Grade the Bruins
Here is my report card from UCLA's loss to Oregon. Feel free to grade the Bruins.
Oregon 31, UCLA 24
Record: 2-4, 1-2 Pac-10; Weekly grade: C-
Quarterbacks
Kevin Craft was 27 of 43 for 288 yards, but more points are needed when the offense has the ball nearly 38 minutes.
Grade: C-
Running backs
Sometimes lack of holes, other times lack of vision is why Derrick Coleman and Kahlil Bell had 44 yards on 19 carries.
Grade: C-
Receivers
UCLA's deepest and most reliable unit was led by Ryan Moya and Taylor Embree, who each had six catches.
Grade: B
Offensive line
Six sacks allowed and 63 net rushing yards doesn't paint a pretty picture. Not all OLs fault, but more is needed.
Grade: D
Defensive line
Oh, where to begin. With Brian Price having LeGarrette Blount wrapped up on the 69-yard TD run? Or 323 rushing yards?
Grade: D
Linebackers
Akeem Ayers' speed was fantastic, but 323 rushing yards? Is it time to move Reggie Carter back to MLB?
Grade: D
Secondary
Ducks QB Jeremiah Masoli was 5 of 19 for 42 yards, but too many missed tackles and poor angles resulted in big runs.
Grade: C-
Special teams
Onside kick was good call, but sloppy execution made it look like a bad gamble. Inconsistent unit again.
Grade: C
Coaching
Big credit for some creativity and taking chances, but at some point limited talent must be factored in.
Grade: B
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About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
Craft C-? Are you out of your mind? The dude pasted the ball against the opponents chest at least 7 times. He gets an F no questions asked. There were so many negatives, the few nice passes he threw do not count.
I think when Ben Olson gets healthy, we really need to look hard to see if he can start again for us. Everyone knocks his mobility but he moves about as well as Craft does.
Olson's arm is 100% stronger than Craft's and he has the ability to throw downfield.
Craft surprisingly has made A LOT of bonehead decisions given that 95% of his pass attempts are for 10 yards or less. Sure I can understand trying to throw for 30+ yards on a long 3rd down play, but that simply isn't the case. He almost threw 5 or 6 INT's during the Oregon game. What would RN do if Oregon DID catch all those gimee INT's?
It's just hard to say since he'll always have 1 or 2 really good drives in a game that gives us some hope. Then he'll make a some really bad decisions (bad throws, no movement out of the pocket, won't throw the ball away but instead takes 6 sacks, seldom looks to a 2nd or 3rd receiver,etc). I know our OL is suspect, but Ben has an arm.
When Ben is back, we need take a closer look. I'm just saying...
oaching? Rick botched the end of the half clock and blew the third quarter mo with the on-side kick.
How can you continually give the coaches a B even when the team continues to make studid mistakes? Even the coaches made stupid mistakes this game. If this is what the coaches get when the team looks bad, imagine what kind of grade they will get when the team actually looks decent. If we only lose to USC by 21 points will the coaches get an A?
IMO, Rick didn't mismanage the clock at the end of the half. Here are the plays for UCLA before the half:
1st and 10 at UCLA 11Derrick Coleman rush for no gain to the UCLA 11.
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Timeout OREGON, clock 01:08.
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft pass incomplete to Taylor Embree.
3rd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft rush for 1 yard to the UCLA 12.
4th and 9 at UCLA 12Timeout OREGON, clock 00:50.
Even if Craft had kept the ball on the rollout (which he should have) where he threw an incompletion, forcing Oregon to call a time out, it would not have mattered as Oregon went into halftime with an unused timeout. They would have just used their extra timeout to stop the clock after tackling Craft had he kept the ball and ran it (or had we called a run instead).
Regarding the onside kick, I can understand how some might not have liked the call. I didn't mind it. According to this article:
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?STORY_ID=14590
in the NFL from 97-06, when onside kicks are attempted during the first 3 quarters, they are 71% successful. We nearly pulled it off. Remember that Oregon moved 40 yrds to a touchdown easily. Who's to say they would not have gone 40 yards for a FG just as easily--or even further for a TD--if we had kicked it deep?
Good points Steve. I don't think we mismanaged the clock - it's just sad that we're unable to get a 1st down. Craft just needs to create better options for himself with his reads and decisions.
Also, that 71% figure is good for an NFL team, but UCLA is not close to being an NFL team.