs to keep the punter off the field</a>. Of course, three first half fumbles kept Stefan Flintoff off the field more than he might have been if Josh Rosen and <span>Bolu Olorunfunmi</span> hadn’t lost three fumbles.</p>
<p id="R6QcMz">But, the real intention was that executing on offense would keep the Bruins out of fourth down situations knowing that Mora’s general tendency is to punt more than 60% of the time. So, how did the Bruins do on fourth down yesterday? Let’s look....</p>
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<p id="UQqzCB">The Bruins went for it twice yesterday on fourth down and succeeded once. The first time was with 2:40 left in the first half on 4th and 10 from the Texas A&M 37-yard line. The result on the play was a sack and loss of 17 yards, but this demonstrated a break in the usual Jim Mora pattern. Typically, this is a situation in which Mora would historically punt. Of course, he followed that risky move by allowing time to expire on A&M ensuing drive even though the Aggies had lost 7 yards on second down with a minute to go.</p>
<p id="hb71bI">The second fourth down attempt came on the winning drive. The Bruins went for it on 4th and 6 on the Aggies’ 20 with less than minute to play. UCLA needed a touchdown to win and they went for it with a swing pass to <span>Soso Jamabo</span> who picked up 10 yards.</p>
<p id="8xkCAl">Now, it’s obviously impossible to say what the team would have done in a similar situation, say, in the middle of the second quarter. But, if we’re going to criticize Jim for his game management, we have to look at the situation at hand and, while the situation basically required the team to go for it, Mora still gets props for doing so.</p>
<p id="GpzWHk">As a result of going for it twice on fourth down, UCLA’s 2017 Never Kick % stands at 25%. We will keep tracking this as the season progresses.</p>
<p id="Ufhep8">And, while the team punted 4 times in the first half, they only punted once in the second half. This demonstrates how well the offense was moving the ball in the second half. I’m not going to give out a grade for game management. I’ll leave that for the Eye Test. But I will say that I wrote that <a href="https://www.bruinsnation.com/texas-a-m-aggies-ucla-bruins/2017/9/3/16248644/how-to-watch-texas-a-m-at-ucla-game-time-tv-schedule-radio-and-more">the Bruins need to punt no more than five times in order to win</a>. They didn’t punt more than five times and we won. ‘Nuff said.</p>
<p id="RuNAra">Even if I’m still in disbelief. Somebody pinch me.<br><br><br>Go Bruins!!!</p>
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https://www.bruinsnation.com/sunday-morning-quarterback/2017/9/4/16251922/ucla-footballs-comeback-win-is-the-second-biggest-in-ncaa-historyJoe Piechowski2017-09-03T22:32:51-07:002017-09-03T22:32:51-07:00Josh Rosen Leads the UCLA Bruins to a Miraculous Comeback Victory Over the Texas A&M Aggies-45-44
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Texas A&amp;M at UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4XYbrkCDj6kcaTUXFu_6-6LKeP8=/0x8:4530x3028/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56505297/usa_today_10259329.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Josh Rosen led UCLA to an unbelievable victory. | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tale of two halves for UCLA. The offense and defense wake-up and play almost perfect football in the second half.</p> <p id="8bGPOX">Chosen Rosen! 35/59 for 491 yards and 4 TD’s. Those numbers and this game will go down in the annals of time as one of the greatest games in UCLA history. And those numbers by Rosen only cement why everybody sees Rosen as the best pure quarterback in the NCAA this year. A UCLA legend was born tonight!</p>
<p id="DkdS4u">There was a collective belief from Bruins Nation, myself included, that the first half of football was some of the worst football UCLA has played in an opening game in recent history. UCLA went in to the locker room down 38-10 with these numbers:</p>
<p id="xxEl61"><strong>UCLA Rushing: 15 carries 37 yards</strong></p>
<p id="VZ1G6c"><strong>UCLA Passing: 9/23 114 yards</strong></p>
<p id="T9EPwd"><strong>38 total plays for 151 yards, on 11 drives.</strong></p>
