USC Co-worker: Hey! I was looking for you on Monday! Do you have anything you want to say?
Me: Not really, I have zero to say about this weekend, if that’s what you’re referring to.
USC: Zero, like UCLA?
…end of conversation.
Four days have passed since the Mormons punished UCLA football in Provo, Utah and the sting is still reverberating through my body. My belief in the “mantra of relentless optimism” was overtaken by the destructive nature of reality. As I sat at my desk, I reached up to pull down my Rick Neuheisel poster but decided against it; I still had faith.
I understand that the score was 59-0. I know that the difference in all of Pete Carroll’s losses at USC accumulate to only 59 points. And I am very aware that UCLA ranks last in rushing. But from my relentlessly optimistic perspective, UCLA’s own foolish mistakes were 75% of the reason for the humiliating victory. UCLA fumbled the ball over three times, threw an interception, failed to convert two 4th downs, and had a field goal attempt blocked. Rick Neuheisel explains the aftermath,
“We were down 14-0, moving down the field, then Kevin gets hit in the back, the ball comes out and now it’s 21-0. We get a 9-yard gain on first down, and coming around the corner, Ray Carter fumbles and now it’s 28-0… They kick off, we fumble the ball and now it’s 35-0. We drive down and have a field goal blocked, they run it back into their short field and it’s 42-0. It’s not rocket science, you just have to play good football or things like that can happen to you.”
However intriguing this game was, we now defer attention away from the negative. UCLA is not as bad a team as one would imagine, they actually might be third or fourth in the Pac-10. In the past week’s games, Pac-10 teams demonstrated how weak they really were. Oregon, the only ranked team outside USC, barely managed to escape with a 2OT victory over Purdue (who’s kicker missed a game-winning FG at the end of regulation). Arizona State lost to UNLV, Arizona lost to New Mexico, and Cal lost to Maryland. In case you have not noticed, these Pac-10 teams lost to poor football programs in games they should have won. UCLA played a far superior opponent in enemy territory.
The Bruin rushing attack led by Chane Moline resulted in an abysmal 9 yards on 16 rushes, but UCLA is already at practice trying to improve the ground game. Derrick Coleman, a true freshman out of Fullerton, is expected to step into the starting running back role after 50+ touchdowns in his last two prep years. If Coleman proves to be a better runner than Moline and Carter, the implications are exponentially positive for the Bruins. Not only will a lot of pressure be released from Kevin Craft and the one-dimensional offense, the defense will finally be able to rest during games as the rushing game chews time off the clock.
At the end of week 2, there is not much to be happy or proud about. Reality gave the blue and gold a swift kick in the ass, but it also tells us that no matter how badly you lose, it is still only one loss. UCLA has played two top-tier teams and is 1-1 on the season (not bad). And after realizing how weak the Pac-10 teams are, I feel Neuheisel’s “mantra of relentless optimism” making a comeback.
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