It’s one thing to build off of a thrilling victory.
It’s quite another to recover from a crushing loss.
The UCLA football team’s performance in this
weekend’s game against Washington State will be a trial of
will and mental strength. It will be a true test of the
team’s character.
For many teams in the Bruins’ situation, this
weekend’s game would have “collapse” written all
over it.
UCLA was able to recover well after their loss to Oregon. The
Bruins played their most inspired football game of the season
against Notre Dame and should have won.
But now, after two straight losses to ranked teams, the Bruins
are facing a Washington State team that is coming into Westwood
beaming with confidence after whipping Oregon.
So one team is coming off of an infuriating, stomach-turning
loss, while the other team couldn’t be happier after a huge
victory last week.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster for the Bruins.
In the NFL, we recently saw how one team reacted when presented
with a situation similar to UCLA’s.
One week after the Arizona Cardinals lost a very close,
heartbreaking game to the undefeated Chicago Bears in the final
minutes of a nationally televised Monday night football game, the
Cardinals got crushed by the worst team in the NFL ““ the
Oakland Raiders.
At Monday’s press conference, Karl Dorrell was asked about
that game and what he has to do to avoid the fate of the
Cardinals.
It was interesting to hear Dorrell’s reaction to that
question.
First, Dorrell talked about how much the Notre Dame game hurt
him personally.
He compared his frustrations to those expressed by Arizona coach
Dennis Green after the Cardinals’ loss to the Bears.
But at both his postgame press conference and his Monday press
conference, Dorrell did something different than Green.
Rather than throw a tantrum and storm off the stage in
frustration as Green did, Dorrell was able to calm himself down,
point out the positives, and give the players something to build
off of.
Now, whether or not you believe that the players on the team
will respond to that is another question. But so far this year,
when presented with adversity, the Bruin players have responded
well.
Dorrell deserves a lot of credit for that, and I have confidence
that the players will respond positively this weekend as well.
If that’s the case, the Bruins may very well be in for
another close game, which means that the burden could fall on
Dorrell and his staff once again this week.
As a UCLA fan, one would hope that the Notre Dame game was the
ultimate learning experience not just for the players, but for the
coaches as well.
If this game is close, it could be the defining one of
Dorrell’s career.
It could either be the crossroads where Dorrell and his staff
decide to match their players’ attitudes and go for the win,
or the staff could revert to the “safe,” stupid
approach that has basically cost the Bruins two games (Washington
and Notre Dame) this season.
To sum it up, this weekend’s game will be a true test of
spirit for every player and every coach on the UCLA football
team.
It will say a lot about whether this program is truly headed in
the right direction.