UCLA/Stanford Report Card: More Fs than a piano recital

Hey, no need to insult Palin! ;0

Jon, aren't you being a little to generous to the coaches? Expulsion as unsuitable is what their results merit.

I'm actually confused on the running backs. Jones looked great. Franklin had some solid runs. Is your grade for their efforts, or for the larger RB scheme (in which case, I'd assume should be mentioned in the coaches report)?

Let's see, under Toledo we had great offense and no defense,Dorrell we had no offense and pretty good defense, and under CRN we have at last achieved balance with no offense and no defense. the football monopoly in L.A. is over all right, and it moved to Oregon and the Bay Area. Dan Guerrero needs to convince the administration that all the womens softball titles in the world don't carry as much weight as a nationally respected football program. Please hire a coach and staff that can recruit and coach, like Stanford did. High academic standards are no longer an excuse.

Jon,

No way the o line, secondary or running backs get an F... cmon man

Rb's shouldn't be an F, more like a c or b
DB's shouldn't be an F either, they played pretty well holding a top Qb to 150 yards.

I have to agree with all the other comments. The OL, RB, and DB's were much better than F's.

We've seen enough of Prince. It's Brehaut's time. Let's make the switch and stay with him the rest of the season.

I think Jon Gold was just having a little fun trying to lighten the mood a bit after all those bruin gloom-and-doom posts desecrating the game, the team, the school, the city, and perhaps the country.

I mean, "linebackers are engaging [blockers] like they've dated for four years," is pretty funny frivolous stuff, and I am sure all would agree that any kid who is brave enough to step out and play hard on a football field certainly would never warrant an "F" grading.

LAWYER JOHN

I can understand at one level straight Fs...it takes a full team effort to lose 35-0. However, it doesn't do justice to really singling out the units that performed miserably.

Starting with the coaching. F- doesn't even begin to describe it...dull, predictable play calling on offense, and virtual chaos on defense.

QBs and WRs also get an F. I don't know if Prince is too hesitant or WRs can't get open or both, but something isn't working. Also, Carroll's fumble and Marvray's holding on long Franklin run didn't help the cause.

D-line and LBs: F. No pass rush, and just like last week, we saw a player run up to a wall of containment, then go to the outside or find a hole without even being touched.

Safeties and corners: C. The ESPN commentators couldn't say enough that Luck was possibly the best QB in the country. Well, his numbers turned out to be pretty pedestrian. I think the defensive backfield provided pretty good coverage. They are under immense pressure because there is ZERO pressure being put on the QB.

Running backs: C. Franklin and Jones had some good runs, including ones that were called back by penalty. However, fumbles by Coleman and Coleman (even if UCLA recovered) drag down the grade. Also, I saw Franklin particular miss some blocks on pass plays.

O-line: C-. Whether it's the pistol scheme or something else, the running game is opening up. After the game Franklin said this is the best o-line he's worked with during his (short) UCLA tenure. However, the pass blocking remains a disaster. But, UCLA hasn't had a bonafide pass attack in 5 years so you can't put all the blame on the linemen.

Special teams: C. I don't think the kicking game either helped nor hurt UCLA, so let's just give it an average grade.

BYU 59-0
Stanford 35-0 at home.
The monopoly is over.
Gimme my money back for my season tickets.
Rick needs to shut his mouth and discipline his team more.
I am not driving from OC any more for a waste of a Saturday.

See below....inability to pass for any yardage (or catch the ball), turnovers, and keeping the defense on the field all night is what resulted in last night's poor excuse for a competitive game. Not many penalties, yet they all happened to stall drives or bring back great plays that were made.

Stanford UCLA
1st Downs 21 15
3rd down efficiency
9-16 1-9
4th down efficiency
1-1 0-2
Total Yards 362 233
Passing 151 81
Comp-Att
11-24 11-21
Yards per pass
6.3 3.9
Rushing 211 152
Rushing Attempts
49 33
Yards per rush
4.3 4.6
Penalties 5-60 5-40
Turnovers 0 4
Fumbles lost
0 2
Interceptions thrown
0 2
Possession 36:51 23:09

Dude, we ran for over 170 yards - you look pretty stupid giving o-line and RB's an F. Actually, the whole report card is lame. The game was miserable, but if you're going to give a report card, take it seriously.

We knew the D-line would need to grow, but the offense could help out a little bit by staying on the field.

I feel bad for being so harsh on you Jon. But as someone who graduated in '98 when we were never this bad, and takes some pride in Bruin football, there's really nothing laughable about this. I know there's a lot of others like me, and we're pretty PO'd right now. Just remember this site is where Bruin fans come for the best legitimate news. Please don't fall to infantile level of some of the commenters.

I hope Hundley and other recruits still have an interest in coming here, because this year doesn't look promising. But there are some things to build on. Thanks Jon, I really do appreciate your hard work day in and day out.

The Defensive Backs do deserve an F. Stanford only passed for 150 because that is all they needed to do. Rahim Moore is a great talker but very overrated. He is always out of posistion. Dietrich Riley needs to be out there with Tony Dye. It looks to be a long season. EMBARRASSING!!!

