by Ross Coleman - Contributing Editor
October 21, 2009 01:41
After a third straight loss, the young Bruins sit at 3-3 overall and 0-3 in conference play. Not something to be too excited about. A 45-26 loss to Cal at home is something that the Bruins should be embarrassed by. Jeff Tedford won his first game against a Los Angeles based team on the road. Yep, up until Saturday, Tedford was 0 for his career when taking Cal to LA.
0-3 in Pac 10 play is a scary thing to face because to be honest it is doubtful that 6-6 (3-6 in Pac 10) will get UCLA to a bowl game. For UCLA to achieve its goal of a bowl game, they need to go 4-2 to finish the season. It is easier said than done, but it is possible.
UCLA must first split one of its next two games at Arizona and at Oregon State. I think that both games are winnable but it is doubtful because both venues tend to be hard to play in. The Bruins then have back to back games against the Washington schools, both winnable games, followed by a game against Arizona State, also a winnable game. The Bruins close their season as they always do with a matchup against the Trojans where anything can happen.
I see winnable games in each of the next six. But we cannot afford another off day by the defense. Lets face it, the defense blew the Cal game for the Bruins. Kevin Prince had his best day as a Bruin, Jonathan Franklin showed his homerun hitting ability, and Taylor Embree showed that he is ready to be a valuable weapon for this team. But the defense gave up three passing scores to a mediocre quarterback and gave up 35 points in the first half, all where plays over 20 yards. The Big Play has killed the Bruins in their three losses.
Against Stanford it was the flea-flicker that got the defense out of position. Against Oregon it was the 21 second half points in the first four minutes. Against Cal it was five touchdowns in the first half without one snap in the redzone. It would appear that our defenses greatest strength, the ability to swarm to the ball, is also it's greatest weakness, the swarming has a tendency to over pursue.
I know it's too soon to be talking about next year, but going back to the start of this season the thought going in was this team has eight win potential, but they are too young and is still probably a year away. After going 3-0 against two BCS conference schools, those expectations where thrown out the window even though the Bruins really didn't play anyone that was that talented. Now after going 0-3 since, I think we are seeing what we thought we would, a young team that is not quite ready to make the big step.
Franklin, Prince, Embree, and many of the other youngsters on offense will only continue to grow this year. Next year they will be even better. Throw in another top-20 recruiting class and it is hard to believe this team is not on the upswing. Just talk to Malcolm Jones, the highly touted running back that just committed to the Bruins. He will tell you that the reason why he wants to be a Bruin is because they are on the way up.
And I agree, but maybe that's just me being relentlessly positive.