Ugh. Shrug.
Is there anything else to say? Or do? After suffering through
seven touchdowns, four turnovers and four straight years of
losing?
It’s that two-part reaction that’s become a Bruin
fan’s way of life in this rivalry. There’s the
frustration (ugh) and then the apathy (shrug), and the only thing
that made Saturday any different is the quickness with which the
latter took over the former.
Twenty-one points in less than 10 minutes.
Ugh.
Thousands leaving the Rose Bowl after just 120 minutes.
Shrug.
I’m not saying we should have seen this coming. The
newspaper articles and the players’ quotes and the
coach’s speeches and the fans’ logic told us this was a
different UCLA team, that it couldn’t possibly get any worse
than last year.
Not that it’s really important just how the latest of the
Bruins’ harmless efforts compares with those of years past.
No, what’s important is that one team couldn’t play or
act like the team it wished it could be and the other played and
acted like the team it is ““ a legitimate Bowl Championship
Series contender.
The team with everything to lose played like it was thinking
about nothing but winning.
The team with everything to gain couldn’t gain more than
20 yards without fumbling.
With two freshmen platooning at quarterback (more on that
later), a freshman running back and a freshman snapping the ball,
UCLA simply couldn’t play straight up against University of
Southern California’s personnel.
So that meant stripping the ball from USC early, or maybe
forcing a special teams miscue, or just doing anything to level the
field and see what our gutsy little Bruins could do against these
big bad Trojans.
And those things happened. Just the other way around.
I don’t mean to open up any saline-doused wounds, but Tab
Perry lost the opening kickoff return before half the student
section had been kicked out of its seats by UCLA Game Staff, and
not 30 minutes later, a punt snap flew so far over Nate
Fikse’s head that it should be touching down in Portland any
time now.
The Bruins were like the comic book guy from The Simpsons,
telling USC, “here, take the ball, we do not want
it.”
Ugh.
So as the second half started, I saw this bizarre flow of fans,
with people coming in from tailgaters that went a little too long
(they turned out to be the smartest ones of all), while at the same
time those who made it in on time were leaving in disgust.
“We know who our true fans are,” Ben Emanuel II said
in reaction to the exodus.
But if it seems like the effort’s not there on the field,
can you really hold it against the fans if the effort is missing in
the stands?
Shrug.
And what would a post-USC-game column be without some armchair
coaching?
Heck, it’s become a tradition.
The scenario: After a shaky start, Drew Olson leads the Bruins
on a solid 90-yard touchdown drive to make it 21-7 and inject even
the smallest glimmer of hope into the cause.
So then, naturally, Toledo replaced Olson with Matt Moore.
Wait. What?! He did what?
Yep. And Moore fumbled his first two snaps, losing the second
one to give ‘SC primo field position and an expedited ticket
to a 28-7 lead.
But then, that was Toledo’s plan all along.
“We thought he could handle the snap and make a
play,” he said. “He’s played in the past and done a
good job. Why not? Our plan was to play him. We thought he could do
the job.”
Ugh.
The quarterback fandango appeared to be annoying fans,
especially after Olson was finally looking comfortable on the
touchdown drive. So it made me wonder: would students be willing to
vote “yes” on a Undergraduate Students Association
Council referendum raising student fees, if it meant buying out
Toledo’s contract?
Ah, they never get quorum on those things, anyway.
Shrug.
And just in case 52 punches to the groin weren’t enough,
Washington’s upset over Washington State in the Apple Cup
means USC goes to the Rose Bowl if UCLA beats Washington State on
Dec. 7.
Ugh.
So that leaves us with a question: is it better for the Bruins
to win and send USC to Pasadena on Jan. 1 or to lose and screw the
Trojans?
At this point, deflated as we all are, there’s really only
one answer:
Shrug.