SB Nation - Logan Paulsen

The Heat Is Now On Rick Neuheisel To Win In DC

Nestor — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:46:29 -0000

Complaining about SPTRs (we won't have them) will not be an excuse if we lose in DC

I want to build more on the question uclahy posted about whether Rick Neuheisel is too soft to lead our program? Obviously I am rooting for the answer to be a thunderous no. However, at this point actions are going to speak louder than words. The UCLA football program doesn't have a lot of room for error these days. We have been wallowing in mediocrity for the entire decade thanks to the incompetent leadership of previous head coaches, who seemed to be directly responsible of a football culture grounded in laziness and being perfectly content with mediocrity. This is the reason why we saw the excessive celebration around 13-9 (which in someways is embarrassing because it expose the larger problem of getting beaten to pulp by our rival year after year) and victories in Sun Bowls.

When Rick Neuheisel came to Westwood, he repeatedly told us about a culture change in which the football program would pursue a standard of excellence that would be in par with rest of our athletic programs. His soundbites are littered all over this blog from last two years. We ate up his words and we are going to hold him accountable if he doesn't deliver in next 2-3 years. In the meantime, while we are on this journey if we do see troubling signs we are going to speak out on it. We were encouraged by the fact the football program won 2 more games in this season and was heading into a bowl game giving us an opportunity to build for the future. We repeatedly heard about how getting into a bowl game was crucial because it would mean extra practices for our football program. That is why what happened yesterday at Spaudling is a little stunning.

We have already called out seniors such as Logan Paulsen and Reggie Carter (who apparently hasn't even completed his school work either) for basically not living up to their words about ditching these practices last spring. Hilariously, some in previous comment threads tried to thread the needle in defending these players saying they were just talking about spring. That excuse doesn't work because the context of those comments were not just about spring practices but practices at Spaulding Field. They are even more relevant consider what a big deal Rick Neuheisel, his staff and players made about benefit of extra practices from the bowl game. It doesn’t look good and trying to defend this makes one look as pathetic as the ones who were stretching and looking for something to defend Dorrell/Lavin back in the day.

Moreover, apparently per the OC Register Paulsen wasn't "pleased" about it and left at the "insistence" of Neuheisel. Meanwhile, the quarterbacks were on the field when this stunt took place, and were also called off by the coaches. In other words, the spin about the team doing this together as some kind team bonding this is total BS as the reported facts indicate not everyone was on the same page.

The guy bears the ultimate responsibility for this latest debacle that makes UCLA football look like a joke is Rick Neuheisel. He bears the ultimate responsibility for reasons laid out below the fold and he is now going to be under pressure with a must win game in Washington DC.

Per the reports it seems clear that Neuheisel was in on this:

"Spring practice is now only 15 days and we convinced the guys not to do this," Neuheisel said. "We went through the history of Wall Day, that it started before a bowl game. They gave us what we wanted in spring, but they did remember it was during bowl games that you could do it."

If Neuheisel did make some kind of "deal" with the players, it makes him look like a leader who is weak and is afraid to impose discipline in a program that needs it badly. It makes me look back at this season with a slightly different light, when I see seniors like Logan Paulsen making same bonehead mistakes over and over during games and not being held accountable for it. Again, while the senior captains needs to be called out for their failure in showing any leadership, Rick Neuehisel is ultimate responsible. I agree with Blue Me that if he wanted to put a stop to this, he could have.

We will see how this all turns out. As mentioned in the topline of uclahy's post, the heat is now on Rick Neuheisel. At this point the story is well known about what took place when the previous UCLA head coach took a 6 win team to a bowl game in his second season in Westwood. His record was permanently tarnished as he was unable to organize a focused, disciplined team in Las Vegas, which was humiliated and embarrassed by Wyoming. If UCLA ends up losing against Temple, in an uninspiring, listless, mistake prone, the blame will squarely fall on Rick Neuheisel. We will also look back at this over the wall shenanigans, which will stand out as a telling sign of a continuation of culture of mediocrity that has defined a sad decade of UCLA football.