While I agree with a lot of you that the coaching situation needs to be reviewed...let's be realistic here...it's hard to see Neuheisel getting fired. If he does, recruiting goes up in flames and let's be honest...there are NO serious good HC candidates out there..

And yes, I do believe AD Guerrero is a terrible AD. People who are active on campus mostly agree with that. He managed the Pauley renovation poorly...how long was the planning delayed? He made poor decision to hire Dorrell. Heck, Ben Howland wasn't even his first choice!

I've been bashed and "yelled at" for posting doom and gloom comments, but seriously...wake up people and look at the state of the program...we just haven't been mediocre during Rick's time...we've been mediocre and IRRELEVANT for the last DECADE! And there's no end in sight. The talent level is still far off, and the people who DO have talent are being mismanaged...we haven't had a good QB since McNown, no star WR, no 1000+ yd rushers on a consistent basis...I mean come on...really that hard? If Houston, Utah, BYU, Cal, etc. can do it in a short amount of time, why can't we do it?

BTW: don't put too much hope into Brett Hundley...I saw those highlight clips...they're NOT that impressive. He just takes off and runs...so what? It's a high school defense. He needs to prove that he's a good pocket passer...that's what we need. Finally--I don't know WHAT the coaches were thinking in terms of Prince...YOU CAN'T BE EFFECTIVE IN A GAME IF YOU DON'T PRACTICE! I feel bad for Brehaut because he did EVERYTHING he needed to do to be ready...put in all the work in the offseason. What the hell is the pistol good for if you don't have an effective passing game?

Rahim needs to STOP TALKING and START DOING!

To many 3 and out kills the D.........enough said....

John gold F

Anyone that would give the running backs an F, should not be grading the team. The running backs were awesome. We should have run on every play until standford could show they could stop us which I doubt they could.

the cheerleaders were pretty. that's about it.

It's not at all fair to punish the RBs because everyone else played poorly and they didn't receive enough carries. They legitimately played very well. Giving them an F is very silly.

Also, Bullough's problem is that he's way too vanilla. Chow's problem is the opposite. He throws a million looks out and tries to get a million people involved when he should just be focusing on establishing the running game and getting the simple stuff right.

QB: Z-

How does Prince/Brehaut only get an F?

It's time to give Brehaut the reps in practice and start him. it doesn't make sense to rest an injured Prince then put him in and expect him to perform, he's proven that and we don't have time to experiment anymore, we have all the evidence we need to make an informed decision. And give Riley some PT please!

@Neuheisel Watch: As a USC fan I thought Neuheisel is overrated as a coach but at the same time it looks like USC is in the same boat with Kiffin until proven otherwise. I would disagree with Howland b/c he is definitely a very, very good B-Ball Coach. If UCLA would be careless to let him go I doubt it he stays unemployed for a long time and more likely coaching another big time program.
At the moment it looks like both USC and UCLA are in the bottom half of the Pac 10. It looks like the Pac 10 title will be between Oregon and Stanford.
UCLA is in a tough place b/c they will playing two very decent to good teams and both the UCLA offense and defense are struggling. The UCLA defense looks weak without Price.

Coach Rick has a terrific grasp of the Coaches Manual. He knows that little bible inside and out. Trouble is, he can't implement any of it. It's like me with any new computer software program. I can read about it and even memorize a few important features, but I still wind up pressing the wrong buttons. I feel for Coach Rick because he wants so much to succeed and bring UCLA back to national football prominence. But I think the task is just too much for him. We'll see where we all are in 2 years' time. Maybe we'll be smiling. I hope so.

"It's NOT Neuheisel that sells UCLA to recruits - it's UCLA!"

No. UCLA has an advnatage over anyone else except USC in the PAC 10 in recruiting by being in LA. There's zillions of HS all-americans in LA every year, and many of them want to stay home. But Rick gets you kids that other coaches won't. Please, as a UW Fan, I implore you not to listen and to write your AD and ask him to reinstate Dorrell.

"He already has gotten a lot of outstanding talent to play for the Bruins - trouble is, he does NOT do anything with it once it gets there!"

That is what a sizable majority of fans at UW and Colorado beleive. Most people would agree with you that there seems to be a pattern there.

"Hiring Neuheisel and Howland are mistakes made by Guerrero - it's time for UCLA fans and alumni to stand up and be counted when it comes to the football and basketball programs."

You want Guerrero to fire Howland? Sorry, but that's nuts.

come on Jon... be serious. I totally agree with hollywood bruin.

Plus giving everyone an F, makes giving coaches and quarterbacks, and the defense an F pretty nominal by comparison.

Stop criticizing the grades! If you grade on a curve, the runnings backs and Oline got A's!

Jon,

Thanks for reading this and for answering it honestly.

First off I love the job or recruiting and selling UCLA that Rick is doing, BUT... I hate his and/or Norm's super conservative play calling and always playing for the field position and FG's instead of going for TD's.

Now in our 3rd year of this miserable unexciting brand of football, why should we feel this Palin-esqe conservative strategy will work or even be fun to watch next year either?

Basically I’m asking, Is it time to hire a coach with ice in his veins and balls of steel or can Rick be that guy? If he can, what’s he waiting for?

That's a gross misuse of "conservative."

Palin would come out guns-ablazin'.