<p id="K3HUOq"><strong>11:39 TOP</strong></p>
<p id="9r3hxK">Then the second half came...</p>
<p id="PqchMK">The third quarter started with TAMU receiving the kickoff and going three and out to punt.</p>
<p id="BZJMwf">UCLA received the punt and on the 5th play of the drive Rosen fumbled and TAMU was able to recover at UCLA’s 37 yard line. On the 5th play of the drive <span>Nick Starkel</span> was sacked at the UCLA 14 for a loss of 2 yards by <span>Jacob Tuioti-Mariner</span>. This forced TAMU to kick a 32 yard field goal to give the Aggies a 41-10 lead.</p>
<p id="vxUT0o">UCLA received the kickoff and once again went 3 and out and had to punt it back to the Aggies.</p>
<p id="CrQShc">At the 8:32 mark the Aggies then went on an 12 play 41 yard drive, and the UCLA defense bent, but it didn’t break. The Aggies then kicked a 48 yard field goal to give them the 44-10 lead, and their last points of the night.</p>
<p id="3lnDyD">UCLA received the kickoff and at the 4:08 mark of the 3rd quarter, the Rosen and <span>Wilson</span> show started in full force. UCLA went on a 8 play 75 yard TD drive highlighted by <span>Caleb Wilson</span> hauling in 41 of those 75 yards. The drive was capped off by a 6 yard TD run by SoSo Jamabo. The score was now 44-17.</p>
<p id="oRZij0">UCLA kicked off, and after receiving the kickoff, TAMU was only able to muster a 3 and out and punted right back to UCLA.</p>
<p id="q4rQno">UCLA took the ball at their 15 yard line and after a pass to Wilson for 8 yards and a no gain run by Jamabo, the 3rd quarter ended. Rosen started the 4th quarter targeting Wilson with three consecutive throws that took UCLA to the Aggies 28 yard line. After a 19 yard pass to <span>Jordan Lasley</span>, Rosen hit Andrews for a 9 yard TD pass, and after the extra point, UCLA was now down 44-24.</p>
<p id="XiE6iU">The Aggies received the kickoff and once again could not do much. The big play for the Bruins on this drive occurred at the 11:02 mark when UCLA’s Jaelen Phillips sacked Mond for a 10 yard loss. Two plays later TAMU had to punt it back to UCLA.</p>
<p id="tuMOYy">UCLA started this drive on their 4 yard line. Big passes to Andrews and Wilson brought UCLA out poor field position, and then a nice run by Jamabo set up the play of the game. On 1st and 10 Rosen dropped backed and under pressure launched a pass to Andrews that went right through the hands of the Aggies’ Deshawn Capers-Smith into the hands of Andrews for a huge UCLA TD. The TD and the extra point brought UCLA closer to the Aggies, 44-31.</p>
<p id="QJdwdW">The Aggies then received the kickoff and went on a 9 play 50 yard drive that ended with a huge 9 yard sack by <span>Keisean Lucier-South</span>. This prompted the Aggies to attempt a 43 yard field goal that was tipped at the line by <span>Adarius Pickett</span> and the attempt was no good.</p>
<p id="UzFqE5">UCLA took over at their own 26, and the “Wilson Show” continued during this drive. Wilson once again hauled in two big passes, none bigger than the 4th and 3 pass for 26 yards and a late hit tacked on. The next big play was the 11 yard side-arm throw to Andrews. The drive finished off with another miraculous throw from Rosen to Howard for a 16 yard TD. The extra point was good, and UCLA was within 6 points.</p>
<p id="9fRNGC">TAMU took the kickoff and could do nothing. With the big play happening on 3-8, at the Aggies’ 25 yard line. <span>Kellen Mond</span> dropped back and was sacked at the TAMU 20 for a loss of 5 yards by <span>Jacob Tuioti-Mariner</span>. The Aggies then punted, and the Chosen Rosen was set up for legend status.</p>
<p id="iT4BFe">UCLA started at their 34 with 2:39 left and no timeouts. Rosen then led the Bruins down the field with big pass after big pass. With the huge play coming on 4th and 6 at the Aggies 20. Rosen dropped back and looked left on a swing pass to Jamabo. This was a perfect play call as the Aggies blitzed and Jamabo was left uncovered. It was also a great read by Rosen. Then the legend was born as Rosen approached the line in a apparent spike situation, but instead of spiking the ball, Rosen fake spiked and hit <span>Lasley</span> for a beautiful TD pass.</p>