We will be watching Neuheisel very closely in next two weeks and see what product he rolls out in DC. Actions will speak louder than (sweet & polished) words at this point. The heat is on.

GO BRUINS.

[UPDATEx2]Reggie Carter, Logan Paulsen & Bruin Seniors Let Down UCLA Football

Nestor — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:44:59 -0000

This is unreal:

The UCLA players decided not to practice today. They didn't tell anyone. Certainly not the coaches.
They jumped over the wall on the side of Spaulding Field and took off.
So, no practice update today.

If this is true Reggie Carter, Logan Paulsen - the captains of this team - and the entire senior class should be ashamed of themselves. This was a ridiculously, stupid tradition established during Donahue era, that epitomized UCLA football for being mediocre, mentally soft, and lazy. After the shenanigans from CRN's first year the senior "leaders" of this team swore it wouldn't happen again. Here is Reggie Carter in the DN last April (emphasis added):

"We were 4-8 last year. We can't afford to miss a practice," Carter said Friday. "Some guys argue it's tradition. Well, tradition started when they were winning. … Coach Neuheisel talked to me, and I said, `You don't have to worry about it. We're not going to do it.' If some guys try to slide away and organize it and do it anyway, we'll just go back in the locker room, rally them up and get back out here and practice, and deal with them after practice."

And Logan Paulsen:

When the Bruins did it last spring, the coaching staff was visible upset. Paulsen was one of the most upset about it, and has been a proponent of abolishing it this spring.

"My mentality regarding the wall is I enjoy coming out here (to practice)," Paulsen said. "Every one of these practices is special to me, and I don't want to be wasting an opportunity. I understand there's a lot of things that go into the wall, a lot of tradition, a lot of camaraderie and team building, but in my opinion these spring practices are too valuable to pass up on."

Well I'd like to hear from them what happened this time around. What changed guys? So were you guys lying back in April? Hey, here is a news flash Reggie and Logan. You are 6-6. We gave you benefit of the doubt and took encouragement as sign of progress. However, here is a news flash, you guys still haven't established any kind "winning" tradition yet and not living up to your own words is not going to help you either. This only makes you look like a total joke and full of hot air.

If I were Neuehisel I'd make sure to sneak in some two-a-days in next two weeks. This sends a pathetic message from this football team to rest of the world. It deservedly makes them look like bunch of phonies without any kind of substance.

The way it looks from outside, it doesn't look pretty and sends wrong messages from a program that is trying so desperately to get back on track. Again, Carter, Paulsen, ATV, Austin and the entire senior class should be embarrassed of themselves. This is not the way to go out and set examples for the underclassmen. Just pathetic. It will be interesting to see how Neuheisel treats this development.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE (N): Neuheisel has made statements and frankly he sounds underwhelming:

Opening thoughts:
"A deal's a deal. When they were talking about it in spring practice, I said, 'Listen, the wall thing started in bowl practice. You get to bowl practice, then you can start to thinking about things like this.' So they did."

On the players keeping it quiet (as Kai Forbath walks by smiling):
"They did a nice job of this one, keeping it under wraps. Look at Forbath with the big grin. I do compliment them on the choice of days. When you're still in kind of the get-back-into-football mode, and young guys are getting their chances to work, I think it was a wise day to pick. I'm pleased with the leadership in terms of the choice. But obviously I would have loved to practice."

On the history of The Wall:
"This happened many years ago. Kenny Easley led the group over the wall, and it was a good thing. I enjoyed it more as a player than as a coach, though, I'll be honest with you. There's no question about that. Sometimes coaches forget what it was like as a player. I try not to do that."

If this is all we get from CRN, it will be the first strike against him as the head coach of this football program. If he and his coaches were involved in this, then they also look like total hypocrites after talking up the importance of bowl practices in public.

