Game 1: Report Card
Here's my report card for Game 1, UCLA's 31-22 loss to Kansas State...
UCLA REPORT CARD
RESULT: Kansas State 31, UCLA 22
RECORD: 0-1
WEEK 1 GPA: D
QUARTERBACK
Kevin Prince gets an almost free-pass because of lack of preparation, but straw is getting shorter.
D
RUNNING BACKS
If Johnathan Franklin has put the fumbling issues behind him, why doesn't he get more carries?
C-
WIDE RECEIVERS
Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. More drops than a bottle of Clear Eyes.
F+
OFFENSIVE LINE
The pleasant surprise of the afternoon, UCLA's beleaguered line had decent push, protection.
B
DEFENSIVE LINE
Youthful, inexperienced defensive ends too often lost containment, but Cassius Marsh is a future stud at D-tackle.
C-
LINERBACKERS
Too often found out of position, entire unit must focus on tackling, cutback protection.
D
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Sheldon Price needs to learn to shed blockers, or teams will run at him time and time again.
D
SPECIAL TEAMS
So much for those groin issues; Kai Forbath perfect again. Oh, and returner Josh Smith is the real deal.
A-
COACHING
Defense blitzed too often against run-first opponent, offense needs to rely more on running game.
D
Running backs are a B. Not their fault CRN won't stick with what's working.
I agree with the offensive assessment, however, the defense really did quite well for a total of 3 quarters. Their 1st drive in 1st, and 2 drives in the 4th really killed us. I'd give the the defense a C+ at each position. They didn't get 'owned' by a div 1b school, its a big time running back from a big time conference.
All losses are F performences.
anon, A.K.A. scscin5, the only F goes to your condom defense...(_!_) taste it!!
Mr. Gold,
A generous grader, you are! While there were some signs of ability on the subject
Catch. The. Ball.
pretty much agree with your grades, Jon - some thoughts on them -
i grade the coaches a bit higher because the new offense seems to create tons more opportunities than previous ones - too bad we weren't able to take advantage of them with drops and mis-directed passes as well as not getting the running yardage you might expect from a QB in this offense.
i find it harder to grade the OLine as the front seven they faced is probably the weakness of the opponent, not a very impressive unit.
i suspect the reason for the blitzes is recognition we aren't going to get much push from our DL (without Price and now Jones) - perhaps Ayers should move to DL much of the time to try to create havoc in the backfield - may also do better there than at LB....
I saw the game live in Manhattan.the 0 line was great...D ends got killed...LB ok job .....the D backs made most of the plays...NC called a great game, BUT THE WIDES COULD NOT CATCH A COLD WITH A BUCKET....