BOULDER, CO.””mdash;One thing is for certain: gone are the good
vibes from December, when UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell was hired to
take over the program. Reality has set in, and left from the dust
of Dorrell’s spoiled debut at Folsom Field is a clear
message””mdash;there is much work to be done.
But another equally clear message is that Dorrell is up to the
task, and that he has the weapons to get the job done.
“For us to come in here, in a hostile environment, and
play as well as we did in front of a capacity crowd, I’m very
proud,” Dorrell said. “Obviously, I’m not
satisfied, but I saw enough where, if we got some things fixed,
we’ll be a solid football team.”
Dorrell did prove that he, too, has some decisions to make. True
freshman Maurice Drew fumbled twice – once on a kick return and
once on a handoff. Holding a 14-10 lead midway through the fourth
quarter, Dorrell continued to insist on running the ball with
running back Tyler Ebell, despite the fact that the Bruins had far
greater success through the air. And, with the lack of success
running the ball with Ebell, Dorrell never once turned to 6-foot-3,
245-pound fullback Manuel White, who rushed 85 times for 381 yards
last season.
Perhaps most importantly, there seemed to be game management
issues. UCLA burned the last of its timeouts on Colorado’s
game-winning drive, leaving the Bruin offense with none for its
attempt at a two-minute rally.
“We needed a breather defensively,” Dorrell said.
“That was a judgment call on my part, and I thought we needed
to regroup and make a stop. Obviously, if we had made a stop, it
would have been great.”
To Dorrell, it looked like UCLA was a team playing its first
game, against a team that was playing its second. Nevertheless, he
was pleased with how his team responded.
“We’ve got a really young team,” Dorrell said.
“We’ll get better as the season unfolds. But I’m
proud of the effort at what I saw today. We were up against it
early today (with starting quarterback Matt Moore injured), but I
liked how we hung in there.”
The loss only slightly diminished what, for Dorrell, is a dream
come true. Donning a white cap and a pressed pair of dark slacks
and a collared shirt, Dorrell stalked the sidelines, the first in
his career as a head coach. While not the emotional leader in the
mold of assistant coaches Eric Bieniemy and Jon Embree, Dorrell,
stoic by nature, couldn’t help but crack a smile during the
postgame when asked if he knew where to go when the game
started.
“I just thought I was getting in everybody else’s
way,” Dorrell joked. “Overall, (my coaching debut) was
like any other game on the sidelines. It all comes down to strategy
and what we’re trying to get done. I wasn’t as nervous
as I thought I was going to be. To me, it was another football
game, and we just came up short.”
Not as forgiving were the Bruin players, who wanted to win for
Dorrell. They praised his disciplinarian nature and support on the
sidelines, as well as the team’s readiness entering the
game.
“We were very prepared,” Ebell said. “The
coaches did a great job in that aspect. From an offensive
standpoint, at least, we just didn’t execute.”
Added tight end Marcedes Lewis, “I’m mad at myself
because it was Dorrell’s first game. We feel like we let him
down.”
Still, the team has reason to be optimistic. The greatest
improvement is often seen between the first and second games of the
season, and the team will be returning to the sweet confines of the
Rose Bowl after spending Saturday afternoon in the high altitude
and boisterous atmosphere of Folsom Field. Even more importantly,
the team says it will rally behind Dorrell to regroup.
“He’s a leader, coach, teacher and just a great
man,” linebacker Justin London said. “We’re going
to win with him, and we’re going to stick behind him one
hundred percent.”