<div id="rXSLK3"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_zI0L9-Bg9U?rel=0&" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="wsO9oA">The defense then held the Aggies and Rosesn’s 4 TD passes and <span>Caleb Wilson</span>’s 15 receptions for 203 yards brought the Bruins back from the brink of disaster.</p>
<p id="QTQKHi">The entire Bruins team received criticism after that horrid first half, and rightly so. However, the entire team, including the coaches, deserve the credit for not quitting adjusting, and providing UCLA fans with one of the most special football games we have ever witnessed. </p>
<p id="vElMYg">We can talk about next week’s game in another thread. Let’s just relish this victory.</p>
<p id="FYM8Fm">Go Bruins!</p>
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https://www.bruinsnation.com/2017/9/3/16248422/josh-rosen-leads-the-ucla-bruins-to-a-miraculous-comeback-victory-over-the-texas-a-m-aggies-45-44Markybcool2017-09-03T18:35:56-07:002017-09-03T18:35:56-07:00Halftime: Texas A&M Aggies at UCLA Bruins Second Half Thread
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Texas A&amp;M at UCLA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HxGScCivY7B272wMHkD8LTTvP2w=/49x0:4836x3191/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56503887/usa_today_10259227.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rosen getting rushed as was the case the whole half. | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>UCLA is manhandled during the first half and is going in the locker room down 38-10.</p> <p id="COV0Xw"></p>
<p id="CJIv3a">TAMU won the toss and deferred to start the game, and that was not the only loss of the half for UCLA. The Bruins were pretty much manhandled the entire first half, and it is clear that our offensive line has a lot of work to do, as does the coaching staff. This first half of UCLA football was unacceptable for everybody associated with UCLA.</p>
<h3 id="d4iuov">1st Half Summary</h3>
<p id="1PPgC4">UCLA received the opening kick, and the offense actually looked pretty good. UCLA had an 11 play 40 yard drive but stalled at the 12 yard line, and we had to settle for a <span>JJ Molson</span> 29 yard field goal.</p>
<p id="ERFT9w">TAMU responded with an 11 play 79 yard drive capped off with a five yard TD run by <span>Keith Ford</span>.</p>
<p id="CiwndM">Then it went pretty much downhill from there. <span>Josh Rosen</span> was hit and fumbled in the next possession and and started their drive UCLA’s 3 yard line. If not for poor play calling, UCLA would seen another TD. But instead settled for a Daniel LaCamera FG.</p>
<p id="Kk6Ze3">UCLA received the ball and quickly turned the ball over on a <span>Bolu Olorunfunmi</span> fumble. TAMU quickly turned that into seven as Williams rushed left for a two yard TD.</p>
<p id="RBpo4a">UCLA then quickly gave the ball back to TAMU after a 3 and out. TAMU returned the favor and punted it back to UCLA.</p>
<p id="HqEdtd">UCLA did nothing with their 5th possession and ended a 3rd 5 yards to go with a dropped pass. UCLA then punted and got a fabulous bounce with the ball settling on the TAMU 1 yard line. After a couple of plays, <span>Trayveon Williams</span> rushed to the left for 72 yards to the UCLA 9. <span>Keith Ford</span> then rushed to the right for 2 yards for a touchdown. Daniel LaCamera’s extra point was good.</p>
<p id="zE5wdt">UCLA’s next possession was three plays for a grand total of 8 yards and ended with a punt.</p>
<p id="1G0UGl">TAMU returned the favor on their next possession with a 3 play 7 yard possession that ended with a punt.</p>
<p id="imlw5K">UCLA once again did nothing. 3 plays for 3 yards and punted.</p>
<p id="GxYdnC">TAMU took the next possession on an 11 play 56 yard drive capped with a Keith Ford rush to the right for a 1 yard touchdown. Daniel LaCamera’s extra point was good.</p>
<p id="OBtTtT">On the next possession UCLA put up their first TD of 2017, with a <span>Jalen Starks</span> rush to the middle for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. JJ Molson’s extra point was good. With a score of 31-10, was there hope?</p>
<p id="EZlR04">No, because Trayveon Williams rushed to the left for 61 yards for a touchdown. Daniel LaCamera’s extra point was good.</p>
<p id="KVlN0Q">This first half of football was probably one of the worst for an opening UCLA game in university’s history. Let’s hope heart comes out for the second half.</p>
