Defensive stats
For those who care, here is updated defensive stats from the BYU game. It took from sorting out by UCLA since the official game stats had running back Craig Sheppard making eight tackles rather than Sean Westgate. I know both where No. 21, but you'd think someone would notice Sheppard listed as a running back.
Defensive Statistics (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
UCLA vs No. 16 BYU (Sep 13, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
## UCLA Solo Ast Total Sacks-Yds TFL-Yds FF FR-Yds Int-Yds BrUp Blks QBH
51 Carter,Reggie 4 16 20 - 1.5-2 - - - - - -
1 Verner,Alterra 9 4 13 - 0.5-1 - - - 1 - -
12 Hale,John 3 6 9 - - - - - - - -
0C Moore,Rahim 4 4 8 - - - - 1-5 - - -
2E Lockett,Bret 3 5 8 - 1.0-7 - - - - - -
93 Harwell, Brigha 2 6 8 - 0.5-0 - - - 1 - 1
2A Westgate,Sean 1 7 8 - 0.5-2 - - - - - -
40 Ayers,Akeem 1 4 5 - - - - - - - -
56 Blake,Tom 1 4 5 - - - - - - - -
54 Bosworth,Kyle 3 1 4 - - 1 - - - - -
55 Bosworth,Korey 0 4 4 - 0.5-0 - - - - - -
27 Ware,Aaron 1 2 3 - - - - - - - -
22 Norris,Michael 1 1 2 - - - - - 1 - -
91 Stokes,Reggie 0 2 2 - - - - - - - 1
1G Anyanwu,Chinons 0 2 2 - - - - - - - -
3 Craft,Kevin 1 0 1 - - - - - - - -
6 Dye,Tony 1 0 1 - - - - - - - -
5B Yount,Christian 0 1 1 - - - - - - - -
68 Chandler,Nate 0 1 1 - - - - - - - -
53 Edwards,Joshua 0 1 1 - - - - - - - -
50 Moline,Chase 0 1 1 - 0.5-2 - - - - - -
0G Viney,Courtney 0 1 1 - - - - - - - -
8E Carter,David 0 0 0 - - - - - - - 1
Totals 35 73 108 0.0-0 5.0-14 1 0-0 1-5 3 0 3
Brian, just take the night off. You deserve it. Go watch a movie with the family.
Maybe I'll do the same. I have been sitting here working and refreshing your blog all day. Still in shock from yesterday's massacre.
Some final thoughts on BYU:
The ucla players said they practiced well all week and played as hard as they could. I believe them. But this was one of those games that is hard to explain. It was a game of momentum and BYU had it. BYU got off to a fast start with a perfect passing attack, and then 3 quick turnovers by ucla and suddenly the game was over 42-0 (in the first half). Max Hall was getting the ball off so quickly there was no time to pressure him; Verner was usually pretty tight on BYU's best receiver, but the guy made some very good catches. And an inconsistent ucla offense, which will be a problem all year, could not keep the ball out of the hands of the Cougars for very long.
The week before BYU struggled against a weak Washington team. College football. Go figure.
CRN 3 recruits Craft,Westgate,and Prince are already having an impact.
Brian: I'm not sure if you can use html tables on your blog, but those stats are virtually unreadable. A pointer to your Daily News article would be more informative.
ONLYTHETRUTH - good post and you're absolutely right about college fb, but I do think this one was very predictable. Every year my wife and a friend of ours - also a Bruin alum and member of the alumni band - make one road trip to an away game. We were GOING to go to Provo as hadn't been there but chose ASU for thanksgiving instead. Part of the reason was anticipation of that LONG drive home after witnessing a beatdown.
BYU is VERY good with an offense perfectly suited to taking us apart. Intensity of focus IS an issue - like Arizona at UNM, ASU against UNLV - the shocker of the weekend IMO - and Cal at Maryland, BYU didn't have it the week before against Washington. That DID offer some (false) hope. Coaches can preach warnings all they want, but kids are smart and KNOW how poor an opponent is supposed to be and sometimes the switch just isn't turned to "on."
But BYU has been building for this year for three years now. Getting Hall on a transfer out of ASU after that coaching meltdown there was the icing on the cake. They seriously believe they are a BCS team this year and have pointed toward the Ucla game since last December as the moment to prove it to the country. Their home field is a tough place to play, especially for sea-level teams, mental as much as physical. We went in there, against a spread which is very difficult for a pro-style defense to begin with, with inexperienced DBs, a lack of speed on the edges, and a patchwork, not-ready-for-prime-time offensive line, with no experienced tailbacks (Moline is a fullback, whatever his talents and great heart), and a third string quarterback who hasn't been on the team even a year yet.
They played their perfect game, at the perfect time, in the perfect place. As Carter said - great quote there - our kids never stopped, never gave up; they just beat us every play, every way. So while I agree with most of your post, I think this result was VERY explainable - the far better team won bigtime. And the score really WAS an accurate measure of the difference between the two teams.
This being college fb, perhaps they'd only beat us by 14 if they played again at the Rose Bowl and if BYU didn't see it as the key game in their season (setting up later matchups with TCU, UNM, and most important Utah). Maybe. But their experience playing DeWayne Walker's defense twice last year and getting to do it this time without having to face Bruce Davis or last year's OLine or last year's more experienced DBackfield, it could very well turn out the same.
I think the obvious weakness of the Pac10 does give us some opportunities to win some games this year but most important for the future of the program is that the kids learn how to play and keep the attitude that Carter exemplified Saturday in the worst of circumstances. This year is what it is. Hopefully we'll start to improve as the year goes on and through next year as well. Hopefully this year's recruits will be ready to contribute (still early IMO) next season and by 2010 we'll be a program at least to be reckonned with. Hopefully. But I was proud of the kids Saturday in that they kept on fighting to the end against a vastly superior opponent. We need a LOT of improvement in a number of areas to actually be competitive under circumstances like those we encountered Saturday. It just is what it is and THAT showed what it is this year IMO.
Harwell made 2 solo tackles and assisted on6 others. Brian Price: 0
Did he get double-teamed on every play?