SB Nation - Johnathan Franklin

Who Were the Worst Performers in the Pac-10 in 2009?

Avinash — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:02 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Meet the Pac-10 MVP of interceptions!

It's always hard to measure the value of good teams in football. It almost always starts with a good quarterback, followed closely behind by an offensive line and a running back. Then you want a strong front seven, with receivers and secondary coming somewhere after that. You can build a good team around the front four, a great one with everything else coming together

So in determining a football MVP (or I guess for college football, Heisman), we're looking at people from the first three or four categories strongly. In the next two days we'll start counting down the best players and o-line/defensive units in the conference to try and figure out who deserves to be the Pac-10's most valuable player

That's right, instead of doing a national college football consensus (which would be tedious and terrifying), let's go with what we know well. This is all Pac-10.

Because most of us are sick inside, we'll start with the worst Pac-10 performers. What player or unit (offensive line, particular aspect of defense, coach, other thing, etc.) do you feel played the worst this season? Did I leave anyone off that requires mention? Discuss in the comments!

USC--Matt Barkley

Wait a second. Didn't Barkley just beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe? Nothing can stop him now! He's on his way to college football greatness!

Anyway, it seems like Carroll's petty anger at Mark Sanchez was a bad sign of things to come. I'm not saying that Sanchez could've saved USC from the avalanche at Autzen, but he should've outdueled Luck and Foles with essentially the same offense from last year. It would've been a B- version of the 2005 team, all offense and average defense. And they'd probably have ended up in Tempe.

If Sanchez was like an ice cream sundae at Fenton's (a little bad here and there, but still a tasty ride the whole way), Barkley was like a strawberry cream pie shake at Sonic's (tantalizing at first taste, but man would it make you sick down the road). He threw the most interceptions in the Pac-10, more than Sullivan, Prince, and any of the Wazzu troupe. His four turnovers in the Cardinal romp led to 28 Furd points, and he threw another killer pick against Arizona that led to what turned out to be a crucial seven points for the Wildcats. His 4th quarter stats were abominable--50% completion rate, one touchdown, SEVEN interceptions, 83 passer rating, which is good for 117th in the country, only about a drop of about a hundred in the rankings from the season before. His most memorable touchdown throw of the year was only meaningful in the sense that UCLA's defense will be headhunting him in eleven months.

Add in these continuing rumors from Thoroughbred that many of his teammates despise him, and all is not well at Heritage Hall for the first time in...well, a decade. The rest of the Pac-10 couldn't be more delighted.

Note: Thought about the Trojan run defense here, but come on, those guys got DECIMATED (entire front seven gone, plus another four or five guys injured). They had no chance against the Quack Attack or the power run game of the Furd.

UCLA--The entire Bruin offense

via cache.daylife.com

Man, it was brutal watching these guys this year.

Some more fun stats:

There were four teams in the Pac-10 (Oregon, Arizona, USC, Cal) who had two rushers that ran for more than UCLA's leading rusher (Johnathan Franklin)
The Bruins leading man in yards for scrimmage was Nelson Rosario, who finished 19th overall. There were seven teams in the Pac-10 with two or more players with more yards from scrimmage, and four (Furd, Oregon State, Arizona St., Oregon) with three.
Navy threw the ball 96 times this year, Army 161 (http://www.cfbstats.com/2009/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category02/sort06.html), Kevin Prince 267. Navy and Army scored 5 touchdowns apiece on those passes. Prince scored 6. Somewhere Norm Chow is wringing his neck (could be either Prince's neck or his own).
The USC game perfectly encapsulates UCLA's offensive abilities: To prevent from being shutout by their crosstown rivals, the Bruins needed a 13 play, 65 yard, five and a half minute drive that included two fourth down conversions, and two forced fumbles.
Bruins fans are actually calling on Kevin Craft for the bowl game. Yes, THAT Kevin Craft. (Okay, they only want him to start because he wasn't happy at playing hookie, but still). You know your offense is in desperate straits when your fans are ACTIVELY CALLING for Kevin Craft.

Furd--The ENTIRE CARDINAL DEFENSE

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

Exactly the same thing we did for UCLA. Let's just rattle off the numbers...

A few examples of their defensive fails:

Their defense never forced a fourth down in the first half at Corvallis; five times Oregon State got the ball, five times they marched down the field and put points on the board, 31 in all.
The Cardinal surrendered not one, but two 40+ yard rushing touchdowns to Arizona to blow a two score lead in the 4th quarter, the last one on a 50+ yard scamper by Nwoko on THIRD AND SEVENTEEN.
The Cardinal took a 14-0 lead on the Bears with 6 minutes left in the first quarter; Cal responded by holding onto the ball for 35 of the final 50 minutes, including ripping off 24 unanswered points and scoring on five of their next six drives.

Perfect example of their horrid season came against Notre Dame. Toby Gerhart rushed in the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left in a tied game against an awful Irish defense, and Harbaugh looks about as pleased as Michael Corleone finding out Kay had an abortion. Why? The Cardinal could have kneeled down three times and kicked a chip shot extra point-type field goal at the buzzer to win. The touchdown put the Cardinal defense back on the field against Jimmy Clausen. Sure enough, after getting pinned at their own ten, in TWENTY SECONDS the Irish are at the Cardinal 24 and nearly pull a win out of their asses. All thanks to the Cardinal's hideous defense.

Yeesh. Maybe Gerhart did deserve the Heisman. But we'll get to the MVP candidates soon enough.

Oregon State's September swoon

via blog.oregonlive.com

This isn't really a unit fail as opposed to a team fail; the Beavers suck in September EVERY SINGLE YEAR. They could never get going against Cincinnati even though they were at home. They allowed Nick Foles in his starting debut in Corvallis to complete 74% of his passes at 7.5 YPA with 3 touchdowns and no picks. And they needed a last second Kahut field goal to beat a 5-7 UNLV squad. And these guys plan to play TCU in Dallas and Boise in the Smurf Turf next September?

Cal's pass defense not named Syd'Quan Thompson

via cdn2.sbnation.com

108th in passing yards given up; 103rd in completion percentage; 81st in passer rating. The Bears dropped from 3rd in the country in INTs to 71st, from 1st in the country in passes defended to 47th. So let's say they regressed a little.

(You might say the offensive line deserves this...but Cal still ranked top 40 in rushing yards per game and top 25 in yards per attempt. You might even say the special teams, but they didn't have as much impact as our defense, plus their general incompetence over the past half-decade deserves its own post. A lot of that had to do with Best and Vereen, but that's still only a mediocre unit, not an awful one. Nothing hurt the Bears more in 2009 than their pass defense...the offensive line just exacerbated the situation.)

Washington--Nick Holt

This one's hard to say. Holt's defense was much improved from last year, especially in the run game. USC, Cal, Wazzu, Arizona all fell. On the other hand...his defense still got ripped apart by the Oregon schools and the Furd. They weren't that bad, but they weren't that good either, so it's hard to call them the worst. So I'll go with the easy to hate Holt here.

Ultimately though, Holt's defense still provided us with the most comical college football moment of 2009, which could've been the difference between Locker and his first bowl game...

Arizona State

Only four games into the season, Pitchfork Nation wrote an open letter to his beleaguered starting QB withdrawing his support.

I retract anything positive I said about Danny Sullivan. Not only are you not physically talented enough to start for a Pac-10 team, but as you proved last night, you’re what we call in my family a "mental midget."

..

Instead, you exhibited the same physical problems we saw in each of the Sun Devils first three games. You sailed balls, you completely missed wide open receivers and left your pass catchers out to dry with several horribly thrown balls. Your most accurate pass was one you threw away in the 3rd quarter that perfectly nailed the "C" on the Muscle Milk sign on the side of the east bleachers.

Well, that sucks.

The numbers don't get much better for Sullivan: He never threw better than 56% in any quarter, he threw well on 1st down but didn't make much of a dent otherwise, and he generally struggled with everything. He hit 60% completions in only three of his games, all against bad pass Ds (Cal, Furd, Oregon State). For God's sake, he struggled against Wazzu. Shouldn't there be a shaming list for athletes who struggle against Wazzu?

And it wasn't like he was throwing to turds out there; both Kyle Williams and Chris McGaha notched 57 catches, and Dmitri Nance was a capable runner. No, it looks like most of the wounds were self-inflicted.

Wazzu--Everyone?

via cache.daylife.com

I'll save those poor Cougar fans an explanation; I really don't want to go over this hundred car pile-up, and they've suffered enough. At least they have Klay Thompson.

Oregon: LeGarrette Blount?

via www1.pictures.zimbio.com

He's probably the Ducks Least Valuable Player. I'm not happy stating it since the dude got a huge punishment for a totally surreal moment, but he redeemed himself, so that's always good.

But I put a question mark there...because for not-so-obvious reasons, you could make the case that he's the unintentional Pac-10 MVP. Why?

1) The Punch changed the whole Oregon running dynamic. For nearly a month Oregon struggled to get past the rust, but slowly things started to click and their offense got back in sync for the Utah game; once James and Masoli started operating in tandem the Quack Attack began rolling.

So...does Oregon win close games versus Purdue and Utah if Blount is in the backfield? Do the Ducks slow the pace down against Cal, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State instead of attacking, attacking, attacking? Does James get going at all? Does Barner break out as a pure speed demon? Would Oregon have gone 10-2 without the Punch? I doubt it. In a strange way, Blount's actions made his team BETTER in the long run--the Ducks were able to play that fast up-tempo offense that Kelly relished, and they blew through the Pac-10 relatively unscathed.

(I will always believe that if the Bears had played Blount and Masoli that we could've snuck that game out--not necessarily won, but the opportunity would've been there. We could've bottled up Blount the way we held Gerhart in check, play deliberate 3-4 football and wait for Blount to find the hole before matching him at the line of scrimmage. Of course, we still wouldn't have been able to defend Ed Dickson, but at least it's a step up from defending no one.)

2) The media hatefest gave the Ducks an 'us against the world' mentality. You can't underestimate the power of ESPN and the Internet on these guys--when Oregon became the dominant storyline of the opening college football weekend, when they heard about how they stunk and that their coach should be fired...it's not implausible they didn't rally around the hate and use it to fuel their overall mission. It's hard for me to say that Chip Kelly didn't use that to motivate the Ducks to play better, execute better, keep the pace going; they only let down once (the Cardinal), rolled everyone else and delivered in what amounted to Rose Bowl quarter and semifinals against Arizona and Oregon State.

If it had just been an awful loss the Ducks would've been forgotten by the national media--the Punch gave it the attention, gave Oregon the fire they needed to run through the rest of the season. It was the perfect black swan event. Everything went wrong on the first day of the season, and the Ducks spent the next three months trying to prove that it was an aberration. Didn't do too shabby, did they?

