There were those unconscionable turnovers. There were those missed tackles. There was that inexplicable coaching decision to give USC an extra third-and-goal attempt to put the game away.
So much of USC’s 24-7 win at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday ““ or, as many of this newspaper’s readers care to view the game, UCLA’s uninspiring and predictable defeat ““ will be overanalyzed into some tight narrative that will be used to symbolize what is wrong with Karl Dorrell’s tenure in Westwood.
Well, here is another one.
But rather than bore you with particulars about the game ““ for instance, why the Bruins couldn’t stop the Trojan running game, or why John David Booty is terribly overrated ““ I think it would be better to neatly summarize the latest USC beat down of UCLA as follows: Pete Carroll has assembled a roster that is much bigger, stronger, faster and all-around more talented than the club Dorrell has put together.
Yes, that sounds simplistic. But it is, to borrow a saying from Dorrell, the God’s honest truth.
Sure, the Bruins played pretty poorly. The four turnovers and the stubborn strategy to keep running Chris Markey up the middle into the belly of the USC defense didn’t help.
But anyone who watched that game knows UCLA had such inferior talent that it had no chance of winning, just like it had no business winning any of the five games against the Trojans that Dorrell has coached.
It was a wonderful fluke, as well as a testament to Dorrell, that UCLA was able to steal a game last year.
So if there is anything symbolic in UCLA’s loss to its crosstown rival, in what was likely Dorrell’s last game as UCLA’s coach, it is that his team was plainly mediocre.
In that game ““ as they have throughout this and each of Dorrell’s five seasons ““ the Bruins lacked the talent to compete with an elite program.
If that comes across as harsh, please don’t think it is said with a sinister pleasure. After watching Brandon Breazell struggle to put his clothes on after the game, seeing his teeth clench and his chin spasm in pain from a neck injury when he bent down to put his gym shorts on, it would be disgusting to question the character of Dorrell’s team.
They play too hard to say something like that. The Bruin roster embodies so many of the good qualities of its coach ““ the players are by and large very nice, hard-working young men. By comparison, the Trojans have taken on the personality of their coach, too ““ they play the game with a sense of arrogance and self-entitlement. And for better or worse, when it comes to football, arrogance usually delivers better results.
So now that the final regular-season game has been played and it looks like the Bruins will be heading back to one of the lower-tier bowls they have become so used to attending, it is time to address the future of the UCLA football program. In fact, as your eyes skim over these words, it is likely that UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero has already decided Dorrell will be fired and compensated with a $2.05 million severance package to find the door. But is that the right thing to do? Probably. But it pains me to admit it.
After a midweek practice last week, I wanted to ask Dorrell a few questions about how this season has gone. What I got instead was a candid coach, who probably knew he was about to be fired and was willing to offer his ultimate defense for the job he’s done. Dorrell mentioned how he was brought in to clean up a dirty program Bob Toledo left behind, and how he accomplished that. He mentioned how he’s been hamstrung by strict academic standards that his competitors at USC, Oregon and even California don’t have to worry about. He reminded me about the recruiting class he has coming in next year, a group of players projected to be one of the top three classes in the country.
Dorrell made a good argument. After each point I began to wonder if maybe he should be given the benefit of the doubt and a few more years to see what he can do. But that would be ignoring the fact that after five years, with a roster filled with his own recruits, there are still few NFL-caliber players on the team. And Dorrell hasn’t proven that he can do more with less. If you consider the resources at UCLA’s disposal, the win-loss record is indefensible.
But then it dawned on me. Dorrell ““ the nice man who runs a clean program and cares about his players ““ has already been given the benefit of the doubt. If he were as deeply flawed as many of his counterparts, he probably would have been fired before now. Then again, if he were as arrogant and shamelessly self-promoting as many coaches are, he’d probably be a much better coach.
For better or worse, this is the business of college athletics.
E-mail de Jong at adejong@media.ucla.edu.