He needs to hold players like Carter and Paulsen accountable, who right now looks like total liars based on their actions. I don't care Kenny Easley did this back in the day. I care that Carter and Paulsen straight up lied on this issue. We shouldn't accept that and Neuheisel needs to hold them accountable for it. If he doesn't, I will lose a lot of respect for him from hereon out. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE II (N): LAT has more on this and it's not pretty. First up, here is senior "leader" Terrence Austin:

“We kind of wanted to have a complete season and decided to get this in,” Austin said. “We promised coach we wouldn’t do it unless we got a bowl. We decided to get it out of the way early so we could get back to work for the Washington, D.C. game. We didn’t want it to interfere with business.”

That sounds as lovely as Austin's punt and kickoff returns. Way to show leadership Terrence. Not. Apparently Kevin Craft might not have been on board while Paulsen gave a "no comment":

Not all players seemed on board with the plan. Asked if he was aware of the plan, senior quarterback Kevin Craft said, “no," tersely. Senior tight end Logan Paulsen declined to comment.

Not good enough and it's reflective of their mediocre play on the field. It still looks make Paulsen look like a liar based on what he said this past spring. Meanwhile, Neuheisel sounds underwhelming and frankly weak:

“They caught us all by surprise with this one,” Neuheisel said. “I do compliment them on the choice of days, when we are still getting back into football mode. I am pleased with the leadership in terms of the choice.”

Not the kind of "leadership" we want to see around UCLA football coach. That explanation doesn't fly and will not do much to gain confidence in a football program, which at this moment looks like a total joke. Pathetic. GO BRUINS.

Remembering Those Images For Next 370 Days

Nestor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:38:04 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Chetey Petey's Trojan thugs taunting away from the other side of field

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I am throwing this up because I want to have this image and the caption underneath seared into everyone's brain for next 370 days. Again I realize people can raise genuine questions on about some aspects of our coaches' scheme from the offensive side last night (for instance, I am still trying to figure how can someone confused Chane "Train" with a "Cheetah" lol). Yet at the same time, I also believe our coaches game plan was sufficient enough for us to win the game. Watching JetSki fumble in one of his three carries hit home the point why coaches were going with Chane Moline most of the night.

If not for Prince's ill advised throw the score would have been tied at 0-0 at half time (at least 3-0 in our favor if the referees weren't persuaded by the Pom Pom's lobbying and the homer announcers egging it on television). Then in the second half it was Logan Paulsen's brain cramp that forced Prince to scramble in a second long situation leading to the shoulder injury that caused the second pick. Yet despite all that we were in the game closing within 7. If anyone doesn't think this program hasn't taken a step forward from last season and specifically from last year's game against these classless thugs, then he or she has some other agenda.

Is there reason for frustration? Of course there is. Not only were we in the game, but it was there for us to take it. We had multiple opporunities to seize the momentum and just blew it. That makes it hurt even more this am. However, is everything lost? Hardly. What Chetey and his classless thugs did yesterday was send a clear cut signal about how worried they are about the work Rick Neuheisel and his staff have done in Westwood. They are worried enough that they felt compelled to throw that unnecessary bomb and then proceeded on to jump around like animals, raising their collective middle finger not just to the entire Bruin Nation, but to the world of college athletics.

While folks here have every right to be angry and disgusted with those scumbags from cross town, I'd advise to adopt the frame proposed by BlueMe this am:

Now, the focus should be getting better. It starts with a possible bowl game and ending the season on a positive note. Then it continues in the living rooms of recruits, pitching this program and university like never before. Then it goes to the weight room. Then to Spring Ball. Then on to next season, culminating finally in the Rose Bowl next year.

EVERY WAKING MOMENT between now and kickoff at the Rose Bowl 365 days from now, the focus needs to be KICKING SCs ASS!

Well we have 370 days more to go but everyone here should get the point.

We will find out about our bowl outlook very soon. I am not all that anxious to figure it out. If someone wants to do it, go for it. If we get into one, I hope our guys can do everything they can to take advantage of those two weeks of practices and send of kids like ATV, Carter and Brian Price (after all the heartbreaks he has been through in his life he more than anyone deserves a great life thanks to the financial security in the NFL) off to a great note.

