UCLA suffers mistaken identity in loss to No. 6 Stanford
PALO ALTO -
Playing against the top-ranked rushing defense in the country, UCLA wasn't about to
abandon its identity.
But like an 85-year-old grandmother signing up for a credit card online, the Bruins had theirs stolen.
UCLA gained its fair share of territory on the ground, except when it mattered most, and No. 6 Stanford held strong at the line of scrimmage to take a 45-19 victory at Stanford Stadium in front of 50,360, a sellout crowd.
Mixing balanced play-calling and precise execution, the Bruins cruised right down the field on their first drive, setting up a 1st-and-goal at the Stanford 4-yard line. Coming into the game, the Cardinal had allowed just 36 rushing yards per game, while the Bruins had averaged 214 on the ground, 28th in the country.
UCLA managed 16 rushing yards on its first four carries - finishing with 141 for the game - while quarterback Richard Brehaut started 4-of-4 passing for 60 yards. But the Bruins called four straight fruitless run plays near the goal line, and Brehaut's attempt to dive in from two yards out on fourth-and-goal fell a full yard short.
"We're inside the 5, down at the 2, and we feel pretty good about our running game," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We called plays that had a good chance to get in, and we didn't."
A yard, though, was more than enough room for Andrew Luck.
The brilliant Heisman hopeful quarterback engineered a 16-play, 99-yard scoring drive, finding tight end Coby Fleener for a one-handed touchdown to take the 7-0 lead.
What Luck didn't do with his arm, he did with his hands, corralling a 13-yard pass from Drew Terrell with just his right hand to pick up a first down.
Once momentum firmly shifted, Stanford barely let it go.
On UCLA's next drive, linebacker Chase Thomas caught Brehaut from behind and forced a fumble, recovered by Devon Carrington and brought to the Bruin 43-yard line. After a UCLA personal foul gave the Cardinal a 15-yard head start, the Stanford ground game took over, gaining 22 yards before a 2-yard Stepfan Taylor touchdown.
"It comes down to two plays," Brehaut said. "Gotta get those done. We had all the tools we need. A couple of plays make the entire difference in a game like this."
Right when it appeared UCLA was starting to build a little something after Brehaut found Joseph Fauria for a 18-yard touchdown at the end of the first half to cut the lead to 17-7, the Cardinal struck again.
Naturally, it was Luck.
After a nine-yard pass to Chris Owusu (Oaks Christian), Luck hit Fleener streaking down the middle on Dietrich Riley (St. Francis) for a 51-yard touchdown on Stanford's first drive of the second half.
After a Brehaut-to-Fauria connection for 13 yards in which Fauria hurdled over a defender for a touchdown, Stanford responded minutes later, gobbling up a Taylor Embree muffed punt return and scoring on a Tyler Gaffney 16-yard run.
I should have fair-caught it, but when I looked downfield it was open. The gunners got down there pretty quick. I just dropped it in traffic. It's really tough. That's the only muff I have in my career. That's what really makes it tough."
Luck made it tougher on the Bruins.
The projected No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft finished 23-of-27 passing for 227 yards and three touchdowns against a Bruins defense that has allowed 164 points in five weeks.
UCLA, meanwhile, gained 343 yards of offense after gaining just 233 in a 35-0 loss to Stanford last season.
The Bruins could have used that one extra yard, though.
"In a game like this, you have to cash in," UCLA offensive coordinator Mike Johnson said after the defeat. "Down to the 1-yard line, we had three shots. Gotta capitalize."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2010-coaches-contracts-table.htm
Looking at UCLA coach's salary, it's only comparable to non-BCS schools. It's no way that UCLA will ever get a household name coach to come over.
"Like an 85 year-old grandmother filling out a credit card online"...really? absolutely horrible.
Uh...what are you talking about? Sure UCLA isn't going to shell out Texas or Alabama-type cash, but according to that Neuheisel makes pretty close to average for the Pac-12.
re: 85 year old
You shoulda seen the analogies he rejected
why is Embree still returning punts? he is no TD breakaway threat. Neu uses him because he supposedly has sure hands but they unfortunately fail him constantly.
An embarrassing performance by a confused, inept team. We are missing so many ingredients that I believe we will win only one more game this season. Even then, CU just might pull an upset. Good-bye, Rick.
Can't fault Neuheisel or OC for not getting it in inside the 5. This is all Mon morning QB by the fans. If you can't convert 4 yards in 4 running plays you don't belong on the field. O-line didn't get it done. The hypocrisy of ucla fans. Complaining about embree muffing one punt in his career and questioning Neuheisel as to why he is on the field. How many punts do you think rc or se muff in practice.
It's been said here so many times by so many different faithful Bruins. But sadly, and obviously, CRN does not know how to read the obvious anytime, anywhere.