Of course, you could say he would've been theoretically least valuable; were the Ducks a better team if Blount wasn't playing? We'll never totally know, but the fact they barely missed a beat without him says a lot. They probably beat the Furd with him, but do they blow out USC, Cal, Arizona State, Washington and UCLA? I'm not so sure about that.

So Blount gets his team's LVP...only because the rest of the Ducks played like MVPs the rest of the year. For some reason, I feel he won't mind it that much.

Tomorrow: Pac-10 MVP honorable mentions

Spaulding Roundup: UCLA On The Brink

Nestor — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:42:49 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Chane Moline, Trevor Theriot, and Jeff Baca (60) find themselves on the brink (of becoming bowl eligible and possibly something more)

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About 32 hours to go till the biggest football game of the season. This has been one of those weeks when I was wishing for football game to be on Thursday night on ESPN. I was thinking when was the last time Bruins had this kind of opportunity to seize total control of momentum heading into that last regular game of the season. The game I keep thinking back to is the one against Washington Huskies in 19978?

Do you guys remember that Washington game from 978? IIRC Brock Huard was the QB for the Huskies at the time while number 18 was of course marshaling the offense on our side. Heading into that game everyone had that sense. Something special was going on with our program. Our offense was showing signs of clicking on all cylinders as Cade was in total control. Long's defense was flying around the field. I wasn't at the game but I remember when ABC's camera zoomed in with the aerial shot. There were about 80,000+ Bruins fans waving towls and going berserk making the Rose Bowl sound as loud as I have ever heard. That was the game when everything came together. Cade was flying around decking Husky LBers in his classic roll outs while Brian Willmer and co. were just demolishing Huard into the turf. Up until that game Bruins always found a way to choke whenever they had opportunities to seize momentum but they came through in a huge way, blowing out the Huskies by a score of 51-21.

Well there is no way I see the Bruins blowing out the Sun Devils. I think getting a W tomorrow is going to be a huge battle. However, I do think this year's Bruins have an opportunity to recapture some of that magic from 98 (while making a season ending run following 5 game losing streak ala 92). All season we haven't had a game in which both the offense and defense clicked together at the same time. I can't think of a better occassion than senior day at the Rose Bowl, so that kids like ATV, Carter, Austin, Bosworth brothers, and Paulsen finally getting rid of some of the pains from Dorrell years. Tomorrow's game is so huge. It will put us on the brink to make that charge we all have been hoping to see signs of. We are all thristy and desperate for it and I am praying our guys can come out and play with the ultimate urgency. Our guys - at least on paper - during this game week have sounded like having the right mindset heading into Saturday. More on that after the jump.

Brian Price and co. have been hearing a lot about the ASU defense (for good reasons). They sound anxious to playe their role in a possible defensive slugfest:

UCLA's game against Arizona State could be a defensive affair, and most are touting the Sun Devils in that department.

ASU has 24 takeaways, including 15 interceptions.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," UCLA junior defensive tackle Brian Price said. "It's going to be a showdown, I guess. Their defense versus our defense. It matters. It's motivation, more fuel to the fire."

The ASU defense allows opponents to gain just over 300 yards and convert just 30.7 percent of their first downs, both of which lead the Pac-10. Neuheisel hopes UCLA would win a defensive battle.

"We'd love for it to be to our advantage," Neuheisel said. "I know this: In a defensive game, you can't turn the ball over. We have to do a great job not turning the ball over, knowing what we can and can't do and not let their pass rush be a huge factor in the deal. And see if we can find a way to get this win."

It looks like Price and co. will be facing either soph. Samson Szakacsy or senior Danny Sullivan tomorrow at the Rose Bowl:

Coach Dennis Erickson narrowed his choices (for starting quarterback) to two Wednesday, opting not to start true freshman Brock Osweiler for a second consecutive game.

Sullivan started the first nine games then sat out last week against Oregon with a right biceps injury.
"I don't think he's totally healthy," Erickson said. "That's part of the decision. He's throwing it OK, but not like he can. It's still bothering him."

If Szakacsy, who played in the second quarter and the entire second half last week, gets his first start then Erickson would prefer that Sullivan back him up because of his experience.

Osweiler left the Oregon game because of a left-shoulder injury but is healthy enough to play, Erickson said.

All signs point to Szakacsy getting the start particularly because his right elbow tendinitis is not flaring up even with his extra throwing.

"He's practiced very well," Erickson said. "He's smart and he understands what's going on. He gets the ball out quick. It (his elbow) is closer to where it was in the spring than it has been because really early in the season he couldn't have played. He couldn't throw it from here to the fence."

Whoever starts tomorrow our defense cannot let him get comfortable. They need to disrupt him by making him hurry by bringing pressure on him from all over the place. I really liked how Bullough used Akeem Ayers this past weekend. He finally figured out it seems that Ayers has a lot of potential to destroy opposing QBs in number of ways, if we get him lined up as DE. I would love to see more of that along with pressure coming from other angles. Tomorrow is the day our defense needs to come out and fly around all over the field, making the same statement they made on national television in Tennessee.

Elsewhere the LAT focuses on the competition at the RB spot in Westwood. Milton Knox is embracing it:

"You can't call it crowded. I call it competition," Knox said. "We're in a program that is trying to be the best right now. We've got two more guys coming in. They will compete just like everybody else. If you don't like competition, what are you doing here?"

JetSki has the right attitude as well but he has his RBs mixed up:

"It's the big leagues," Franklin said. "They're always trying to find that guy, that Reggie Bush, that O.J. Simpson, to come in and take the position. You just have to come out here and work hard."

Uh no. Johnathan we are not looking for (alleged) double murderer and (alleged) cheaters (turned into NFL busts) in Westwood. We are looking for you to do the same thing as Skip Hicks, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Gaston Greene and of course MJD. That means better focus and concentration on the field:

"I don't care how big you are, how fast you are, whatever, you got to hold on to the ball," running backs coach Wayne Moses said. "Your team depends on that from you. He understands it. We've got to keep working toward that end."

Hopefully JetSki, Knox, Coleman and Moline can find a way to come through and help out Kevin Prince against the best defense in the conference tomorrow. If they can play a big role in getting us a W, forget the giddiness around being bowl eligible, it will put our program on the brink of something special.

GO BRUINS.

Bruins make a change at running back for Cougs

Nuss — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:21:43 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

In a move that makes a lot of sense for the Bruins, Derrick Coleman will get the start Saturday against the Cougs.

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UCLA is making a change at tailback for Saturday's contest which on the surface might seem odd, but in actuality makes a lot of sense.

Johnathan Franklin is a 5-foot-11, 195-pound redshirt freshman burner who has started eight games at tailback for the Bruins. Only problem is, he's fumbled the ball five times. So the Bruins are turning to 6-foot, 230-pound sophomore bruiser Derrick Coleman instead.

At first blush, you'd think they'd want to go with the speedy guy, given our lack of that quality on defense. But the Cougs have shown the ability to generate fumbles (although that's tapered off a lot the past three games), and when you combine that with the expected cold weather ... well, I can see why UCLA would want to try and make sure that it doesn't give WSU any possible way to stay in the game.

Besides, it's not like we've done great stopping big backs, either -- Notre Dame's Robert Hughes (5-11/234) went off for 131 yards on 24 carries, repeatedly dragging our smaller defenders for an extra two to four yards.

Spaulding Roundup: Prince Update, Curing Fumbilitis & Staying In Offensive Rhythm

Nestor — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:53:14 -0000

More photos » by Wily Low - AP

Got to hold on to the football.

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Bruins continue to prepare for Washington State with an eye on the health of Kevin Prince. The LAT reported Prince looked "sharp" in his return to practice yesterday while the OC Register described him as "alert." Prince still has to go through a "series of tests" this week before the UCLA medical staff clears him for Saturday's game in Pullman. Al Balderas has more on various tests Prince has to pass before taking a snap against Washington State:

Prince said he felt good after Tuesday's practice but understood the protocol that he's required to go through when coming off such an injury.

"I can tell them all I want that I feel normal but they won't believe me," Prince said of the medical staff. "I've got to prove it."

The tests are fairly simple and seem to be more time consuming than anything. A lot of them are geared toward testing Prince's memory skills.

"I'm sure she'll do the same stuff like make me count backward by sevens from 100 and stuff like that," Prince said.

"There is little crazy stuff like that. She'll tell you five words and you have to tell them back to her five minutes later.

"They take good care of us."

We expect nothing less. Prince's OL will also be looking to take good care of him (or Craft) on Saturday. Those guys have been a clear marker of improvement for our offense this season in the form of providing better protection for our quarterbacks. That was evident against the Huskies last weekend when our OL made both Prince and Craft comfortable as both of them were finding time to look for their second and third options. From the Daily News:

"We're all on the same level now," freshman left tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo said. "Communication is excellent, right where it's supposed to be. We did notice on film that there were some broken plays and we still made them. As long as we keep doing our jobs, that can happen, even if the route isn't there."

Both Prince and Craft made plays outside the pocket after the Huskies' coverage broke down, and both quarterbacks were able to bide extra time to let plays develop.

The offensive line allowed two sacks, but one came under intense pressure, while the other was considered a coverage sack.

"When everyone talks about protection, they always just think it's with the offensive line," offensive line coach Bob Palcic said. "It's the receivers running the right routes at the right depth, it's the quarterback reading the right coverage and knowing where to go with the ball, and it's the offensive line holding up and preventing penetration."

"It's a three-pronged attack that has to work together."

Bruins will count on the OL to help stay in the rhythm they got in during the fourth quarter against Oregon State and continued through the Washington game. However, they will need to really cut down on their fumble issues.More on that issue and other notes after the jump.

Offense coughed up the ball 10 times in its last two games (recovering 7 of those fumbles). In Corvallis some of those fumbles stunted promising offensive drives while last weekend two of them led to Washington touch downs. So coaches are giving extra emphasis on ball security during practices this week:

"We definitely need to institute ball security back in practice," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Compared to what took place a year ago, the turnover rate has been good for us. But it has reared its ugly head and we have to go back to making it a huge point of emphasis."

The biggest culprits are the team’s leading passer and leading rusher. Quarterback Kevin Prince has nine fumbles, losing four. Tailback Johnathan Franklin has five, losing two. The two are also responsible for 10 of the Bruins' 14 offensive touchdowns.

Still, Franklin, who has been nursing a sore ankle, did not return to the game after fumbling at the start of the third quarter against Washington. He has been the most consistent running back this season, with 510 yards rushing and five touchdowns

That leads Neuheisel, when asked if there will be changes in personnel, to say, "I’m not sure we're ready to make that decision."

"Most of [Franklin’s] fumbles have been when he was close to the ground," Neuheisel said. "But the last one against Washington, he got the ball yanked out of his hands. We have to make sure he treats that thing like it’s sacred."

