PULLMAN, Wash. “”mdash; So who’s ready for basketball season?
Since the Daily Bruin’s advertising dollars were allocated to flying me out to the inland Northwest to report on UCLA’s game against Washington State, I suppose I must fulfill my journalistic obligations and analyze exactly what went wrong on Saturday night.
First, let me explain one fundamental point: Whatever it was that took place in Martin Stadium on Saturday night, it should not be described as football, at least not in the technical sense.
It was a game so awful ““ a not-so compelling matchup of the futile versus the self-destructive ““ that it needn’t be dignified with intelligent analysis. What is most astonishing about Washington State’s 27-7 drubbing of UCLA ““ the outcome shouldn’t have been that close ““ is how the performance of both teams was so comprehensively pitiful that it begs to be ridiculed.
Please don’t misunderstand these words. They are not intended to make anyone feel stupid for investing emotional energy into the UCLA football program. It is only natural for any self-respecting UCLA sports fan to seek some explanation, some sort of reason as to why this team ““ or really any team in the Karl Dorrell era, for that matter ““ could deliver such an inspiring win over a quality opponent like California, then fall apart so completely on the field the next week.
There are many speculative reasons that can be and have been floated around these parts by far greater men than I that attempt to rationalize the mind-boggling inconsistency of the Bruin football program. Let’s not indulge our inner masochist right now by lamenting whatever it is this program lacks. Is it resolve? Is it talent? Is it effort? It seems like some combination of all those things, but no, that kind of talk must be reserved for another time and place.
What should be taken away from the Washington State-UCLA affair is that it could be the single worst game played between two BCS schools in quite some time. The breadth and variety of the ineptitude left us with so much to ponder. Who was playing wide receiver for the Bruins so late in the fourth quarter? What insidious thoughts were running through Bill Doba’s mind when he called for that surprise onside kick in the first quarter?
The Bruins couldn’t muster any offensive rhythm once running back Kahlil Bell and wide receiver Brandon Breazell left the game with injuries. Granted, Bell and Breazell are the only true playmakers the UCLA coaching staff has at its disposal. But the offense couldn’t move the ball against a defense that surrendered 53 points to Oregon two weeks ago. The Bruins’ defense, not to be outdone, were gashed for 545 total yards against a Cougar team that came into the game averaging 408 yards per game. The defensive front got no pass rush, and the secondary seemed like it was called for pass interference every time the ball was thrown more than 10 yards down field. Just as they were the only team to lose to a beleaguered Notre Dame club, the Bruins are now the first Pac-10 team to lose to the Cougars.
Make no mistake about the Cougars’ play, though. For a while there, they were battling to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. For all their success moving the ball, particularly in the running game, the Cougars’ offense stalled in Bruin territory far too often. It was amazing that they only held a 10-7 lead well into the third quarter. Washington State simply couldn’t put its foot on UCLA’s throat.
On a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, with a 13-7 lead in the fourth quarter, and looking to put the finishing touches on a home win, Washington State was held at the goal line on three successive running plays and then had a chip-shot field goal blocked. Only a conference doormat would be unable to get any points in that situation.
To be fair, there were a few bright spots that nullified what was otherwise a tour-de-force of ineptitude. Washington State’s receiving corps made a bunch of wonderful catches to bail out an erratic Alex Brink, and running back Dwight Tardy made some nice moves. For UCLA, linebacker Reggie Carter and wide receiver Terrence Austin were the only players who showed flashes of competence.
The true victims of the game were the myopic Washington State fans, who believed they had watched their team eke out a hard-fought conference win. They stormed the field after their team notched its first conference victory against a team that wasn’t even ranked in the top 25, when really they should have been demanding their money back.
So now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go to the unnecessarily bland responses from the UCLA players, who tried to ascertain as to how they could perform so miserably.
“People say we win a big game and then blow the next one,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “I don’t know why that is, but it’s happening, and it is what it is, and I can’t change it now.”
Fair enough.
“There is no rationale (for these losses),” coach Karl Dorrell said. “We planned and prepared hard for this game like we planned and prepared hard for every game.”
Touché.
“When you lose two great players (like Bell and Breazell) it’s tough,” quarterback Pat Cowan said. “But I felt the other guys stepped in and did a good job.”
Well, that explanation has a fair amount of truth in it, except for that part about the replacements stepping in and doing a “good job.”
“That was us,” offensive guard Shannon Tevaga said. “One hundred percent us. It was all us. They didn’t do anything to stop us, we stopped ourselves. With all our losses, it’s UCLA beating UCLA. UCLA is our biggest opponent.”
Congratulations, Shannon. That would be the correct response.
E-mail de Jong at adejong@media.ucla.edu.