Battle of the Columnists

Every so often, there is just an overwhelming number of hot topics enveloping the UCLA sports scene. The various fall sports present an opportunity for Daily Bruin Sports staffers to sound off on what’s been going on with the football team, both soccer teams and the women’s volleyball team.

The UCLA football team pulled off the upset against Texas this weekend. What more is it going to take to land the Bruins in the Top 25?

Ryan Menezes: Let’s be honest here: Voters don’t care about wins over Washington State. On the other hand, they do care about margin of victory, which means the Bruins have to make sure the Cougars don’t even keep it close. Two straight wins over ranked opponents plus big wins over Wazzu and Cal should be enough to get the Bruins into the Top 25.

Vidur Malik: Knocking off a top 10 team is obviously going to turn heads, but UCLA will need to perform up to that standard in a stacked Pac-10. It would be premature to rank the Bruins right now, before they take on the likes of Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and other Pac-10 teams who are either ranked or on the bubble.

As impressive as the Texas victory was, how much of a concern is the UCLA passing game?

Ryan Menezes: We’ve seen these one-trick ponies before. Georgia Tech always makes some noise with its fancy triple-option offense and low number of pass attempts, but the big wins are few and far between. Nine pass attempts will not cut it. Rick Neuheisel needs to go to the playbook of Nevada coach Chris Ault to improve the aerial attack out of the pistol.

Vidur Malik: The Bruins can still be a run-heavy squad, but they will need to shake things up with a pass at least every now and then. I don’t imagine it would be too difficult to do it. The Bruins definitely run the ball well enough to set up the passing game, and a play-action fake or a bootleg pass after a steady dose of runs would be great complements to their much-improved rushing attack.

The men’s soccer team strolled into Santa Barbara on Friday and was showered with tortillas from the 15,896 fans in attendance after losing 2-0. It’s evidently a Gaucho tradition, but do you file that under unsportsmanlike conduct?

Ryan Menezes: That is definitely foul play. Come on, UCSB. There are much better ways to heckle than to throw food. You know how many delicious burritos you could make out of those tortillas on the field? A lot, that’s the answer.

Vidur Malik: I just consider this a reaction to UCLA being in the house, since 15,000-plus don’t just show up for any school. Although it might not feel great to be littered with tortillas, having a record-crowd is just a testament to how big a deal it is when UCLA’s in town. Don’t worry about those burritos, Menezes, the dining halls supply plenty of delicious food for hungry Bruins to enjoy.

The UCLA women’s volleyball team lost its Pac-10 opener to USC on Friday. How does that bode for the Bruins, considering there are six Pac-10 teams in the Top 25?

Ryan Menezes: It’s going to be a tough year for coach Mike Sealy. He might have most of the same players from last year’s team, but continuity was completely lost in the offseason with the team losing Lauren Cook and Amanda Gil and its coach, and it has definitely showed this year.

Vidur Malik: The USC loss obviously wasn’t the best way to kick off Pac-10 play, but it shouldn’t be looked at as a sign of things to come. There’s plenty of upperclassmen leadership and promising underclassmen talent to have a successful Pac-10 run. Don’t forget, the Bruins are among those six ranked Pac-10 teams, so it’s not like they can’t handle the competition.

With top scorer Sydney Leroux unavailable for the time being, did UCLA women’s soccer turn a corner after winning both games this weekend?

Ryan Menezes: The win over Santa Clara was a huge confidence builder for the Bruins. Closing out the second game of Friday-Sunday combos was a big problem, and being able to do it without their star player, over the then-No. 10 team in the country, was a huge step forward. Leroux has got to be pleased with the team she’ll be returning to shortly.

Vidur Malik: Getting back-to-back weekend wins is definitely a corner-turning feat for the Bruins, and now it’s up to the team to continue that success while Leroux is away. If she does make the U.S. National Team, UCLA will have to continue making strides and win more Friday-Sunday matches throughout the season without its MVP.

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