* I never realized how stubborn and arrogant CRN really is. He is full of pride, but sadly, the WRONG kind of pride. Not Bruin pride, but SELF pride. The kind that can't be fixed or really fix things, either.
* Embree should never, ever, return a punt. Never should have. He has no shake and bake, no "quicks" and the job should be Josh Smith's full-time, just like KO returns.
* OK, we are a running team. We get that. But that doesn't mean we go to 4 plays and a cloud of dust to get THE ALL-IMPORTANT first TD. Maybe one fly sweep to JJ? Maybe one play-action quik slant pass? (A nice play most of the game when tried)?
* Our defense over the middle, be it short or long, has been atrocious now in EACH OF OUR 5 GAMES. Freaking do something about it or fire Tressey.
* Our O-Line is so shoddy most of the game in pass protection. Our illegal jumps have been remedied, but serious skill deficiencies and slow footwork may not be re-tooled in the short-term. Which means possible crime scenes every time RB needs to really drop back to pass this season. Stanford embarrased our front 5 most of the game w/usually just a 3-man front and simple stunts. Freaking do something about this or fire whomever is in charge of basic, high school-level line coaching and the teamwork needed to protect.
* The effort was there. My prediction was 45-27 and we left that extra TD on the field. But the way it ended up, Stanford played like a well-tuned sports car and we continue to look like some weird souped-up, hybrid Briggs & Stratton (at best). Is this really the best CRN can do after all of this time?
* Don't blame Dorrell. Or Toledo. Or Guerrero. No, blame CRN, who should simply resign at some point SOON for his beloved alma mater, because someone, somewhere, can do this ALL much, much better.
* Hundley's injury screwed CRN's plans, cause he probably was the right player for this offense, but CRN will never see or know that. After injury, RB should have clearly been CRN's choice, because he is the far superior QB (running skills be damned). So, it will unfold that CRN's handling of the very position he played may have been his ultimate downfall. RB needed every possible rep to this point to be able to lead us in Pac-12 play. No, his choice to play baseball didn't sit well w/CRN, or any of us. But how has RB really been treated by CRN? How has KP been treated by CRN? RB probly thought, by what we see now on full TV display: "Screw you ... I'm doing this, because it might piss you off the most."
* Horrific. And now the drama play rolls on to the halfway point for all to see, full front and center.
* I pity our chances at any recruiting classes to come based on the Helter-Skelter out there now.
* We actually leave Wazzu the chance to like its chops at the thought of a Rose Bowl upset of us next week because of how CRN has mis-managed most everything to this point.
* (OK. That's enough. I feel better because I hate talking Colorado or Utah football out here.)
Ucla-of-the-Rockies has hit several nails on the head. The execution of this team on both sides of the LOS has been appalling. I'm actually embarrassed watching these players. The ineptness of this team can be blamed equally on the coaching staff and the players. And I used to be so proud of my Bruins. Even under Coach Bill Barnes, the players looked like D1 footballers. Now..........simply horrible.
4 consecutive running plays up the middle? Ricky, can you possibly be more imaginative than that?
Did anyone else catch that Mike Leach was in Los Angeles this weekend to promote a book while the Bruins were up north? Maybe he had time to meet with some officials to feel each other out about taking over UCLA after the season.
Two other things.
First off CRN deserves to finish out the season. He is a Bruin through and through. As a player and an Asst. Coach and now as head coach he has done some fantastic things not related to wins and losses for UCLA. Let him have his dignity.
As a coach myself all of this hand wringing about last night is killing me. Okay I get that the result is not what everyone wanted. But watching the game last night. I feel the loss is equally the coaches and the players fault. Poor play calling, which the players are required to follow did us no favors. On the other hand the players made mistakes, had busted coverages and missed blocks and missed tackles. Not all game long, but enough to give the game away. This was not the same team that lost to Houston and Texas. They are improving, but the key is will they continue to improve each game so that UCLA has a winning season.
Mike Leach? Common guys this year's salary and next plus all those side deals sets me up well. Another five years should be the fans cry. Stay with me folks we're alsmost there.
The defense is plain pathetic!!! I've seen more half time defensive adjustments at my son's high school game!!!!! Since we can't stop ANYBODY, why not just air it out???? The only shot we have is to outscore the opposition. Where am I wrong?
This Stanford team is not as good as last years team. Next week could be the season for Rick.
I'm probably alone right now, but I see reason for optimism. Yes, we got waxed on the scoreboard. But we moved the ball nicely at times and found holes in the #4 team's defense. And we still have room for improvement on O.
On defense, with a couple (fairly notable) exceptions, receivers weren't running freely in the open field. We seemed to be in better position to make tackles and actually made a lot more than we have been. They're much bigger than us, and we couldn't expect to beat them physically, so I think we did okay.
The two fumbles were killers. We were in position to make a run at them late in the game. But we're a young team, they're #4, and we couldn't get it done. Their previous opponents were finished by halftime.
