Saturday might have been the perfect way to welcome back the college football season. My itinerary went something like this:
9 a.m. ““ Wake up and get ready to head to Palo Alto, fingers crossed that the Bay Bridge closing won’t make the traffic terrible.
12:30 p.m. ““ Stanford has the high point of its season. The Cardinal unveiled a new coach in Jim Harbaugh and ran out onto the field through artificial fog while fireworks shot into the air. I hope the fans at Stanford Stadium enjoyed it. It’s downhill from there.
While the Bruins let Harbaugh’s team hang around for a little bit, the 45-17 final score stated very clearly that the Cardinal have only one thing besides their stadium to be happy about: They’re not Michigan.
5 p.m. ““ Tune in to the Cal football broadcast while racing on the freeway to make it to Memorial Stadium, having missed as little of the Cal-Tennessee game as humanly possible.
Sit in the aisles at Memorial Stadium because the entire place is filled to standing room only until I can squeeze my way down a row to sit with friends. The entire stadium is loud and vibrating, the way a college football stadium is supposed to be, unlike Stanford Stadium.
Cal got its revenge against Tennessee, and the year officially got underway.
UCLA fans have a lot to be happy about this year.
The offense has a feeling to it that simply was not there last year. There are some guys who are dangerous. Last year, the offense put up a few points but never had the look of a potent unit that could rack up points no matter what.
Running back Khalil Bell demanded attention with his career-high 195-yard performance. He looked like a power back that could carry a few defenders before hitting the turf.
“Kahlil had a tremendous game,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “We’re not really surprised that he played so well. He had a great spring practice, great summer practice and great fall camp.”
I don’t want to overuse the word, but he looked dangerous.
Quarterback Ben Olson had a great day on paper, and while he could not make a short pass that wasn’t a slip screen all day, his receivers were able to make all the plays for him.
The defense is also very good again. Cornerback Trey Brown is a stud and showed it when Stanford picked on him in the first half.
Defensive tackle Brigham Harwell looked tough; defensive end Bruce Davis had trouble adjusting to the double team but didn’t get much help to spring him and should come around.
UCLA fans should look forward to a season where their Bruins have some play makers, guys that not only handle their routine assignments but also can end up on Sportscenter at the end of the night.
But Bruin fans shouldn’t be booking flights to New Orleans ““ yet.
On my way from the UCLA game to the Cal game I thought a lot about how great of a day Bell had, and how many Wheaties he must have crammed in during the offseason. The prospects seemed really good for UCLA football.
And then I saw DeSean Jackson. I got to the game just in time to see his fantastic 77-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Jackson is a playmaker on another level entirely. Some of us remember how Maurice Jones-Drew used to force opposing teams to punt the ball out of bounds on almost every opportunity. Jackson is the same way, only it might even be more of a necessity for punters to keep the ball out of his hands. Add running back Justin Forsett to that, and the notion of potency takes on an entirely new meaning.
The 45-31 Cal win over Tennessee filled Memorial Stadium with chants of Pac-10 football. The Bruins should be proud to be in the top tier of a division that is gaining national respect and prominence. But Bruin fans should not delude themselves into thinking that top-ranked USC and 12th-ranked Cal are not leading the way.
The Bruins are good. They are however, nowhere near the best team in the conference. Bell had a big coming out party against Stanford, a team that let up over 200 yards rushing per game last year and finished the year with only one win. Jackson made a statement against Tennessee, and it would not surprise many people if he gets some Heisman hardware at the end of this year’s campaign.
The Bruins are good ““ very good. But they’re not at the head of the line in the Pac-10.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu if you were at both games on Saturday also.