The ticker crawled along the bottom of the screen all day Saturday: “Worst UCLA loss since 1929.”
Yes, the 59-point spread was technically the largest margin of defeat since Herbert Hoover occupied the White House, but in the grand scheme, this loss was not that devastating: No heartache, no shattered dreams, no officiating blunders. It may not have even been the worst football loss of the weekend ““ Ohio State and San Diego Chargers fans can vie for that dubious honor. For UCLA, this was an expected bump in the road in the opening act of the Rick Neuheisel show.
We knew there would be hiccups along the way. The impassioned week one upset over Tennessee was a classic example of overachieving in a nationally televised game at home. The Bruins’ team strength is defense, and against the Vols that unit bothered Tennessee’s green quarterback Jonathon Crompton, who threw just 78 passes in his first two seasons.
Saturday, in a difficult road game played nearly a mile above sea level, they faced a potential all-American quarterback in Max Hall, who picked apart the Bruins with short, precise passes. Even when UCLA’s coverage was there, Hall delivered perfect strikes with video-game accuracy. BYU’s aerial attack and sloppy play by UCLA quickly turned a difficult road challenge into an insurmountable deficit.
Yet even after all the turnovers and Cougar touchdowns, this was still just one setback, and an expected one at that. This is only game two of the Neuheisel era, and currently, as Dennis Green would say, they are who we thought they were. The offensive line and secondary are still inexperienced. Kevin Craft still only has two starts. Neuheisel is still coaching someone else’s recruits. The schedule is still daunting.
Running the football must be a point of emphasis for the Bruins coaching staff, while they attempt to mold and improve the offensive line as the season unfolds. Their leading rusher after two games has amassed all of 21 yards, with a painful 1.2 yards per carry. As a team, UCLA is averaging less than 1 yard per rush. Despite Norm Chow’s play-calling, it’s difficult to keep defenses honest with such an anemic ground attack.
Winnable games are on the horizon against Stanford and Washington State. However, ranked schools Fresno State and Oregon also loom in the near future. Fortunately for Neuheisel, three consecutive games will be played in the comfort of the Rose Bowl, where the home crowd can bolster his young team before they venture into unfriendly waters again.
If the first two games are any indication, this should be an intriguing up-and-down season.
Despite inevitable growing pains, young, developing teams can be satisfying for true Bruin fans as they watch Rick Neuheisel and his brilliant staff guide the program back to national prominence. With only a few seniors in prominent roles, most of this team will return next season, so their experience and growth are as valuable as wins and losses.
Despite the lopsided score, don’t take this loss too hard. There are nine more opportunities for development this year.