Just when you thought it was safe to out yourself as a UCLA fan
“¦ Surprise!
There is no way the Bruins, high and mighty after a 4-0 start in
the Pac-10, should have lost to Stanford, which hadn’t won a
conference game in over a year.
Still, it certainly comes to no surprise that it was the Trees
who cut the Bruins down to size Saturday, taking them to the
woodshed at The Farm with a 21-14 win. UCLA clearly was caught
looking ahead to the Washington State game, and the Bruins ended up
taking it up the wazoo one week early, leaving their faces Cardinal
red.
“Those things happen, and today, unfortunately, it
happened against us,” coach Karl Dorrell said.
“It’s our first loss in conference ““ at least
that is over with.”
And amazingly enough, Dorrell is right. This loss is over and
done with. Move on.
What, did you really think that UCLA would go through an entire
season without one of these hair-tearing losses? The Bruins have a
history of choking, so why cry about it? These sorts of things will
happen.
If you’ve entertained the idea of UCLA going undefeated
and clinching the Pac-10 title even before the USC game, you
obviously don’t know the Bruins very well.
The bottom line in the Pac-10 is, you can lose on any given
Saturday. The Trojans had their Cal, and now the Bruins have their
Stanford.
With UCLA now sitting in a three-way tie for first place with
Washington State and USC, it’s simple, really. Win and go to
the Rose Bowl. Yes, the Bruins still actually control their own
destiny, and it starts this Saturday at Washington State.
So there is no reason for the doom and gloom attitude right now,
no need to invoke the obligatory comparisons and make this team out
to be the 2001 team.
We all know the story, but for all those who missed that history
lesson, here goes.
In 2001, the Bruins went into the Stanford game in 6-0 and left
Palo Alto a bunch of losers. Then they lost another three straight
““ at Washington State, at home to Oregon and at USC.
Coincidentally, those three games are exactly what remain on
UCLA’s schedule this season.
But this year won’t be 2001 all over again, quite simply
because that year the bored Bruins, besides losing to Stanford,
also lost a shot at playing in the national championship game.
This year’s team, meanwhile, has gotten off to a good
start and still has nothing to lose with a first-year coach and a
nearly last-rated offense that can only get better with time.
I’ll take a team with maturing youngsters over one with
sellouts for seniors any day.
The Bruins have a patchwork offensive line that features three
new starters, including converted true freshman defensive tackle
Kevin Brown, who is starting on only two weeks practice. Let these
guys grow.
Poor Matt Moore, who was sacked eight times, was understandably
fidgety, but the sophomore also showed flashes of brilliance in his
fourth career start. Let him lead.
And Maurice Drew, despite losing a fumble, still came off the
bench to juke and jive his way to scoring two touchdowns. Let him
go.
Instead of mailing it in like that 2001 team did, this team
promises to continue to get better rather than worrying about how
much their NFL signing bonuses might be worth.
“This (loss) might be the best teaching tool all
year,” guard Eyoseph Efseaff said. “We are going to
learn from our mistakes.”
So just maybe, after losing to Stanford, not all has been lost
after all.
Leung was a football beat writer in 2002. He can be reached
at dleung@media.ucla.edu.