Common sense dictates that this will all catch up to UCLA.
That one of these games, the defense will bend, break and fold
like an overmatched poker player. That one of Drew Olson’s
last-minute passes will slip out of his receiver’s hands and
drop incomplete. That UCLA will eventually fall just short after
trailing big for so long.
For a third straight week, common sense was ready to knock the
Bruins back to reality. And for a third straight week, the Bruins
kept playing in another world.
“I might have a heart attack one of these games,”
UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said after his team’s 44-41 overtime
win over Washington State. “But if we win all our games like
this, I’ll take it.”
History, probability and logic all suggest there’s no way
the Bruins can win every game the way they won Saturday’s.
Football gurus would say that defense wins championships, and if
that’s the case, UCLA has about as much chance of winning the
conference as the alumni marching band. Game theorists might argue
that these nail-biting contests are decided by chance, and that no
coin flips the same way every time. And just about every other
reasonable person would acknowledge that when teams don’t
play inspired football for a full 60 minutes, they are resigned to
defeat some time, regardless of the tenacity they show in the final
quarter.
Yet for a third consecutive week, the Bruins have shoved reason
aside and claimed they can replace it with extra ounces of heart.
They’ve kept playing with fire, but haven’t been
burned. It’s a strange phenomenon, where common sense is
starting to mean that if this team is down by three touchdowns in
the fourth quarter, the victory is a lock.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” tight
end Marcedes Lewis said. “We don’t listen to anyone but
the people in this room.”
If I were a UCLA player, though, I’d listen to everyone
before stepping on the field. I’d pay attention to the media,
which has persistently nagged the Bruins about slow starts and
overlooking lesser opponents. I’d take notice of loyal fans,
who have been anxiously waiting for the program’s revival and
would be crushed at another downfall.
Lewis’ comment, however, is right on target once the
Bruins step onto the field. After all, the media has covered
football so long that experience recommends writing off teams like
UCLA. And loyal fans have followed the Bruins so long that
it’s impossible not to think about a letdown in a game such
as Saturday’s.
Ignorance just might be the best approach for UCLA once
it’s on the field, which can only make sense in the context
of this year’s team. It’s better off tuning out the
hostile crowd, the history books and heck, even the scoreboard for
the first three quarters.
Olson may as well ignore the fact that he has a defense before
halftime, and just assume that the beleaguered unit will put him in
position to win the game in the final minute. The quarterback seems
to have already adopted this mentality, essentially accepting that
his offense is responsible for cleaning up the defense’s
mess.
“We got their backs, really,” Olson said.
Most undefeated teams aren’t so consistently dependent on
one side of the team to carry them. Success traditionally comes
through having all-around balance, where the offense allows the
defense some margin for error, and vice versa.
The Bruins’ success this year has been anything but
traditional though. And if they’re going to keep winning
these insane kind of contests, their opponents and common sense
will both keep taking the beating.
E-mail Finley at afinley@media.ucla.edu if you’re
predicting UCLA will rally from a four-touchdown deficit to win on
a final play Hail Mary next week.