<p id="xxEl61">UCLA Rushing: 15 carries 37 yards</p>
<p id="VZ1G6c">UCLA Passing: 9/23 114 yards</p>
<p id="T9EPwd">38 total plays for 151 yards, on 11 drives.</p>
<p id="qOSxv2">11:39 TOP</p>
<h4 id="7oKuPT">Listen to the 2nd Half Here on BN!</h4>
<p id="7ClZb0"></p>
<div id="n5dg0s"><iframe src="//tunein.com/embed/player/s206517/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 100px;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/2017/9/3/16248358/halftime-texas-a-m-aggies-at-ucla-bruins-second-half-threadMarkybcool2017-09-03T15:30:02-07:002017-09-03T15:30:02-07:00Texas A&M Aggies at UCLA Bruins Game Thread
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<img alt="NCAA Football: UCLA at Texas A&amp;M" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1Z3_a4HnhwD27nlLnQhF6bZ7kYE=/0x0:2771x1847/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56499063/usa_today_9527659.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It’s game time! And, time to find out if the Bruin offense is better than last season.</p> <p id="xqvMK5">It’s time to get the answers to the questions Bruin fans have had for a long time.</p>
<p id="cpkVF8">What effect will the new coaches have on the offense? Can a different offensive line coach get better performances out of the offensive line? Can the offensive line keep Josh Rosen upright? Can the running backs do a better job running the football? Can Rosen’s arm deliver a better performance than his mouth? Will the offense be good, just passable or as bad as last year? Can the Bruins win with a solid defense and passable offense? How long will it take before Jim Mora gets testy with the media? </p>
<p id="c6Bjlj">We may not get answers to all of these questions today or the answers that we do get may not be complete answers, but today is the day when we will finally start to get the answers we’ve waited for since the end of last season.</p>
<p id="VQ0Ttb">Of course, the team could end up generating a whole new set of questions that we can’t yet anticipate. But that’s why they play the games and it’s why we tailgate. After all, as one of my friends is fond of saying, “I’ve been to a lot of bad football games, but I’ve never been to a bad tailgate.”</p>
<p id="RmrmBm">Let’s look at the weather conditions that teams will deal with.</p>
<h3 id="ajiBo8">Game Time Weather Forecast</h3>
<p id="loUAzQ">According to <a href="http://Weather.com">Weather.com</a>, it should be partly to mostly cloudy in Pasadena all day today. At game time, look for it to be mostly cloudy and about 87 degrees at kickoff with a 15% chance of precipitation and 48% humidity. </p>
<p id="scnB49">As the game goes on, look for the temperature to drop and the humidity to rise. It should be about 82 degrees at halftime with the humidity climbing to 57%, but still a 15% chance of rain.</p>
<p id="vwjvRJ">By the end of the game, the temperature will have dropped into the upper 70s with 64% humidity and still a 15% chance of precipitation.</p>
<p id="RyyxUC">So, it appears that the more than 50% chance of rain has dissipated and it’s now likely that my rule will still apply: It doesn’t rain inside the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p id="WmWmqp">This season, we are proud to, again, have today's audio feed for everyone who opts to use the TuneIn player embedded below. For optimum results, start the audio feed then pause your DVR and sync them up together so you don't have to listen to FOX's broadcast team if you don't want to. But, honestly, who doesn’t enjoy hearing Gus Johnson call a game? The guy is entertaining!</p>
<h3 id="isp27F">Listen to the Game Here on BN!</h3>
<div id="hNCiWr"><iframe src="//tunein.com/embed/player/s206517/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 100px;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>
<p id="krpO8y">This is your Texas A&M at UCLA game thread and, now, it’s FINALLY game time! Can we get a Bruin Spell Out? Gimme a B!</p>
<p id="lNNg0Z"><br><br>Go Bruins!!!</p>
<p id="372Vn3"> </p>
https://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla-football-game-threads/2017/9/3/16246778/texas-a-m-aggies-at-ucla-bruins-game-threadJoe Piechowski