It’s not too often that I get to go home on the weekends.
My fellow collegians know that the weekends are considered “˜rage’ time or “˜catchup on homework’ time, very rarely “˜hang out with my mom’ time.
I hope she never reads this.
Anyway, this past weekend, I did happen to take my behind out to Long Beach and spend some time with my mom and old man. And upon my visit, I just so happened to take a peek at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, my childhood beacon of sports rhetoric.
And what do you know, inside I find a UCLA football report card, in which the Bruins, for their performance against Washington on Thursday, were awarded the most legendary and most mythical grade of … F +.
Before I go any further, I have to say that that’s hilarious. Not because they played so bad, but just the idea of a “˜F +’ seems to tickle my fancy quite heartily.
But now that I think of it, it’s also funny because it’s quite accurate. Taking all aspects of the game into consideration ““ the offense, the defense, the opponent, the stakes ““ UCLA did not show up in what was a crucial and winnable game.
And for that to happen is a failure on the part of the UCLA football team.
As we all know, six wins makes you bowl eligible. Not bowl-bound, but bowl eligible. With that said, clearly there is more that goes into making a bowl game than having enough wins. That “˜more’ that goes into it includes quality of play, throughout the season and down the stretch.
So, Thursday’s game against Washington was much more than a game to win or lose. It was an indicator, an indicator of just how good this UCLA team was actually playing; an indicator of whether or not the Nov. 6 win over Oregon State meant that the Bruins were turning the corner for this season.
But whatever hype there was over the Bruins, if there was any at all, it’s dead and almost gone after the deflating performance put on Thursday night.
And once again, it all starts behind center.
Many have been critical of Rick Neuheisel and his lightning quick quarterback-hook technique. But can you really blame the guy at this point? Have you seen the quarterback committee at UCLA?
That’s not to say they don’t have talent, but anyone can have talent. It’s about mentality and knowing how to utilize that talent. And none of the UCLA quarterbacks this season ““ not Kevin Prince, not Richard Brehaut, not my new favorite football player Clayton Tunney ““ have shown they are aware of how to utilize their talents in order to take the Bruins to the next level.
So why is it Rick’s fault when he pulls these guys? That’s sports. When you are not performing on the court or pitch or field or whatever, you need to be taken out of the game.
You may think that going to Tunney in the fourth quarter was a bit drastic, but Brehaut was concussed and Darius Bell was con-something. Either way, leaving Bell out on the field or putting Tunney in, the Bruins weren’t in a good position after Brehaut was out for the game.
If you dare to look at the play-by-play, which hurt my eyes personally, you’ll see just how unsuccessful the passing game was and that two late interceptions, one by Bell and one by Tunney, were the difference in the game.
Going into the fourth quarter, UCLA was only down by three before those two interceptions set up Husky touchdowns. And in my opinion, they also wrecked the Bruins’ bowl chances.
The fact is, that last quarter against Washington was one of the most crucial moments this season for the Bruins and they totally under-performed. Now, they will have to win out, and win impressively, at Arizona State and against USC, in order to save their bowl aspirations.
And if anybody thinks the ASU game will be easy, think again.
The Sun Devils have lost to No. 1 Oregon, No. 7 Stanford, No. 5 Wisconsin and USC by an average of 4.25 points. The Bruins haven’t been nearly as competitive against the top competition, besides the Texas game, which in my mind, has been the only positive this entire season.
In fact, it may be the only thing that Neuheisel can point toward to save his notion of relentless optimism.
I can’t see much else.
E-mail Watson at bwatson@media.ucla.edu.