The schedule lightens up and I think we can be competitive and make it to a bowl game. Maybe that doesn't excite people, but it's an improvement over 4-8.
Anon:
I wish you and others would stop spreading lies about what UCLA
would and will pay for a coach. Before the new TV money and before offering Rick, we offered Mike Bellotti 2.5 million. He turned us down. Rick was maybe our 5th choice and we Neu we could get him cheap wasn't worth more than the 1.25 million we pay him.
Rick has one more year left on his contract and unlike Dorrell, it has not been extended. The writing is on the wall. Guerrero is going to try to mill Neu for the last year if he can and publicly say he supports him to get the most out of him and keep the players and recruits on board.
If Neu makes it through next year. We will then be in position to not have to buy his contract out and have the 20 million from the new TV contract to spend on a real coach, if he is available. This is the likeliest scenario. If Neu doesn't make it past this year, which it is certainly looking like, then we could buy out his remaining $1.25 and go spend on a REAL coach, knowing the $20 million is coming.
The new TV money is a game changer. It would give us the freedom and the money to be self sustaining and not have to go ask Gene Block to divert money from elsewhere or go to the boosters. Guerrero said when he was interviewed about the new PAC-12 deal that it would allow us to compete with the SEC and "buy us a lot of coaches". I expect him to do so and so should you.
What? That $20Mill is going toward my next big contract extension!
BruinFaithful. You assume they're going to take that $20mil and actually use it towards football. It would make all the sense in the world, and I hope you're right, but i've heard grumblings here and there that Gene and/or Guerrero have other uses in mind for that money, be it athletic (non-football) or otherwise.
That said, i've read so many things in so many places i don't know what's true and what's not.
Maybe Mr. Gold can get to the bottom of it and give is the real lowdown?
On the bright side, UCLA's losses were to opponents with a combined record of 13-0 and two teams with one of the greatest quarterbacks in NCAA history, plus a road loss to #17 Texas. This week UCLA limited penalties to about 25 yards, so discipline is improving, and, if not for the two fumbles and the blown opening drive, the Bruins could have lost by only ten to the #4 team in the country. The offense and defense have improved since the start of the season, and it seems many of UCLA's most promising players are redshirt freshmen or sophomores. As stated above, the schedule lightens up now and it looks possible for UCLA to win 5 of the next 7. If they lose to Washington State, I will stop singing my optimistic tune, but that isn't going to happen.
I think people are upset here because we were in this game and made mistakes. Last year, we were definitely NOT in the game. Shouldn't some kind of progress be noted?
But, I was fairly encouraged by how we played. We stayed in the game until late (within 2 scores). Stanford is a team that you need to play mistake-free, and this is what Neu has been preaching. Maybe the team will take notice and see they need to get better.
Well, I did hate the playcalling inside the 5 ... 3rd down should have been play action or roll out, 4th down should have been pistol with no down back or shotgun. It's a bit said, Neu gets criticism for not using Coleman on the goal line, so this time he uses him and we still get nothing. Bottom line is ... even the good teams get more creative on the one. We're not Wisconsin, we can't just bolo people into the end zone.
I was also very upset at Embree's fumble. Horrible time for it after 2 defensive stops. And, as a previous commenter said ... he's in the game so that doesn't happen.
Rosario is so frustrating. At least make an attempt to get up field.
Oh, and the kicking game. Wow. I don't think High School teams miss so many PATs.
Also, I think our D-Line can learn a lesson from Stanford in how to get pressure on a QB. Twists, Stunts, Fire blitzes from the LB (which we should have exploited by throwing to franklin over the middle btw). We just simply aren't getting pressure. Stanford does NOT have the d-line talent we do and they used scheming and fundamentals to beat us. I really really miss Todd Howard. Any insight into why he was really let go?
I want to correct myself for a mistake I made in the post above that started "On the bright side...": The Texas game was at home not on the road.
If not for two missed kicks vs. Houston, that game's in OT.
Last night, the opening drive's missed opportunity, two missed PATs, and Embree's gift TD to Stanford (kills momentum and has to deflate the defense after another good stop against the best QB in the nation) is a difference of at least 16 points.
The defense made tackles last night. They made stops.
Clearly, there's improvement.
The difficult thing is, the team should never have been in the position where those facts substitute for well-played wins. I hate the anxiety each game waiting for the team to implode.
Youth, injuries, and missions are one thing, but a lack of discipline, effort, and fundamentals all fall ultimately on the head coach. How does a major collegiate program not have a kicker? How can special teams end up as saboteurs?
And putting on the field players who haven't earned the time kills a program. Ask Toledo.
I love Neu, but I love UCLA more. Without a public mea culpa and a colossal turnaround this season, it's time for new leadership.
Exactly, one team was well coached on was not. This game was not that close, the better team always pulls away in the third and fourth.