The answer this week will be more drills. Neuheisel said he had eliminated the ball-handling drills earlier in an effort to shorten practice, but he will re-introduce them this week.

"We’ll have guys run the gauntlet machine and other drills," Neuheisel said. "We’ll also make sure the scout team is involved. They have to try to get the ball out. There will be great concentration on this during the week. We can’t lose the ball. It’s too important."

Well it will be interesting to see how Prince, JetSki and rest of their team-mates hang on to the ball on Saturday. One of the reasons I thought we struggled holding on to the ball in Oregon State was because the conditions might have been a little slick (I thought it had rained in Corvallis earlier in the day, but I could be wrong on that count). The fumbles last week were inexcusable though. JetSki (he is not the only RB who has had fumble issues this year either) has to focus and concentrate with the rock. Hopefully the extra drills during practices will get the guys more game ready for Saturday.

Going back to the offensive line the LAT reports of a little shuffle due to an ankle sprain by Ryan Taylor:

Guard Ryan Taylor is not expected to play this week after suffering what Neuheisel called a sprained right foot against Washington.

Taylor, who was wearing a walking boot while watching practice, said that X-rays showed no broken bones but that "two of the bones by my toe have separated a little."

Darius Savage and Jake Dean will compete for the starting guard spot and both may play against Washington State on Saturday.

Savage started seven games at left guard last season. He has spent most of this season on the field-goal and kickoff-return units.

"I was a little rusty today because I have been playing tackle the last two or three weeks," Savage said. "I have to get my steps more compact and playing inside is more physical, which I prefer."

Offensive line coach Bob Palcic said, "I had Darius and Jake alternating with the first team, giving them equal time. I need to make sure they understand the proper techniques and assignments."

I thought Taylor did a great job last two weeks stepping in for injured Eddie Williams. Ekbatani really struggled when he was asked to step in during the Arizona game. When Ryan took over the spot he seemed to stablize it. Hopefully Savage or Dean make most of this opportunity.And, no I am not going to offer any commentary on Stan Hasiak (who is back in LA) except to wish him luck and root for him to get it together in a tough freshman season (away from parents and family in Hawaii).

On other injury news it sounds like Jerzy Siewierski suited up and went through half of practice yesterday. He might be ready to contribute on Saturday. If that's the case it's great news for our D. We can definitely use his motor in front-7. Although, I am sure if he gets in on Saturday, it will be for limited amount of time. Also, the coaches are slowly working Aaron Hester back into practice:

Redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Hester was back at practice Tuesday after missing much of last week with discomfort following his return from a broken tibia. His status for the week is still undetermined after he worked mostly with the scout team in practice.

"Hester was back working today, getting acclimated with the scout team," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We're seeing if he can gain confidence. It's really a confidence issue with him."

Again I don't think there is any need to rush him back. It looks like Sheldon Price is slowly developing confidence at the corner spot. This weekend presents another huge opportunity for the freshman CB to take another step. My preference at this point is to let Price keep gaining his confidence and take as much time as possible so that Hester gets completely healthy. Also, note I though Andrew Abbott did a pretty good job from the nickle spot last weekend against the Husky offense.

To wrap this up I think the key for the entire team will be to zero in on execution on Saturday. I think the game is going to present a huge opportunity for the entire team to show what kind of composure it can exhibit as an obvious favorite. While Washington State no doubt will have some intangibles on its side as it will try to take advantage of its best opportunity to pick up a conference victory, our guys should be able to come in and take control of this game from the outset if it wants to keep charging towards a possible post season. If our gus on offense can eliminate the fumbling mistakes, continue to protect our QBs, and stay on a rhythm it found itself in back in Corvallis, we will have a great shot to keep the MO on our side during our flight back from Pullman.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: QB/RB Rotation & Thoughts On Balancing Perspective During These Rebuilding Years Of UCLA Football

Nestor — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:58:14 -0000

Let's start with the quarterback story again in today's roundup. Rick Neuheisel wants Richard Brehaut to get meaningful snaps this weekend in Oregon. It looks like he doesn't want to put him in situations when the outcome is already decided. It sounds like he wants to put Brehaut in situations during which there will be opportunities to grab the momentum via offense. From the Daily News (emphasis added):

"Richard Brehaut deserves some meaningful time, not just at the end of ball games, to show what he can do," Neuheisel said. "Earlier, I said I'd hoped, or I'd like to be able to. Now I'm making sure it's going to happen. I'm going ahead and saying it this time." [...]

"Norm and I have discussed it," Neuheisel said. "He's in those meetings with those kids. He believes (Prince) is the best bet for us as it stands currently. I don't disagree. He wasn't sharp Saturday. I wish he were, but he wasn't. I made a switch. But it doesn't mean I can't go back to him and have confidence in him. I want the young quarterbacks to play without fear of a quick hook. But they also have to play and play well.

"We've got two young quarterbacks and we'd like to see them both develop; I just think it's time Richard gets some chances."

Cannot agree more with CRN on this. Look I get that QB is not our only problem. I get that our wide receivers are not making plays. We are not getting senior leadership from certain guys on our offense. Our offensive line is still developing as it was completely rebuilt from the disaster left behind by Karl Dorrell. However, to me it still starts with our quarterback. Forget winning the game at this points. We need our QB to at least manage the game and take advantage of opportunities when the present themselves.

We just haven't gotten that from Prince or Craft. Prince had a great first half against San Diego State. Then he fizzled out in the second half. He didn't throw interceptions against Tennessee but he didn't exactly light the place up. He showed some signs of life against Cal but was beyond awful against Oregon and this past weekend against Arizona. I think he has the tools to emerge as a good QB. However, at the same time I think Richard Brehaut deserves fair shots to prove himself during in game opportunities as well (not just in situations when the games are already decided or UCLA is looking to make desperate come backs).

I really hope CRN and Chow have special packages in place for Brehaut which he can run coming into either second or third quarter that would fit his athletic abilities. Not sure if its going to help the kid if we ask him to take 5 step drops in slow developing plays when the defense is already teeing off him with blitz after blitz . Anyway, it will be interesting to find out how the rotation is going to work this weekend (even though we are not going to get to see it). More after the jump.

Speaking of rotation looks like Ramirez is going to be out of it:

Christian Ramirez, who was No. 1 on the depth chart at tailback coming out of training camp, has been told he's no longer in the playing rotation.

Ramirez said he received the news Monday during a meeting with running backs coach Wayne Moses.

"We're just trying to find the right combination," Neuheisel said.

Ramirez started against Arizona because Johnathan Franklin missed a team meeting. But after he fumbled early in the third quarter, Ramirez never played again.

Neuheisel said that on the play Ramirez fumbled he was "dinged up, and may have a concussion."

Hope Christian gets to be 100 percent sometime soon. Frankly, I was really surprised to see Ramirez start this past weekend. It didn't make any sense to me given how productive JetSki has been this season. Moreover, where is Derrick Coleman? The kid is our second leading rusher averaging around 5.5 yards per carry. Where the heck is Milton Knox? Why haven't we seen them in our last couple of games? Our RB rotation has been very befuddling without making any kind of sense. Not just that our running plays have also not shown any kind of imagination in terms of offensive scheming.

Seems like we just keep running the same off tackle plays without taking into account who is at TB. I don't get why we have 5-8, 170lb Damien Thigpen running between the tackle when he comes in. As I mentioned yesterday with Knox, Thigpen and JetSki, it seems like we have the RBs who can get outside and take advantage of their speed. So I don't understand why we are not working up plays that would put them in a position to dart through in open spaces. Meanwhile, on the other side it'd be good to see Coleman in situations when we need to pound the ball and wear out the other team.

Anyway, those are some thoughts that have been going through my head. Honestly I know we are all frustrated and that is natural given a 4 game losing streak. However, like many year I am not close to giving up. Also, I think people here to need to brace for tougher times because I don't expect this weekend to be pleasant either. Plus we have talked about how gruesome the schedule is for next season. Still while we are going to stick with the team and be supportive of our players and coaches, that doesn't preclude us from questioning decisions not making a lot of sense or wonder out loud for explanations.

I get the difficult job of rebuilding CRN and his staff inherited. I mentioned on Sunday that we will not go easy on him in terms forgetting the mild expectations we had set for this season and the reality based expectations for next year. That said we will definitely take into account the improvement he has already made in several aspects of our program. Its clear to me that our OL is getting better and we have better talent among our younger guys. We will be patient and allow our coaches to grow this younger guys while at the same time we are going to wonder about any moves that might seem illogical.

Guess that's part of the drama that is college sports. We are all part of it and I actually think it's fun in some ways to talk all of our issues out in such detail. Speaking of which, I think you guys should take up on the offer from ryebreadaz and ucla13_usc9 to join them in this week's podcast. Specifically those of you who might not agree with their takes from recent weeks (cough***QB decison***cough) might want to call in and make your case on why you disagree with them. :-) As mentioned above, it's all part of the fun and the balancing act that will take place here on BN during these tough rebuilding years of UCLA football.

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday Roundup: Can The Bruins Play With A Sense Of "No Fear"?

Nestor — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:14:45 -0000

Still not sure what mindset I want to be in heading into this late afternoon game. I have laid out this week why I feel that this has the signs of another road massacre for our Bruins. I am not all that excited about the idea of celebrating a moral victory either. Of course we can stick with the cliches and faith thinking that somehow Bruins will pull out a victory but I am not going to write that because well I frankly don't think there is a chance of it happening.

Right now I am fully expecting us not to just get blown out or lose today but also follow it up with another loss next Saturday. The key to this season will be whether we will be able to eek out 3 wins out of our last 4 games. Perhaps there will be a chance of that happening if we can show definitive improvements in all facets of the team starting this weekend. I don't even think it's a matter of showing dramatic improvement. I think it boils down to showing maturity and executing the schemes coaches have designed on both sides of the ball. It will also be a matter of coaches making necessary adjustments and most importantly having their guys play with absolutely no sense of fear. I think that's what it comes down to. If we can have our guys come out and play with no sense of fear it will help to alleviate the sense of funk that has been around not just this community but in the greater Bruin Nation since last weekend's football game.

As for the stories today they do note a sense of urgency from the team:

Neuheisel, who was unusually businesslike with reporters this week, ended one day by telling the team, "That was a great, great practice, let's take it to another level tomorrow."

That may mean he believes that it will take a great, great, great effort to defeat Arizona.

Practices carried an air of urgency, with a UCLA victory in this game key to showing some overall progress

If UCLA is going to steal a win on the road today, we will need our offense to step up and build on the improvement from last weekend. From the LA Times:

The Bruins rolled up 418 total yards. Quarterback Kevin Prince passed for 311 yards. Tailback Johnathan Franklin had a 74-yard touchdown run on a bum left ankle.

