I had this whole column thought out a week ago.
UCLA was going to beat Stanford, reach the Pac-12 title game and have a legitimate shot at reaching the College Football Playoff. Sure, UCLA would still have to get past Oregon, but given the way the Bruins had been playing in the past few weeks, that seemed like a more plausible possibility than the first time around.
I was all ready to write about how UCLA’s season had come full circle – from preseason playoff hype, to midseason mediocrity, then back into the playoff picture and among the Pac-12’s, and nation’s, elite.
It seems the Bruins went 540 degrees, not 360.
Rather than ending their regular season with the same national attention they began with, the Bruins played more similarly to the team that lost two consecutive games midway through the year and nearly another two against Cal and Colorado.
Ultimately, UCLA ended its regular season with the exact same record as the past two, and remains winless against Oregon and Stanford during coach Jim Mora’s tenure.
So now that the regular season is over, was this year’s team really any different than those of the past two years? Has the program grown at all under Mora or has it stagnated after its initial jump forward?
There’s no simple answer to those questions.
A case could be made that UCLA has taken a step back, failing to reach the Pac-12 title game for two consecutive years after making it there in Mora’s first season as coach.
An even better argument could be made that last season was the pinnacle of UCLA’s success during its short time with Mora. The Bruins lost only to ranked opponents, but consistently put together complete games on both offense and defense, something they rarely did this season.
Though the consistency was lacking this year, the 2014 season still ended up much the same as 2013 for UCLA, losing only to No. 2 Oregon, No. 25 Utah and a 7-5 Stanford team that was six points away from being 9-3.
UCLA proved it is one of the better teams in the Pac-12. It hasn’t shown it is one of the best.
“We have to figure out a way to close the gap,” Mora said after the Stanford loss. “I thought we had closed the gap, but we still have work to do.”
On the field, the Bruins’ performance and end result may not have improved, but the program as a whole has.
That could be seen in Eric Kendricks’ eyes as the redshirt senior inside linebacker fought to control the quiver in his voice when speaking to the media after missing out on the opportunity to compete for a Pac-12 title.
That could be seen by the College Football Playoff voters – who pegged UCLA as a top-10 team before the loss – and the pundits who picked the Bruins to reach the playoffs before the season began.
That can be seen from UCLA’s recruiting class, which already has commitments from three five-stars – the most it has had in over a decade – and another eight four-star prospects with National Signing Day still months away.
The Bruins have grown to a point where they no longer have to worry about not being noticed and not getting the recognition they deserve. 9-3 is a good record, and this season, despite its ups and downs, has set the Bruins up for even more success next year and beyond.
Good is no longer good enough for UCLA – and that’s a great thing.
“We’re pretty good but we’ll keep getting better,” Mora said. “We’re on the right path. We’re making progress.”