Rest of the Bruin athletes, students, alums and fans, we all need to ready for next season. We have 370 days. We need to make sure those images like the one above in closing mins is burnt into our collective Bruin conscious for rest of our lives.

GO BRUINS.

Not Our Night: Bruins Come Up Short Against (SPTR Blessed) Classless Trojans

Nestor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:53:02 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

22 days ago: USC running back Allen Bradford, left, dives just short of the end zone as UCLA safety Tony Dye knocks him out of bounds during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Los Angeles. Bradford scored one play later. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Browse more photos »

The final score was ~~21-7~~ 28-7 in favor of the bad guys tonight. Not surprisingly Chetey Petey being the hypocritical, SCumbag that he is poured it on when the game was already decided with a long bomb to the endzone (I wonder if Pom Pom's lapdogs - Bill Splashme or the TJ Slimers - will be crying about sportsmanship tomorrow). There is not much to say about that TD at this point because we know Chetey's true colors and what a classless jerk throughout his stained, corruption tainted career in South Central. What goes around, comes around and we will leave it that

Anway, as for the game, here is the box score from tonight's ball game in which the Bruins got killed by two crushing turnover that turned out to be the difference makers. The Bruin defense came out inspired playing their best half of the season and then continued it throughout the game gutting out a performance in which they held the Trojan offense to 14 points. I am not going to count the last 7 given at that point our defense didn't think the Trojies would be that classless even by their standards.

Mad props to Brian Price, Reggie Carter, Akeem Ayers, ATV, Kevin Craft, Chane Moline who gave everything they had today. The defense held the Trojies to less than 300 yards (not going to count that BS 48 yard bomb) and kept us in the game. While Kevin Craft came in and gave it everything he had to give us a legit chance when we closed it within 7. More after the jump.

The difference tonight was turnovers and mistakes. Bruins turned over the ball 4 times leading to 14 Trojan points and also killing a promising drive at the end of the first half. Prince came out looking erratic, overthrowing his receivers and then throwing a pick-6. Then in the second half he was undone by costly mistakes by his senior team-mate - Logan Paulsen (who has been making those mistakes all year) - that completely killed any sense of offensive momentum early on. He then got banged up by the Trojan defense, which led to his second pick (throwing with a bad shoulder).

Of course Bruins also got hosed (which seems to be a tradition against us in this particular game) by clueless refs that missed Mays' late hit, managed to get lobbied by Pom Pom to turn over a Rosario catch, and then completely blow a call on lateral which Jet Ski advanced for 26 yards. Depsite all the TOs and the surreal SPTRing, somehow the Bruins kept gutting it out thanks to gutsy peformance by the Bruin offense which under Kevin Craft closed it with 7 (7-14) with about 5 mins left in the game.

Still it just wasn't enough at the end. Our defense played prevent in the drive that really mattered and the Trojans used the cushion our DBs gave them to drive it down for a TD and put the game out of reach. As I mentioned up top, the Trojies went on to probably make the most classless move in this series, and a hypocrtical one given all the crying they did with Harbaugh's 2 point coversion just 2 weeks.

Obviously, there are strateiges on our coaches' part we can question. Off the top of my head, I don't get why we keep seeing Moline in Cheetah formation, and why we didn't see more speed from our side in the form of Jet Ski, Knox and Thigpen (although JetSki's fumble kined of answer that question).

Anyway, at the end this wasn't our night. As for the immediate future, I am not losing sleep tonight over whether we will make a bowl game. I hope we will but will let it all playout. However, I can definitely sense tonight how the team has taken a legit step forward, improving upon the season from last year. That much was clear otherwise the Trojies wouldn't have felt compelled to make that classless move at the end. They are clearly a little worried. The way those SCumbags behaved at the end of the game, you've got to believe karma will have a way of evening up the scores in the long run.