That's the glass-half-full spin.

There's also the glass-is-cracked-and-leaking-all-over-the-counter view of things.

The Bruins had to settle for field goals three of the four times they advanced close to the end zone. Prince had a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He also fumbled while being sacked, leading to another touchdown in a 45-26 loss.

Tidying up the situation today against Arizona largely falls on Prince, who will be making his third start since returning from a fractured jaw. He completed 21 of 41 passes against Cal, and put 26 points on the board.

"This guy has a huge upside if he gets better every week," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.

For Prince to improve he is going to need help from his team-mates. We will see if the entire team does a better job of executing on offense which will entail finding his open receivers and on the flip side his receivers helping him out with running more aggressive and crisper routes. More after the jump.

On the defensive side Rahim Moore and co. are looking to erase the bad memories from last weekend. However, they are going to have their hands full with Arizona:

"We've gotta go out there and play good football, or else Arizona's gonna put 50 on us," said sophomore free safety Rahim Moore, whose five interceptions came in the Bruins' first two games. "And they are good enough to do it. We've got to come ready to play, which I know we are."

CGB Report Card: Grading Cal's Performance Against UCLA

Avinash — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:00:23 -0000

via farm3.static.flickr.com (original image link)

Thanks to Monica's Dad and Cal Bears Online for the images!

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score (out of 4)	3.431	3.711	3.47	2.745	3.059	2.902	2.25	2.490	2.245	3.441	3.412
Grade	B+	A-	B+	B-	B	B	C+	C+	C+	B+	B+

Thanks to the 34 submitters!

C98, Oaktown123, VandyImport, Dingosean, GoldenBear 77, TKE Prytanis 79, Thoroughbred, GBB4188, omnizzle, Jr. Bear, Yleexotee, GBMarin, California Pete, Yorzepol, rurata, Swamphunter, Trisweb, iVinshe, CALumbus Bear, mig, CaliforniaCMB, Kodiak, beson, sec119, Ohio Bear, Haas8388, Berkelium97, BTown85, ososdeoro, primo, coolingfan, stochastic, SoCal Oski, katster

And big ups to Twist for getting the best comments together; it made this post way easier to complete.

Let's start with the best gameday experience of our graders, which goes to...dingosean, with an epic drunken tale (and totally unedited).

Woke up. Trew on my Cal football 2006 shirt (good luck shirt) and started driking lottss of beer.

Watched the texas-oklahomer game while drinking A LOT.

By the tme the cal game started i was visibly inebriated, and i decided to stp drinking when the game started, and only start drinking if Cal started messing up. (it wrked against oregon last year, so why not bring back this strateggy).

Game started well. We were ahead by ten. Even though UCLA came back and DID scor a TD in the 1st.. we had the lead going into Q2. Where we came out and scored 3 TD's. Going into the haftime with a 3 score lead... and having sobered up a little, i decided to start drinking more beer.

2nd half went by... we kept the lead.. i was continuing go drink more.. and thena i stardted blogging. We gota the eainerception and woo hoo! we won. Now i'm very drunk agan and itsawesome! WE BEAT LA IN LA

GO BEARS!

Lesson kids: If you post a drunk report card, you're likely to win best gameday experience. CGB, where we encourage drinking at all ages.

Gameday experiences, commenting awards, and best of the report cards after the jump.

via calbearsonline.com

Runnerup gameday experience went to poor iVinshe. This has happened to me before for some game I can't remember--all I do recall is the furious anger I felt afterward.

I actually couldn't watch live today, so I insulated myself from any scores the entire day, so that I could watch the reply on espn360. I did so well.....and right before I begin watching, I see in my inbox:

    from    CalBearsShop.com <info@calbearsshop.com>
reply-to    info@calbearsshop.com
to    <redacted>
date    Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 4:12 PM
subject    Free Ground Shipping to Celebrate Cal's Win at CalBearsShop.com

Thanks guys.

Third places goes to VandyImport. Hey man, give us a sign if you're alright!

I kept shoveling chips in my mouth the entire 4th quarter to keep Cal's defense going. Unfortunately it turns out they all contained olestra. It's been good knowing you. Tell my wife I love her and bury me in Nashville.

And here are the rest!

C98: Good to see my Bears winning again. Good to break the LA loos streak.

Oaktown123: My cable stopped working in the second quarter which was frustrating, but then it started working again.

TKE Prytanis 79: Great...watching at home...talking to the kids by phone after major plays and my wife made killer red enchilladas with red Hatch chiles...and we won...gonna sleep well tonight

GBB4188: As my game of torn allegiances this game is always a little awkward as I like both teams to perform well (and Cal to win). That's what we got so I'm very happy and can be excited about both teams going forward.

Jr. Bear: Amazing. Cal section was good, team was good. I'm content.

Yorzepol: Hot day at the Rose Bowl. I lost my voice before the game and missed the band's pregame. Then we scored on out first possesion and all was right with the world.

Swamphunter: I've had an upper respiratory tract infection since Tuesday, and I probably won't be healthy until this upcoming Tuesday. However, the game and the win were probably what made me clear the hump of this illness.

CALumbus Bear: I was so F-ing, F-ING happy after that game. Or maybe it was relief. Maybe I was exalting in relief. Or reveling in pent-up frustration release. Either way I felt good, and Mrs. CALumbus Bear and I popped open a $50 bottle of wine we had aged for 4 years, and I swear it had the yummy taste of vanquished Bruin.

mig: After being mocked and ridiculed for three weeks, it was nice to chant in the Rose Bowl "this is Bear Territory!" Pasadena, and the rest of Los Angeles, by extension, also became part of Bear Territory. I flew out from Boston on Thursday and was able to meet up with friends I haven't seen for nearly a year. Needless to say, coming into the game I was worried that it might put a damper on my otherwise relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable weekend. But yesterday's game only made it better!

Kodiak: Because her team (yeah, I married a bruin) lost, my wife had to go out and bring back tribute. I enjoyed beer and a fried chicken dinner. Ha ha!

beson: Great game. We were so pumped to be at the game and finally breaking the socal losing streak. Loved the cheers at the end of the game. I'm sure some of the people will wake up with sore hands this morning due to all my emphatic high fives.

However, I wish I hadn't forgotten to record the game on my DVR. I always have a hard time giving grades when I go to the games.

Ohio Bear: First, we won the game. Then, tried to use Panera Bread gift card for post game celebratory meal. The gift card reader was broken, so the friendly cashier gave us our meal for free. Score! Finally, stanfurd blew a 9-point 4th quarter lead to lose. It was a win, win, win gameday for me.

Berkelium97: This was a great game to attend in person. By the end, it was clear that this was more than a win against a team who was winless in the conference. This was about getting Cal back on the right track after USC and Oregon and finally getting a win after several years of heartbreaking losses at the Rose Bowl. From Tedford's ice bath to the way the players excitedly came over to dance and sing with the Cal band when the clock hit 0:00, it was clear this was a special win for the fans, the players, and Tedford. Thank you to all the other Cal fans who withstood nearly four hours of the 100 degree heat and gave our team a long-lasting standing ovation when the game finished.

ososdeoro: Almost upset a seeded team in tennis doubles, then got in the car and turned the game on. Starkey called the score three times before providing enough information for me to tell who was actually winning. Saw the second half doldrums while REALLY wanting to go back to the beginning and see those 35 points, but had to wait until the game was in the bag.

coolingfan: Best: Watching the Bruins exodus with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Worst: The heat in Pasadena. I got my right chick and the right side of my neck burned even with sunblocks on, and I bet this is the case for many people who sit in Cal section...
Most memorable: The whole experience of being with loyal Cal fans, all of whom stayed after the game to celebrate the win! Go Bears!

stochastic: Cal cheers with the thousands of Cal fans in the north end zone of the Rose Bowl.
Gimme a C! (Author's note: C!)
Gimme an A! (Author's note: A!)
Gimme an L! (Author's note: L!)
What's that spell? (Author's note: CAL!)
Who are we? (Author's note: CAL!)
Who kicked the shit out of the bruins? (Author's note: CAL!)
GOOOOOOOO BEARS!

IMG_4059 (via Monica's Dad)

SoCal Oski: It was, perhaps, the single most perfect October day I've ever had in my entire life in LA - and I was born and raised there. Ideal weather (at least in Santa Monica); a riotous good time before, during, and after the game; and the joy of thumping Ucla and seeing the Rose Bowl empty as their sniveling fans left early to sulk and pout. The cherry on top is how there is starting to be dissent in the ranks among Ucla fans over whether CRN is actually the messiah, or just another false prophet.

katster: CURSE YOU MACK BROWN.

(Yeah, I was one of those people affected by the Texas-Oklahoma game gone long.)

Other that that, hung out over on Ken and Jason's site while cleaning my room and watching the game. A winning game really helped in that task, let me tell you...

Onto the commenting awards!

The Steven Chu Award (Golden Rationality)

Commenter/alias	Total Standard Deviation
GoldenBear 77	0.9182
ososdeoro	0.9908
katster	1.3360
Ohio Bear	1.3767
dingosean	1.408

Golden Bear 77 takes the cake this week. Here is his full report card, concise and full of modest rationality.

QB (B+): Riley still makes me nervous, but I love that he was leading Best's long touchdown run. Nice escapes on some of the pass rushes.

RB (A-): Vereen was amazing, and Best was more valuable than the statistics show. He forced UCLA to use a different defense when he was in -- that is the definition of a presence.

WR (B): Still, a few drops. The Jones touchdown was one for the ages.

Run blocking (B-): I don't care what defense they use, the blocking for Best has to improve.

Pass protection (B): Some breakdowns, but Riley helped them out.

Run defense (B-): What happened on the long run? But, CAL did force them into a passing game.

Pass rush (B-): Need more pressure.

Pass defense (B): Not so good early, but improved as the game progressed. What happened to SydGod? (Author's note: He should be fine.)

Special Teams (C): Too may yards on kick returns. Punting was the best of the season. We have our Groza kicker back!

Coaching (A-): We won in LA!

Overall (B+)

via farm3.static.flickr.com (Image link)

The Old Blue Award (Most Pessimistic Voters)

Commenter/alias	Average score (out of 4)
GBMarin	2.417
iVinshe	2.455
Haas8388 (T-3)	2.545
SoCalOski (T-3)	2.545
omnizzle	2.606

GBMarin had plenty of criticisms for a 22 point victory, but as you can see from above there was plenty of things to nitpick at. Here are the most biting things.

Receivers (Incomplete): Did a receiver except Jones even catch one?

Run blocking (D): Price came through like the Colorado River

Pass rush (D-): Only rushed 3 most of the time for heck sakes.

Coaching (B-): No Killer instinct in Berkeley. Hey maybe that is why. (Author's note: didn't understand this comment, can you clarify?)

