This was surely not the start to the season that offensive coordinator Norm Chow envisioned when he came to Westwood.
A total of two offensive touchdowns, both coming in week one. A combined total of 435 yards over the past two games. Failing to get in the endzone two consecutive weeks for the first time in 44 years.
It all has begun to raise questions about the potential of the offensive unit, one that has been much maligned since the shutout loss at BYU.
“We’ve been two games with one field goal,” Chow said. “Obviously we need to keep working. I don’t see (an issue with the confidence of the offense). I don’t sense that. I see our guys working awfully hard and there’s nothing we can do except come back tomorrow and keep going.”
Despite a patchwork offensive line, an injury depleted backfield and a quarterback who’s shown only flashes of consistency, wide receiver Terrence Austin still sees potential for a turnaround.
“There’s always signs of improvement,” Austin said. “We got talent in all aspects ““ the running game, receivers. We got a good quarterback, and I don’t see why there can’t be anything done. We got a bright future with this offense. It’s only the past two games. We definitely have a lot of stuff we can work on but I don’t think we’re limited at all.”
The question of being limited on offense due to a lack of talent has been leveled at the coaching staff over the past two weeks, drawing the same response from both Chow and head coach Rick Neuheisel.
“We are who we are,” Chow said after Saturday’s loss. “We have the players we have and we’re just going to have to coach better. It’s going to happen. One of these days we’re going to be champions, and in order to be champions sometimes you have to fight through some tough times. It’s hard now but I think our guys are resilient. We got to keep working.”
On Monday, Neuheisel addressed the same question that probably will not be answered until the Bruins can prove otherwise. “I’m not going to talk about whether the talent exists,” Neuheisel said. “We are who we are. What we’re going to talk about is whether or not we can improve at the rate that we need to in order to be competitive. It would be too simple to say, “˜We don’t have enough talent.’ And take the tack like it’s somebody else’s problem. It’s our problem. We’re UCLA. We’re going to fix it.”
Neuheisel has said repeatedly that there will be no quick fix for the offense’s problems, but the urgency to solve them still remains.
“Our offense has got to improve,” Neuheisel said. “We’ve had 22 drives over the past two games that have resulted in three points. That is, by anybody’s definition, woeful. The young people in this program are aware that we need to improve now.”
Though senior defensive tackle Brigham Harwell plays on the other side of the ball, he’s seen seasons go down the wrong road after one or two bad losses. He’s determined not to let it happen again.
“Us seniors on the team, we’re not going to let this team slide down,” Harwell said. “We have a good team. We have a good staff. We have everything that we wanted.”