Do you agree?

I need new cushions for my sofa as I've just destroyed them all...

I think that makes no sense. Even if they didn't gain a single yard on 3rd and 22 they were STILL in good field goal position. what was the point of giving them another down if what they had was already as good as it was gonna get? what the hell was neuheisel thinking? that they were gonna sack their qb for a fudging 25-yard loss?

Fire that foo

I have my own thoughts on this, but it won't matter as long as FSU's QB can take 3-step drops and find receivers with no one within 5-yards of them. Maybe this will help recruiting, clearly DeWayne Walker is not going anywhere.

The bigger issue is the 4 pt swing from the 2 blocked extra pts.

Sid,

Clearly you typed that before FSU marched down the field when we MOST needed a stop...

That bad decision and the bad decision to go for it on 4th and 1 cost us 7 points. I never thought I would see such bad decisions by this supposed stellar staff.
This is really going to be a test for Coach Neu, being charismatic and witty with his words are great assets, at this time we will need STRONG stable leadership.

risky call but yes, I agree - trailing, you're hoping you take them back and avoid giving up a FG - instead, we gave up a TD. Either one beats us because we fumbled on their 10 on what should have been a safe play call (that we would have run trailing by EITHER 2 or 5 with that much time remaining in the game) and because our defense couldn't stop them when we had to. Props to Fresno State; better performance by the Bruins this week; still very much a work in progress and not a whole lot to work with, not missing our first two QBs, our top WR, our TE, our top two FBs (counting Pitre and Theriot) - too bad. But a better overall game by Ucla against a suspect Fresno State team that made the plays it had to make. Hope Reed's okay and we'll see if we can get over the top next week against hapless Washington State....

Basically two plays costed us the game: the decision by Rick to decline that penalty and then the fumble by coleman...so frustrating, we had a win within our grasp

That call should go into the collegiate coaches hall of SHAME! Truly unbelievable and I've never seen that in over 40 yrs of watching FB at any level.

Both those decisions cost the team a total of 4 points. The difference b/c the TD with blocked EP (4 points net to FSU) and a field goal (3 points net to FSU) was 1 point, plus the potential FG on 4th and 1 makes 4 points.

"...STRONG stable leadership" sounds like you're back in '04 wooing Bush to his second term. What this team needs is DEFENSE.

If asked, 95% of us would say UCLA would win if the offense put up 31 points. We couldn't DREAM of this offense putting up 31 points! The defense has given up 126 points in the last 3 games (Avg. of 42/ per game). They are suppose to be the back bone of the team, keeping us in close games (see Tennessee game).

Lets face is Bruin fans, our defense lost us this game, not Neu's questionable/bad decisions. He is just the easier scape goat.

I don't think Neuheisel becomes the scapegoat per se for this game. Overall, I thought it was very promising in terms of the direction that the team is heading. After the first 50 seconds, they could have easily become disheartened and quit, but they played tough and gave themselves a chance to win. Our running game is starting to look reasonable, albeit against a less than stellar defense.

I think we made entirely too many mistakes, especially - surprise, surprise - on special teams. The two calls hurt us, but we still had a chance.

...BUT...

Late in the 4th quarter, down 5, we fumble the ball. It happens, but we're deep in their territory. Do we dig in and try to give our offense another shot to win the game? Nope - we get soft. The defensive players looked so dejected that you'd think we needed two scores, not one.

*Sigh*

Still, it doesn't help our chances of winning if our coaches - who know the deficiencies we have in player talent - make one clearly bad decision and another questionable one. That's just my $0.02.

Questionable decision to decline the penalty, but a good call to go for it on 4th and 1. Play to win, unlike Dorrell who played to not lose.

DeWayne Walker lost this game for us, and he's lost many for us. Why the love affair with him? His defense CANNOT defend the pass at all, and now they cant even defend the run! The FSU RB ran for 170 yards and we gave up a total of 444 yards! People used to argue that the defense gets tired since the offense isnt on the field long enough...what excuse do you have now?

The offense will be fine under Chow and Neuheisel, but we will never get to the top with Walker.

dumbest effing call ever

no ... but, c'est la vie, ya know?

i wouldnt rather have any other HC or OC in the nation.

It made zero difference in the outcome. If he declines the penalty, FSU either kicks an easy FG or they go for it and get the first down and eventually a TD anyway. Best case in that situation is they score 3 points, but we still don't have enough points, so we lose anyway. It's a moot point.

I wouldn't have made that same call, but I also might not have declined the penalty on the previous play, putting them further back on second down. As it was, I saw a lot of improvement in the offense, a little improvement in special teams (Austin is at times spectacular, and at other, frustrating), and a defense that plays well at times and at others makes big mistakes. We had a chance to win - and we lost because a freshman made a mistake. With a young team, and a new staff like this, I'm ok to grant a pass for a while. I'll bet Coleman is much more careful for the rest of what may be a great career with the football! Overall, a much better performance and one that the young players should use as a positive learning experience.

"Cali said:
That call should go into the collegiate coaches hall of SHAME! Truly unbelievable and I've never seen that in over 40 yrs of watching FB at any level."

have you been watching with your eyes closed??? I didnt agree with the call but to say you NEVER seen that in 40yrs is BS.

It was very obvious what coach Neuheisel was thinking, and it was the right decision. The ball was moved to just inside the 26. If he declines the penalty, it's a chip-shot field goal and more than likely an easy three points. My taking the penalty, an easy 3 becomes a much harder 43-yard FG. UCLA then backed it up with a blitz to possibly take Fresno out of field goal range all together. But give Fresno some credit, they made a great call with a screen pass to the right, which left the Fresno receiver 1-on-1 with one UCLA defender on an island, and the Fresno player made a great play with a hurdle. This was the right decision. It just didn't work out. It's most-likely a decision that most coaches would have made, particularly the way the game was going at that point. This was not deciding between fourth and 1 from the 2 or third and 7 from the 7.

5 dollar is exacly right.

I don't know why there is so much negativity. This team has improved from week 2 to week 3 and now from week 3 to week 4. We knew CRN had a tough task and as long as the team keeps getting better, people need to chill with all the drama and criticism.

Brian-

Why would you even post this STUPID question? Why would you question the call? If this work....this would not even be an issue!...

Leo,

I didn't post it.

As a football coach I would have done the same,you play the %%% and Ucla lost...get every yard you can one way or the other.....The fumble at the end cost the game?????