I'm guessing 72-6 is going to linger throughout this season for some fans. It is hard to shake even now two weeks removed...

via farm3.static.flickr.com (original link)

Golden Sunglasses Award (GO! BEARS! GO! BEARS!)

Commenter/alias	Average score (out of 4)
Trisweb (T-1)	3.576
CaliforniaCMB (T-1)	3.576
mig	3.485
Oaktown123	3.394
coolingfan	3.364

Trisweb, by contrast, was downright beaming. His gameday experience is just too funny to not share (he was at a joint Boston viewing for Bruins and Bears alike).

Getting my car spit on in Boston, I can only assume because of the script-Cal decal. Those silly baby bears and their harmless pranks...

Coaching (A): Sappy - but I was impressed by Tedford's interaction with the players. He seemed somehow less cold, even drenched in ice cold gatorade.

Overall (A-): I was impressed and happy with the outcome obviously; I think our team played well, but I think maybe there was a small lack of challenge.

Special teams (A+): 69 yard punt? Pick six? Hell yeah. (Author's note: Defense is special teams now?)

Running backs (A): I think our backs have a lot of potential when the O-line blocks for them, and I was very impressed with Vereen's out-yarding Best this game, as well as Best's big plays. That's great versatility and will keep them guessing - who's the lead and who's the backup?

via farm3.static.flickr.com (original image link)

CaliforniaCMB had similar optimism.

Overall: Offense played well, threw the ball and ran the ball well (Vereen) and the defense did great (they turned into Field Goal U at the end) and the pick 6 sealed the deal.

Gameday experiences: Great! 9 AM drinking, BBQ, leading some nice Go! Bears! chants, and getting the middle finger from a fUCLA fan, can't beat that! oh and it was HOT!

Now onto the best of the report card. If there's anything you think I missed from your cards that was noteworthy, let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Quarterback

via calbearsonline.com

Oaktown123: Riley outperformed Colt McCoy. During the second half he had rough spots.

dingosean: Riley played well, and definitely made some good throws. Moved well in the pocket, and he didnt allow anything bad to happen the other way (I.E. no ints). He was 14-23, and 3 touchdowns for 300+ yards. Cant ask for better than that. Sure, he could have thrown a few ints on some bad throws, hence the A-. But he didnt do anything of the sort so its all good.

Jr. Bear: BEST 4 HEISMAN? MAYBE.

RILEY 13 HEISMAN!!

I creamed my pants seeing that 60% completion in the box score.
The best throw of the game? The quick out to Boateng before the half. That is the moment I regained trust in Riley.

California Pete: Big improvement. Made a number of big throws, and while he struggled to keep the sticks moving with his arm, he did pick up some nice first downs with his legs. Avoided the interception (again!), and navigated the pocket well. Above all else, he looked poised and confident.

Kodiak: Whatever the heck Ludwig and Tedford did to Riley during the bye week, whether it was drugs, Robot-Chicken-style brainwashing, or just an old-fashioned cattleprod up the *ss, keep doing it.

He was poised, pretty accurate, made good decisions...there was even a sequence in the 2nd half where he completed two straight slant passes.

I still have my reservations about how he'll handle adversity, but this was definitely a step in the right direction.

SoCal Oski: I get it now - Riley intentionally played like crap in the last two games so he'd look even better in this one!

Riley definitely looked better and more comfortable in the pocket. The 1st TD to Jones and the throw to Best were both perfect. I guess that's what happens when the OL gives him some protection. But that could speak more to a very over-hyped Ucla defense than a very improved Cal OL. Still, some passes sailed a bit.

Running back

via calbearsonline.com

VandyImport: Mixed bag. A for Vereen, who was everything you could ask, and a B for Best, who was ill-served by some of the play calling - but you can't have that many TFLs on run plays and expect to do anything.

California Pete: Vereen was an "A", and I also some some good things from the fullbacks, including Will Kapp on special teams. Best had two highlight-reel touchdowns, but he otherwise was shut down. It's tough to run when the D-line keeps getting that much penetration, but I'd still like to see Best turn more of those losses into at least modest gains.

Swamphunter: Let me quote myself from the in-game discussions:
Jahvid is God
Vereen is Jesus.

Both had over 100 yards, with Vereen having 153 and Best with 103. Best had one of the prettiest 93 yard runs you'll ever see in a Cal football game.

sec119: Running - Thunder and lightning = NATURAL DISASTER.

primo: JAvid did his Thang one time, but kept getting 1st Down off tackle minus-yard plays called, like 9 in a row!!! C'mon, Ludwig! Pass to him on a screen, or short passes to anyone!! And, don't open the play series with the same non-productive play 9x!!!

stochastic: Best had a signature SportsCenter run, but it was Vereen's consistent jabs that really impressed. I'm not convinced that Jahvid can carry the team like some people think he can, but the future is brighter than I thought.

Receivers

(via Monica's Dad)

VandyImport: Marvin Jones really earned his scholarship today, which is critical - somebody is going to have to step up as a go-to target for Riley if teams are going to dare Cal to throw.

yorzepol: Although they dropped a couple of passes that they should have caught, these guys really stepped up their game! They bailed out Riley several times and made some pretty difficult plays. Much improved with room for still more improvement.

stochastic: It's tough to say what happened here. Yes, there was an extraordinary catch in the end zone, but I didn't really see amazing routes or YAC.

Berkelium97: I don't remember too many drops, for the first time in a few weeks. Also, everyone from WRs to FBs to TEs to RBs were catching passes today. Jones emerged after disappearing since the Maryland game. He complements Riley very well because he will catch any ball that is thrown near him. He has a great ability to catch and hold on to passes that are slightly off the mark. I was very happy to see Boateng back and making a couple plays. Best and Vereen were also solid as receivers.

katster: Much, much, much better. I think we've found our WR for the future, and it was nice seeing Boetang in there again. (Hmm, how much of 72-6 was not having Boetang?)

Run blocking

via farm3.static.flickr.com (Image link)

GBB4188: There were a few problems, but I think those were mostly Brian Price being Brian Price.

Jr. Bear: Price who? Nice blocking overall, but offense still stalled in the 3rd quarter like usual. We need to get more sustained drives instead of just big plays, which will be essential later on against ASU and Washington. One of the reasons in my opinion why there were only 3 offensive points in the second half.

Swamphunter: Reason it's a B+ and not an A: Jahvid got stopped on several first down rushes. The line needs to be tighter on the obvious rushing downs. Reason it's a B+ and not a B-: 288 total yards rushing.

CALumbus Bear: Shame on the O-line for getting handily handled. "Dear fucla defensive line, I apologize if I am disturbing your pass rush, please let me get out of the way so you can get to the important business of tackling Best 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage."

Haas8388: The aggregate yardage was quite impressive, but there are far too many negative yardage plays in the running game. I rewatched much of the Bears' offensive possessions and, to my eye, UCLA did not stack the box all that often. There were occasions where they put 8 in the box and/ or run blitzed right into the play, as if they knew what was coming, but there other plays where they lined up only 6 or 7 in the box and still stuffed the play behind the LOS. That has to be on the run blocking or scheme or both.

Pass protection

via calbearsonline.com

CALumbus Bear: The way Riley was dancing around you'd think he was trying out to be Natalie Coughlin's partner. Luckily he's a damn fine dancer.

BTown85: Got it done, but there was WAY too much pressure on KR. UCLA's line consistently kept our d-line at bay, but it seemed like our O-line got pushed back every play.

stochastic: From what I could gather (the view from end zone seats at the Rose Bowl is awful), UCLA was able to get some decent pressure on Riley. However, since Riley isn't getting sacked five times a game like Aaron Rodgers, I'll take it.

katster: Better. Riley had time to make some long throws, whcih means he wasn't SCRAMBLING FOR HIS LIFE.

Yleexotee: Seemed like Riley had to run a lot in Pass plays. However, its possible this is actually A+ blocking since they didn't actually get to him.

Run defense

via calbearsonline.com

GBB4188: Run D- Gave up 2 TDs and a 5.3 ypc. That's not good at all against a UCLA OL that has been having trouble setting the tone.

Haas8388: Considering how inexperienced and supposedly weak their running game was coming into the game, I can not feel too good about the Bears' run-D giving up 100 yards to their tailback in the first half. The linebackers get blocked far too often. The sad fact is, the Bears really don't have any inside linebackers and it shows.

Berkelium97: The 74 yard run was due to some great blocking which created congestion among the D-line and LBs, but I was surprised to see the defense give up a play like that. Besides that one run, they mostly held the UCLA run game in check (about 3 ypc) and made stops in the end zone.

Kodiak: The big run by Franklin is the obvious downgrade here. Our linebackers' inexperience still shows from time to time. But, at least they have potential. Considering our starting safeties are seniors, it's really disappointing how often they're out of position or take bad angles.

Ohio Bear: To use one of my most dreaded lines, "if you take away Franklin's 74 yard TD run, Ucla didn't do much at all on the ground." Well, ok, but it happened. And it sucked. But other than that and a big gain on a QB draw by Prince, we were okay. We weren't facing a marquee back, but still nice to TCB against the run like we (mostly) did.

Pass rush

via calbearsonline.com

dingosean: Hurried Prince time and time and time again. He kept having to get out of the pocket and make throws on his own. He did, but they at least didnt make it easy for him. They got some good sacks, and stifled drives. They DID allow for some big plays and some Uckluh offense, but they didnt make it easy. They did allow some runs up the middle, and Prince was able to scramble out for yards from time to time though, so I'm only able to give them a solid game...

ososdeoro: Meh. A couple nice sacks. I give a plus for lifting up Prince and then throwing him onto the ground.

CALumbus Bear: Need moar sax lol
But we did get a couple big ones so here's a plus on that C, and we'll go ahead and draw a smiley face because they need encouragement

sec119: It's hard to sustain a pass rush with three linemen, which Cal seemed to do a lot. And then if the blanket coverage left no one open, Kevin Prince ran downfield a fair number of times too. Props for the forced fumble.

BTown85: Needed MUCH more pressure on the QB. We had a few hurries, but the rush did NOT figure into the game enough. Should have really made the QB sweat, which we'll need to do to beat better teams in conference.

Pass defense

via calbearsonline.com

TKE Prytanis 79: Seriously, we cannot give a weak/ bottom third in the pac 10 QB that much time...watching Luck light it up right now, and if that is the shape of things to come, we gotta make some serious changes...come on

Jr. Bear: Good all game. However, much of it has to do with some of Prince's poor throws. In the drive leading to Kendricks' INT, he had three legitimate chances to make it a one score game.

California Pete: Best game played by the corners perhaps all year. Very sure tackling in the open field. Hagan should start the rest of his career. Nice pick-six, even if it came on a badly thrown ball.

