It’s fair to say that the football team has been through
hell this year.
The Bruins lost their starting quarterback when Ben Olson went
down with an injury against Arizona, lost an ugly game at Oregon,
and took a huge morale hit by losing at Notre Dame in the final
minute after being so close to the upset.
Yeah, you can say it’s been hell.
So it’s only fitting that UCLA heads to the desert this
weekend to face the Sun Devils in a game with huge implications for
the direction and soul of the UCLA program.
If the Bruins win, they clinch a bowl.
If they lose, the devil gets their soul.
There are two games left on the season, three if the Bruins make
a bowl.
They play at Arizona State and at home against USC.
In a season where the Bruins could have won three more games
than they did, there are two possible pieces of saving grace: a
bowl game and a win over USC.
If they beat ASU, they accomplish one of those and set
themselves up to do the second.
If they lose to ASU, then it means they absolutely need a win
against the rival Trojans to make a bowl.
That puts far too much pressure on that game for a team that has
been inconsistent throughout the year.
The game against USC needs to be about one thing and one thing
only: the game against USC. If UCLA has to worry about postseason
implications at the Rose Bowl, the chances of them falling like a
house of cards are exponentially higher.
On the flip side, if they win this game and beat USC, they go
8-5 on the year.
For a team that was expecting to be in at least somewhat of a
rebuilding year, that would make the entire season a success.
It would make the four-game losing streak seem like a distant
memory, instead of a reality from just two weeks ago.
The truth about these Bruins is that they’ve played way
above their heads and way below their ankles depending on the
week.
UCLA somehow managed to pull out great performances against
Notre Dame and Cal, and while it couldn’t clinch the win, no
one expected it to realistically give either team a run for their
money.
By the same token, UCLA lost to Washington and Washington State,
teams it really had no business losing to.
Considering the Bruins lost four games in a row, it’s hard
to believe how salvageable this season is.
The win against Oregon State did not do it.
A win against Arizona State would go a long way.
And if the Bruins win out, then package it and ship it.
But it’s not going to be a short walk out of the desert
for UCLA by any stretch of the imagination.
The schizophrenic Bruins are going to have to put their best
foot forward against Arizona State’s running offense, ranked
second in the Pac-10 in rushing offense with 167.6 yards per
game.
The only team above Arizona State in rushing offense is Oregon.
No UCLA fan has forgotten that game.
The Bruins’ secondary will also need to be on its toes,
not only because the ground is hot in devil country, but because
ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter could make Saturday a very long day
for the Bruin defense.
Prediction: the Bruins win a close game against ASU and a closer
game against USC to finish out the year.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu if you’re a
fiddle player too.