by Ross Coleman - Contributing Editor
September 22, 2009 19:38
The Bruins are 3-0 for the first time since 2005. They are one win away from matching last season's win total. The bye this week comes at the perfect time, with school starting and players needing some time to heal up before traveling to Stanford. The season is looking good for the Bruins despite looking less than stellar on offense.
So why is it that many UCLA fans were screaming like the sky was falling during the victory against Kansas State on Saturday?
Because Kevin Prince was out, Kevin Craft got the start or the Bruins and anyone who watches college football knows that Craft had a rough season last year. Looking back at the my preview of the game, I felt that if UCLA had trouble running the ball, Kansas State would keep it close.I knew that the Bruin defense would be able to handleKSU's run happy offense, but I was unsure how the Bruin offense would do.
In a word the offense was decent. Jonathan Franklin became the first UCLA running back to go over 100 yards in a game since ChrisMarkey did it Dec. 22, 2007 against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. That's 638 days between 100 yard runners. That should go to show just how bad the running game for UCLA was last year.
Let me just say that I love Jonathan Franklin. I am so excited to think about how good he is going to be for the next four years (including the rest of this year). The one thing that he needs help with is securing the football. He has put the ball on the turf at least 4 times this year. If he doesn't correct that, it is going to come back to hurt him sometime this season. I am not worried about it in the long run, but this year I think it could become a factor.
Hopefully in this week off, UCLA will be able to come up with a good game plan for Stanford. It was surprising not to see RichardBrehaut come into the KSU game, especially when Craft was looking a little shaky. I would like to see Brehaut for an extended period of time against Stanford. I think he has a great arm, good accuracy, and more athleticism than Kevin Prince. It just depends on how good a grasp he has on the offense.
I will say that Craft did a good job of showing the Bruin fans, if he had a running game and offensive line last year, the Bruins probably could have gone to a bowl game. Craft had a few great throws against the Wildcats. Yes, he had moments where it was the same old Craft, locking onto one receiver and throwing into coverage, but he did throw some balls down field. He found Terrance Austin for a beautiful 51 yard bomb. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Craft gives the Bruins almost as good a chance as Prince does. Now I am not saying Craft should start if they are both healthy. But I think that Craft does some things well, and with the better talent around him, his weaknesses are diminished.
That being said, I hope that Prince is able to come back as quickly as possible. The road game at Stanford should be a tough game. Stanford has some good players and a good coaching staff. If Craft struggles on the road the Bruins will not win. I would love to see Prince back for that game but it is unlikely.
On the defense, not much has to be said. Rahim Moore and Alterraun Verner have the most combined interceptions of any tandem in the country with eight. The defensive line has started to pick up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks.Akeem Ayers has started to erupt and play to the ability of Reggie Carter and Kyle Bosworth. Heck, even the depleted cornerback spot has looked solid. Against Stanford, the Bruins get back Courtney Viney from suspension, and hopefully Aaron Hester will be back in the next few weeks. Sheldon Price showed some flashes against KSU that he is set to be the next good UCLA corner, but he still has some development to do.
Lastly, let me say, don't lose sight of the fact that coming into this season, the thought around the program was this season the goal was to go to a bowl, but that the team was still a year or two away from where it will be. So to be 3-0 and looking like they could win 8 games while still not being quite at the level they will end up should be highly encouraging. Just think 7 or 8 wins this year, 9 or 10 next year, and challenging for a National Championship in 2011. If everything progresses as it should, these goals are not that far off. Especially when you look across town and watch the end of the USC dynasty.