Swamphunter: Okay, giving up 446 yards of passing is abysmal. We only had 47 more yards than that. However, Kendricks was the ultimate hero of the game as he was able to get a pick six and seal the deal, so I'll give this a +.

Haas8388: Except for Hagan who I thought played very well, the pass D was horrid. Everyone was open and only the QB's limitations and several drops kept the Bruins from putting up real serious numbers. What exactly is the strategy here? Hmmmm, let's play way off the receivers, give the QB all day to throw, and hope for the best. Oh, and, can someone explain how we can run two straight plays with only 10 defenders on the field. Did our defensive coaches not notice how wide open the TE was on the first play? If not for Kendrick's leaping interception the outcome of the game could have been very different. Seriously, TWO STRAIGHT plays with 10 on the field. I don't think I've ever seen that before, not even in highschool.

Special Teams

via calbearsonline.com

dingosean: We had a solid game in the kicking department at least. Anger was kicking well. We made our field goal, and all of our XP attempts, and yeah... we still werent kicking the ball into high heaven on kickoffs, but at least they got the ball within the 10 and mostly inside the 5 all game on kickoffs. They didnt have the best coverage on punts and kickoffs, and allowed some big plays and never really stopped them all game on anything. This is annoying and I hope they pick it up. But the lack of good play by the coverage teams, does at least get helped by the solid kicking day.

Solid game. Nothing amazing, but solid.

Jr. Bear: Is this madness? No this is AAALLLAAAAMMMAAAARRRRRRRR, which is heartbreaking.

rurata: What is wrong with special teams? They were playing okay for a couple weeks, but went right back to sucking this week. Although I guess if I had to choose between sucky ST and winning, or decent ST and absolutely no offense, I'd choose the former. At least Anger had a few great punts.

ososdeoro: C is a huge improvement over what I've been giving. Have to give kudos to Starkey for wondering whether Tavecchio's line drive kickoff that skidded through the right side of the end zone was by accident or by design, though. Nice to see Anger back instead of that imposter. Vereen knows the rule where if the momentum of the ball carries it into the end zone after hitting your hands, you can go back and kneel in the end zone. Yay!

mig: They get the higher grade since we won. Anger, after his first shanked punt, was really on top of his game, forcing the receiver back on every kick. The return coverage, however, was dismal. Every time they returned one of our kicks I was in fear of a repeat of what happened two weeks ago. Without fail at least two men would behave like Fenimore Cooper Indians and dive 5 feet behind the guy with the ball, completely missing him.

Coaching

(via Monica's Dad)

VandyImport: Looks like they made the adjustments to contain the Bruins in the second half - but given that the offense scored NOTHING in the second half, you have to wonder whether they failed to adjust to the defense or just took their foot off the throttle. Either way, they coached them up to a win they should have gotten, so well done.

California Pete: Very impressed how genuinely confident and poised the Bears played today. And when these Bears are executing, I really like how Ludwig is mixing things up. The problem remains that this offense continues to rely too heavily on the big play. As we saw in the two losses, those big plays don't always come, and this team needs to figure out how to grind out yards--and points--in smaller chunks.

Swamphunter: Ludwig seemed to have fixed some of the more key things that were broken on Offense. Gregory... I don't know. I think he has some stuff to work on, specifically linebackers that can pass rush.

ALAMAAAAAAR was better, but still really needs to work on kickoff coverage.

Tedford was able to keep it all glued together and have the Bears bounce back, on the road in the Rose Bowl none-the-less.

Haas8388: I think Tedford deserves praise for having the team ready to go after the last two disasterous games. I also think Ludwig called a very nice first half. The defensive coaches, however, really drag down the overall grade. The two straight plays with 10 on the field at a crucial point in the game is as inept a demonstration of coaching as I have ever seen. The soft pass defense and lack of pressure on the QB drives me nuts. I may well be overly generous with the B-, but Tedford does deserve some credit for getting his first win in LA and putting up 45 on a good UCLA defense.

ososdeoro: Tedford gets an A for getting the teams' heads together, and for appearing to really be in the game. No real clock mismanagement, no game delay penalties out of time outs, good offensive game plan, including the advent of the pitchout --- while most of them went for losses (I think those ones could have been snappier), Best's 93 yarder was one. Gregory's mushy defense still perturbs. UCLA got 26 points? Ick.

Overall

(via Monica's Dad)

Jr. Bear: YEAH BABY. Love that Kendricks INT to end the game. So symbolic with his prediction of victory, so sweet to taste Bruin tears to repay that Alterraun Verner pick in 2007.
We have the "BEST" running back, Thor for a tight end, and GOD for a cornerback. If you do not love this team, there's no hope for you.

Yleexotee: Very mixed feelings. The defense let us down after a good week at USC, but the offense is back in business after falling off a cliff. WTF 45 pts a game, except for the biggest games Ore and USC.Argggh

CALumbus Bear: We FINALLY break the curse of Dorrell's mustache in El Lay, and for that the team gets a B+ and JT gets a gatorade bath.

Kodiak: It was a win on the road where our questionable offense carried the day against a defense known for its ball-hawking, lock-down secondary and legitimate NFL player in Brian Price. Nice to see Tedford finally break-through down in the Rose Bowl. We can complain about our defense and special teams...but we have to remember that Neuweasel and Chow are pretty good offensive coaches and have recruited some decent talent. Our defense was unquestionably overrated at the beginning of the year, so we need to accept that we have limitations at some positions (safety) and growing pains at others (linebacker). In the overall scheme of things, absolutely a huge must-win game that saved our season...until next week.

Ohio Bear: A 19 point win on the road in a place where we hadn't won since 1999. Oh happy glorious day. We shouldn't have given up 26 points, but I'm pleasantly stunned that we scored 45.

Berkelium97: Even if we had won 2-0 on a safety because UCLA ran the ball 95 yards into the wrong endzone, I would give this win an A+. Finally breaking the LA curse was a tremendous weight lifted off this team's shoulders. Also, scoring five offensive touchdowns against a highly praised UCLA defense was a great way to get our offense back in gear after the last two disasters.

Spaulding Roundup: Injury Updates, Confidence Of Two Kevins, & Notes On UCLA's Special Team

Nestor — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:43:50 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

TA trying to break away during his punt return against Oregon. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Lets start the Friday with another injury update. It looks like Johnathan Franklin will most likely get into the game tomorrow. According to the LAT he practiced for the second day yesterday. Carter didn't practice but if you were to read Neuheisel's comments it seems clear that he will be available tomorrow. Here is CRN on Franklin:

Franklin was injured in last week’s game against Oregon but has been going through the usual drills and plays at practice.

"I think he’ll play," Neuheisel said. "We’ll have to make a determination as to how much."

And on Reggie's availability for Saturday:

Carter left the practice field about 45 minutes before the rest of the team but gave a thumbs up on his way out.

"Reggie Carter moved real well in his workout so we’ll see how all that turns itself out," Neuheisel said.

Given how Carter played through nagging injuries last year and still remained effective, I don't see how the coaches will be able to keep him out action tomorrow afternoon. Bruins are going to need Carter desperately to take on a Cal offense which is anxious to get back its explosive form after getting dismantled against Oregon and Southern Cal in their past two games. Interestingly, Cal with Kevin Riley seems to be grappling with some of the same issues we are having at QB with Prince/Craft/Brehaut. More on the QB issues and another special note on our special teams after the jump.

We have discussed a lot about how we desperately need Kevin Prince to get back in rhythm after looking rusty and out of sync in his return from injury this past weekend. Kevin is aware of the issue more than anyone else here on BN. Jon Gold from the Daily News reports that Prince has been working hard to put Oregon game in the past and concentrating on getting comfortable again under center and regain his timing with the offense:

"I feel like overall, it's been better," Prince said. "I feel more comfortable in the pocket. I'm taking more time looking at the defense and focusing on where to get the ball. It's definitely an improvement from Saturday."

Prince worked on timing this week while attempting to recreate the rhythm he had in back-to-back wins to start the season. After winning the job in spring ball, Prince entered the fall camp with no doubts about his role on the team. A three-week layoff watching senior quarterback Kevin Craft take the reins left Prince feeling like he'd lost a little of that momentum he'd worked so hard to create.

"There's a timing factor to football, especially on offense and especially at quarterback," Prince said. "There's a rhythm; it's tough to jump back into it. But I don't have any other choice. It was tough last week, but I felt like it helped."

Prince also focused on the long ball throughout the week as sharpened his touch and ironed out any rust.

"My own personal criticism of myself has always been the deep ball," Prince said. "Sometimes when I do get an open long ball, I tend to get overanxious and shoot it too long. That's part of what I've worked on this week - just being more relaxed and letting the game come to me.

"Those throws will come."

Meanwhile, up the 101, another QB named Kevin seems to working on the exact same issues heading into this game. Rib Kroichick from the San Francisco Chronicle has a report on how Cal QB - Kevin Riley - has been putting in extra work with Jeff Tedford during the bye week to work on his mechanics and to regain his rhythm in the Cal offense:

Riley completed more than 60 percent of his passes in each of Cal's first three games, convincing wins over Maryland, Eastern Washington and Minnesota. He then completed less than 40 percent of his passes in each of the next two games, lopsided losses to Oregon and USC in which the Bears didn't score a touchdown.

But Riley insisted the disappointing start to Pac-10 play did not shake his self-belief.

"No, not at all," he said. "I was still making the right reads - I was just putting the ball a little too high. ... They did a good job disrupting our timing. They also put pressure on the receivers, which we didn't see as much the first three games."

The offense's sudden inertia - Cal scored 146 points in its first three games and only six in its last two - does not fall entirely on Riley. Oregon and USC applied heavy pressure, collecting eight sacks and often forcing him to hurry passes. So the blocking must improve, clearly, and Cal's receivers need to create more separation from coverage.

Hmm. The OL's pass blicking needs to improve. The receivers need to to create more separation. If we keep reading more of this we are going to hear Bear fans accusing UCLA of copying Cal's offensive problems too.

Seriously though it's kind of eery reading that piece about Cal's QB because it seemed basically cut and paste of number of reports we have been reading out of our practices from the local beat writers here. The difference here though is our OL's recent history is not as established as that of the Bears, our starting QB and his primary backup (Brehaut) don't have the same game experience as Riley, and we don't have a monster like Jahvid Best in our backfield. That is why I am kind of more than worried about what the Bears might do on offense. I don't know if an offense like that with game breakers at the tailback positions and an experienced QB can stay down for three straight games. They are due for coming back to old form or somewhere close to it. That means it will be up to our defense to contain them with credible performance from our offense, and a clean play from our specials teams.

Special teams ... yes. Speaking of those guys the LAT leads of their UCLA report with our problem with kickoff coverage which has marred decent performances in other areas of special teams this season:

While UCLA has been exceptional at other areas of special teams play, the Bruins rank 118th out of the nation's 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in kickoff coverage.

Against Oregon, it finally cost them, as Barner's touchdown at the start of the second half erased a 3-0 UCLA lead.

"We got to get off blocks, we got to get off blocks, we got to get off blocks," said special teams coach Frank Gansz, Jr.. "When you got you locked up, you got to get off of it."

UCLA has blocked two field goals and one punt. Alterraun Verner returned one blocked field goal for a touchdown. Terrence Austin is averaging a respectable 24.8 yards on kickoff returns and 10.5 yards on punt returns. Opponents are averaging only 4.1 yards on punt returns.

But in the last three games, the Bruins' kickoff coverage has struggled. Kansas State averaged 33.8 yards, Stanford returned one kick for 34 yards and Barner went the distance on Oregon's only return.

"We've made a few changes in practice, and emphasized some things," linebacker Sean Westgate said. "We have to make sure we have the back side contained. You got to make sure you're not jumping off the block wrong. If the ball is going inside, you can't jump to the outside."

As discussed during the comment thread yesterday I think our guys need to realize that we can't be relying on Jeff Locke's bombs every time we line up for kickoff. The game changing kickoff return against Oregon, was blasted three yards into the end zone. From what I saw it seemed like our guys just relaxed and were not able to get off their blocks. That shoulnd't be happening, especially when have a coach devoted to preparing the special teams. I was hoping the underclassmen who don't get as much time in either offense or defense would work extra hard as special teamers, to show their coaches how much they want to contribute and play in the game.

Also, another note on special teams. We need better performance from Terrence Austin. TA's return average is so so. He has had one decent return during kickoff (against San Diego State) and nice punt return last weekend against Oregon. But we need more from a fourth year senior. He needs to house it one of these days and I think more importantly he needs to stop being tentative (at least he often appears to be unsure on what he wants to when catching punts) with his decisions on whether he wants to catch the ball.

Punt/kickoff returing is probably two of the hardest assignments in special teams, a reason why coaches like having experienced upperclassmen handling those duties (I still have nightmares from Guidry brothers trying to field punts from back in the days in early 90s). So I get why they keep going back to Austin. But I can't help but wonder what could kids gifted with speed such as Carroll or Thigpen could back there if they were given the opportunities. Either way I hope TA steps up or coaches look for other options who could provide a spark via the special teams.

We will need the entire team to play with a sense of urgency tomorrow. As long as we meet the goal of getting into a bowl we are going to be all right. So the world is not going to end if Bears win tomorrow. However, I do want to see a well prepared UCLA team out there tomorrow that looks fired up, focused, and playing smart football with a sense of aggression for entire 60 minutes at the Rose Bowl.

GO BRUINS.

Cal-UCLA Football Competition News Roundup

TwistNHook — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:56 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

UCLA QB Kevin Prince or Karl Dorrell in a fake mustache? Tedford alone knows.

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In many ways, an internet blog takes after the personalities of its moderators. Its Marshawnthusiasts. That's why CougCenter is the quintessential of cool. And Addicted To Quack is so slow. Mentally.

Here at CGB, we are one thing and one thing alone: Ridiculously self-centered. We're self-centered when it comes to discussing our personal lives, but we're also self-centered when it comes to discussing our beloved Cal Bears. We always talk about Cal. Cal this. Cal that. Tedford this. Marshawn that. And it's been great. We couldn't have become the 3rd best Cal sports oriented web log without it.

But I know how it makes those other teams feel. Stanford feels like we just don't care about them. Which we don't. And Arizona State feels like we don't spend enough time together. Given everything I know about every ASU student I've ever met, I agree 100%. We need to spend more time at ASU.

But this self-absorption, it ends now. Because after the fold, we take a look at UCLA. We look at some news paper articles. We read some of our SBN brethren, the Bruins Nation. We go on a magical mystery tour of all things Southern Branch.

First, we have some information on a cornerback battle that could have some serious implications for the game. We all know Kevin Riley needs to get things going to help take the pressure off of Jahvid Best. And we all know that Verner is kind of like the Syd'Quan Thompson of LA. But what is going on on the other side of the field?

In the meantime, [Sheldon] Price will continue to fill in. He had some difficult moments, including having his 160-pound body ricochet harmlessly off Ducks receiver Jeff Maehl on a slant pass that resulted in a 20-yard touchdown.

"After watching the tape on Sunday, I pushed it behind me," Price said of his performance in the game. "I threw it out because there is no point dwelling on the past."

The UCLA depth chart listed Price and sophomore Courtney Viney as possible starters this week, but Bullough said Price would keep the job.

The normal CB, Aaron Hester, is injured, so this might be an opportunity for Kevin Riley to get going. Nestor at Bruins Nation is puzzled by this decision:

Honestly, I don't get this decision. No doubt Sheldon is giving eveyrthing he can but to me it seems like Viney brings a more noticable physical presence in the way he covers and tackles (despiting giving up size). At least that's what I remember from the effort he gave against pretty athletic Tennessee receivers at Neyland stadium. Anyway, we will see how it goes on Saturday.

The concern with Price appears to be with his size. We do not have the largest, most physical receivers, so I am not sure if we can take advantage of a diminutive corner back. But, hopefully, Marvin Jones and Verran Tucker can get going. We get Boateng back, which is certainly good news.

From the same article as above, further information on the UCLA RB situation:

Tailback Johnathan Franklin returned to practice Wednesday and tested his sprained left ankle, getting a handful of carries.

His availability remains in question for Saturday's game against California. Franklin, the Bruins' leading rusher with 332 yards, was injured in the 24-10 loss to Oregon.

Franklin, who gives the Bruins speed in the backfield, was unable to get in a full workout.

It leaves coaches pondering other options.

"We'll find out on Saturday," Franklin said about whether he would play.

Asked what was difficult about running on the ankle, Franklin said, "No comment on that." Asked if it still hurt, Franklin said, "No comment on that."

Asked if he was told not to comment, Franklin smiled.

Their running game is not strong to start with, so I'm pretty sure some back up RB will come in and kill us Arizona 2008 style. It's in the cards!

And who could that backup RB be? Why Christian Ramirez!

Ramirez presents a completely different option than the team's more diminutive backs. At 6-foot-2, Ramirez is the biggest Bruin back, with two inches on Coleman, four inches on Franklin and six inches on Knox and Thigpen.

His size gives him a built-in advantage in pass protection and in the receiving game, though he was admittedly shaky with his blocking against Oregon.

"I need to try to use the combination that I have - the size and speed. And I pride myself on catching the ball, being a receiving back. I can split out and turn it into a five-wide easily. I still need to get some more experience in (protection). I felt a little rocky out there Saturday. I'm coming. I need to get back into the groove, and try to establish myself again."

UCLA does have some injury concerns. Another is with star LB, Reggie Carter. He does appear likely to play, even though his practice has been limited:

Carter expects to be in his usual position – middle linebacker – for Saturday’s game.

"They told me to relax a little bit but my knee feels great," he said. "I’m more anxious for Saturday than I am for Tuesday so I’m not complaining."

As agreeable as Carter was to sit out of Tuesday’s practice, it was a different story during the third quarter of last Saturday’s game.

Medical personnel were trying to examine him but the foremost thought in his mind was getting back into the game.

"I think I missed two plays and I was upset about that," he recalled. "The doctors want to examine you and poke on you. I said, ‘Just give me some Flexall and a sleeve and let me go.’ "

Carter is confident that the missed practice time won’t have a negative affect on him as he prepares for Saturday. UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel agreed.

KTVU brings us some information on what to expect from both the Bruins Offense:

UCLA struggled mightily on offense against Oregon last week, finishing with just 211 total yards, and three turnovers certainly hurt the team's chances of winning the game as well. Kevin Prince returned from a two-game absence and was a bit rusty, completing 13-of-25 passes for 81 yards and one interception. The Bruins rushed for just 66 yards on 33 attempts and failed to score any points on both of their trips to the red zone. UCLA is generating just 20.2 ppg this season, an output that isn't going to scare any opponent. The Bruins are posting 282.8 total ypg, including just 112.6 rushing ypg at a clip of 3.4 ypc. The fact that the team has only managed seven offensive touchdowns in five games is proof of just how inept the offense has been. Whether it has been Prince, Kevin Craft or Richard Brehaut under center for the Bruins, the passing game has been weak. No receiver is good enough to demand double coverage, and while Jonathan Franklin is a solid running back, he is a far cry from Cal's Best.

And the Bruins Defense:

The UCLA defense was not at fault for the loss to Oregon last week. In fact, two of Oregon's three touchdowns weren't even scored by the team's offense. Also, the Bruins had a defensive touchdown in the game, as Akeem Ayers scored on an interception. Sure, UCLA could have played better against the run, as the Ducks gained 221 yards on 43 rushing attempts, but the play against the pass was quite strong. Opponents are scoring only 17.2 ppg against UCLA this season, and the team has yielded a mere eight touchdowns to opposing offenses. Foes are gaining just 285.6 total ypg against UCLA, which has been tough against both the run and the pass. A total of 11 takeaways in five games, including nine interceptions, have clearly helped the Bruins. Keep an eye on Reggie Carter, as he has made 37 tackles, including 5.5 TFLs, and forced a pair of fumbles.

Poll

How do you think Cal will do against UCLA? Thanks to Avinash for these choices

Bears devour Baby Bears in a horrifying sign of cannibalism

24 votes

Bears pat Baby Bears on head, tell them they'll understand when they're older

70 votes

Baby Bears cuddle Big Bears to death

22 votes

Baby Bears overwhelm in numbers, commit patricide

10 votes

126 votes | Poll has closed

Inside The Numbers: UCLA Edition

TwistNHook — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:36 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Can the Cal D reach a UCLA offensive player before the line of scrimmage? Only time will tell. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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We took Inside The Numbers to the next level. I saw in the feedback forms that people's most favorite of all time ever posts tended to be analysis posts from either HydroTech or Avinash. Ever the bandwagoner (Go USC Football and UCLA Basketball!!!!!!!!!!!!), I decided to get in on that whole "statistical analysis" trend.

The only problem?

I'm potentially the dumbest man alive. A human being so stupid I argued to have my own client, a grandmother in her 90’s, evicted against her wishes, and succeeded, yes. So, I went to Avinash and HydroTech and begged them to help me do this whole analysis thing. HydroTech was busy with his Unusual Proteins midterm and a paper for his Delicate Desserts class. So, Avi decided to be the training wheels to my tricycle. I tried my hardest here, guys. So, don't hat me for my stupidity. Hat me, because I'm beautiful.

And, without further Freddy Adu, Avinash and myself take a deeper look into the wild world that is the 2009 UCLA Bruins. GO BEARS!

TwistNHook: As with any team we face now, I look first and foremost at their passing D. The key to any victory we might have is going to be getting Kevin Riley going. If he can't, it doesn't matter how porous the opponent's run D may be. They'll be able to key in on the run and shut Best down.

So, let's take a look at their pass D stats:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	5	143	75	52.4	810	9	3	94.36	78	29	15	6
1st Half	5	79	46	58.2	502	4	2	109.83	78	17	7	3
2nd Half/OT	5	64	29	45.3	308	5	1	75.27	46	12	8	3
1st Quarter	5	36	22	61.1	325	1	2	149.72	78	8	6	3
2nd Quarter	5	43	24	55.8	177	3	0	76.43	20	9	1	0
3rd Quarter	5	26	14	53.8	165	2	1	104.47	46	7	4	1
4th Quarter	4	38	15	39.5	143	3	0	55.29	33	5	4	2

The first number I look at is Completion Percentage. At the start of the year, Hydro said it'd be important if Riley could complete roughly 60% of his passes. Last year, he completed roughly 50% and is hovering around there this year after several brutal weeks.

UCLA does *not* bode well, in that regard. 52.4% pass defense completion percentage. 9 interceptions on the year. That is certainly disconcerting for a QB who is struggling to make even the most basic of passes.

Let's take a closer look at the completion percentage. The first half stats of 58.2% seem to be more generous than the 45.3% in the second half. But delving deeper that has much to do with a 39.5% fourth quarter. That is much lower than the average of the other 3 quarters. If you look at the first 3 quarters, the completion percentage given up is 57.2%. So, the UCLA pass D has really stiffened up in the last fourth of the game. Is that because their defenders are mentally strong and put the brakes on when it counts? Is that because passing in the fourth quarter tends to be often desperate teams making desperate throws to attempt to catch up? I certainly hope that it is the latter and that the 52.4% completion given up by their passing D is somewhat of a mirage due to an incredibly low 4th quarter.

Avinash: It's a curious stat, but not by much. UCLA has one of the best corners in the country in Alterraun Verner, and an emerging safety in Rahim Moore (1st in the country with 5 picks). So they basically have the equivalent of a lockdown corner who secures half the field, and a safety who secures his defense against the long pass. Imagine if Syd'Quan Thompson and Taylor Mays played in the same secondary. That's the luxury UCLA has back there, making it tough for any good team to pass on them.

Receivers are going to have a tough game of it, especially if they perform like the way they did against USC. Crisp route running, receiver separating from defender, quarterback hitting his target on the numbers, all of that will be crucial. Add in an offensive line that needs to contain Brian Price, the best defensive tackle in the conference, and you have a defense with big-time players up front and in the back.

"CURSE YOU, VILLAIN!" via www.seattlepi.com

TwistNHook: Your proposal that Cal jump out to a HUGE lead early intrigues me. It is further borne out by looking at their run D:

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
All Plays	5	186	618	3.32	5	49	44	21	4
1st Half	5	81	306	3.78	3	49	23	10	2
2nd Half/OT	5	105	312	2.97	2	48	21	11	2
1st Quarter	5	42	241	5.74	2	49	15	8	1
2nd Quarter	5	39	65	1.67	1	20	8	2	1
3rd Quarter	5	59	248	4.20	2	48	13	10	2
4th Quarter	5	46	64	1.39	0	10	8	1	0

THEY ARE GIVING UP 5.74 YARDS PER CARRY IN THE FIRST QUARTER?!?!?! Notice how the D yo-yos back and forth between the 1st and 3rd quarters and the 2nd and 4th quarters. That probably stems from their opponents running out the clock, especially in the 4th quarter of victories. So, the 3.32 yards per carry given up is a deceiving stat. What is the real stat, then?

Tough to tell. Somewhere between 1.39 and 5.74. Either way, it definitely looks like the UCLA run D is weaker than their pass D. Does this mean we can just pound the ball with Best? I'd love to think so, but that's going to require them to respect the pass.

Avinash: I really feel UCLA will do exactly what Oregon and USC did. Stack the box and test Cal's passing game against their excellent secondary. I expect the Bears will try to use a lot of Anthony Miller, feature Vereen and Best again in the passing game, or direct snap to Best to create one more blocker up there.

Cal will probably try anything to make things easier for the conventional run game; hopefully one of those things breaks through when nothing did last week.

TwistNHook: Well, the very item that will hopefully break will be Kevin Riley completing passes early on in the game. Let's take a look at his passing stats (pregnant women and children should avert their gaze):

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	5	149	75	50.3	1044	1	5	118.93	59	50	29	9
1st Half	5	79	44	55.7	570	1	3	126.31	59	29	17	3
2nd Half/OT	5	70	31	44.3	474	0	2	110.60	50	21	12	6
1st Quarter	5	28	11	39.3	178	1	0	85.55	59	7	6	1
2nd Quarter	5	51	33	64.7	392	0	3	148.68	39	22	11	2
3rd Quarter	5	33	18	54.5	255	0	1	129.46	50	11	6	2
4th Quarter	5	37	13	35.1	219	0	1	93.78	35	10	6	4

Uh........39.3% completion in the first quarter. Hold me, Avi. Hold me!

Avinash: OH HELL NO! Anyway, I said this before the regular season started, before the Minnesota game, that Riley would have to overcome his notorious slow starts. Riley was completing only around 52-53% of his passes before this season--39% is a recipe for disaster, against almost any team.

If Riley is to be taken seriously as a college quarterback, he needs to start completing at the very least 55-60% of his passes in the first quarter. Otherwise no good defense (and there are tons of them in the Pac-10) will take him seriously, and they'll just keep on trying to bottle up Best.

TwistNHook: Judging by the numbers up there, we should only play the 2nd and 3rd quarters of any game.

The situation with their offense is nowhere near as dire, IMHO. First, let's take a look at their passing O:

"How did I join GEICO and end up paying MORE for insurance??" via laist.com

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	5	147	84	57.1	851	5	3	105.71	51	45	14	6
1st Half	5	71	44	62.0	435	1	2	119.92	34	23	7	3
2nd Half/OT	5	76	40	52.6	416	4	1	92.42	51	22	7	3
1st Quarter	5	33	21	63.6	213	0	0	117.86	31	11	4	2
2nd Quarter	5	38	23	60.5	222	1	2	121.71	34	12	3	1
3rd Quarter	5	31	14	45.2	129	2	0	67.21	18	8	1	0
4th Quarter	5	45	26	57.8	287	2	1	109.80	51	14	6	3

By now, we are experts on poor passing production and this looks to me like poor passing production. Not as bad as Riley has played these last few weeks, but still not good. More interceptions than TDs? A long of only 51? 57.1% is not bad, though. I'd be happy with those numbers from Riley!

Oddly enough, their 2nd half is worse than their 1st half a reverse of what we saw on D. And, in specific, it is their 3rd quarter that is so bad. I wonder why that is. 45.2% completion rate. Hmmm. Only 129 yards. They have the fewest passing attempts, too. Does that mean we should watch for them to try to establish the run a lot at the start of the 2nd half??

Avinash: Those 4 INTs in the 2nd half is probably the more worrisome stat for UCLA. Just like the Bruins defense starts off slow in the first half, the Bruins offense gets going and weakens as the game goes on. The fact is they're inexperienced on that side of the ball, their quarterback (whether it be Prince, Craft or Brehaut) hasn't learned how to go through his reads, which allows for opposing defenses to key in on their throws and make the turnovers. Also, the offensive line hasn't been together enough (which leads to a lot of pressure like he faced from Oregon's front seven) and his receivers are young.

Take a look at their depth chart; other than Paulsen or Austin, their receivers are all freshman or sophomores. Bright future, but they're not just there yet.

Can Cal's front seven finally make a dent against a Pac-10 team that they could matchup well against?

TwistNHook: I'd certainly like to think so. I believe this is definitely going to be more of a defensive struggle than people might think. The UCLA D is certainly more potent than most people give it credit for. So, if we are to win this, we have to look towards completely and totally corralling their O and hoping we get some lucky bounces.

So, if their passing O does not look that strong, can they rely upon their running game?

The answer to date does not seem like a "yes."

"From a simpler time." via laist.com

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+

All Plays	5	167	563	3.37	4	36	31	17	4
1st Half	5	88	402	4.57	3	36	21	12	3
2nd Half/OT	5	79	161	2.04	1	24	10	5	1
1st Quarter	5	43	193	4.49	2	36	9	4	1
2nd Quarter	5	45	209	4.64	1	31	12	8	2
3rd Quarter	5	36	75	2.08	0	24	3	1	1
4th Quarter	5	43	86	2.00	1	14	7	4	0

Again, perhaps it is youth and inexperience, I do not know, but their rushing O does not strike fear in you. They definitely fall apart in the 2nd half. Remember when I wrote previously that it looked like they might try to establish the run at the start of the second half? Well, if they are going to do it at 2.08 yards per carry, I welcome that.

Of course, the 4th quarter stats are weighed down by situations where they were merely running out the clock. Nonetheless, this is not a high octane rushing offense. Look at their components:

	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G

1	Johnathan Franklin	FR	RB	5	75	332	4.43	3	15.00	66.40
2	Derrick Coleman	SO	RB	5	22	120	5.45	1	4.40	24.00
3	Milton Knox	FR	RB	3	13	55	4.23	0	4.33	18.33
4	Damien Thigpen	FR	RB	5	15	46	3.07	0	3.00	9.20

That is every listed RB with more than 3 carries. Their leading rusher, a freshman, currently averages 66 yards a game?

I know we've faced 2 great running teams these last few weeks. And we've looked bad against them. So, I'm not ready to write these guys off here. But I feel better facing off against a Franklin than a McKnight or a James. Or even a Masoli!

Hopefully, our defense can regain the swagger we saw in the earliest part of the season against UCLA. I know that it has looked bad at various times these last fews. No denying that. This UCLA offense is just the thing that, hopefully, can get it back on track.

Lords knows our offense is going to need the help!

Avinash: Not only is their starting tailback a frosh, but their starting o-line is very young. 1 frosh, 3 sophomores on the offensive line, Even more interestingly, their left tackle is a true frosh (although Su'a-Filo might be their best guy on the line). So they're going to struggle generating offense as they get their reps in and they make those mistakes.

It's why the biggest battle will be UCLA's offensive line playing Cal's defensive line. The Bears D-line has played well the last two weeks, but got overshadowed by the other deficiencies and strong O-line play by Oregon and UCLA. They'll certainly want to make their mark, and Alualu might have his most favorable matchup of the season playing either Harris or Su'a-Filo. The Bruins have to hold their ground to make sure Kevin Prince is comfortable in the pocket and execute their blocks to get UCLA's running backs to that second level against our weaker linebackers.