That said ... I will leave it to you to thread the night away. Post your quick fire takes in the comment threads. If you have extensive reflections to share, fire them up in the FanPosts. Thanks again for a great regular season. Let's do it again.

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday Roundup: Nothing To Lose For UCLA (As Pressure Is On Pom Pom)

Nestor — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:15:52 -0000

As I said yesterday this is going to be a long day to wait for the 7 pm (10 pm for many of us) kickoff tonight. I have the same feeling in my stomach right now I used to have back in the 80s and 90s. The feeling of anxiety and not knowing what to expect (which is very different from the mindset I used to find myself in during Toledo's later years and the entire Dorrell years even though conceding the game never entered my mind).

Heading into this year I didn't think we would have the opportunity to shift the paradigm in this rivalry in Neuheisel's second season in Westwood. Well here we are on this Saturday heading into this game with a sincere believe that not only can we pull out a victory, but we also have an opportunity to change the dynamic between these two programs.

The pressure is on Pom Pom tonight. There is no doubt about that as even outsides such as Bill Dwyre is noting the obvious (emphasis added):

UCLA's coach gets more of a pass for the current state of affairs because he's in only his second season, because he's rebuilding, because he can accurately point to signs of progress.

That luxury does not exist for USC's Pete Carroll, who has ruled the Pac-10 for seven of his nine years and who is both blessed and cursed by high expectations. You live by the swagger and die by the swagger, and Carroll is clearly the man on the hot seat Saturday, especially with two weeks to prepare for a Bruins team that doesn't appear to necessitate much preparation.

Doesn't get any simpler than that. If our guys cannot get it done tonight, the world will not end. However, if the Trojans choke in their home stadium against Neuheisel, the world will come crashing down on Pom Pom. It will be the final death knell on a 7 year run built on a string of blockbuster (alleged) cheating scandals.

As for our guys, concentration is the word of the day:

"This is a different chapter of UCLA football,'' Neuheisel said. "The knowledge that things are possible is definitely important. It's not superhuman to get things accomplished. It takes great concentration, and then going out and making it happen. Our guys, I think, will be ready for that kind of ballgame.''

That was from the AP writeup in which CRN channeled a little BruinsNation:

"It's a great tradition, and I think the colors are absolutely beautiful,'' said Neuheisel, a quarterback for the Bruins in the early 1980s. "When I grew up, the Ohio State-Michigan game was in the mornings and the USC-UCLA game was in the afternoons, and that was what you watched. The colors in the USC-UCLA game just jumped off the screen, and this was before HD. The combination was just magical, in my mind. I think Pete thinks so as well, and that's what we've got back to.''

Yeah, we made the OSU-Michigan and UCLA-Southern Cal double header reference two days ago on BN as well. Just another example of how our football coach knows collectively what we are all thinking and vibing heading into our football games. Some other quick game notes after the jump.

There is nothing earth shattering in the LA Times today. Chris Dufresne is calling the matchup too close to call:

USC offense vs. UCLA defense

Despite all that five-star talent, the Trojans rank No. 58 nationally in scoring offense at 27.5 points a game, and can expect stiff resistance against a UCLA defense giving up only 20 points a game.

UCLA offense vs. USC defense

Oregon and Stanford gashed USC's defense with relentless running games that put the Trojans on their heels. To win, UCLA needs to control the ground and then be ready to pass when the defense creeps up.

Special teams

The kicking advantage belongs to UCLA with Kai Forbath leading the nation in field goals and Jeff Locke ranking ninth (44 yards a kick) in punting.

Over at the Daily News, Jon Gold has a good quote on Logan Paulsen and ATV's frame of mind:

"In their minds, they're still way better, they're still more talented," senior cornerback Alterraun Verner said. "Our mentality is that we're still going to put up a fight. There's no change in mentality. They're still the Trojans and they beat us the last couple years."

UCLA can take solace in the fact this is a totally different USC lineup.

The Trojans had 11 players selected in March's NFL Draft, including five in the first two rounds, with quarterback Mark Sanchez going fifth overall to the New York Jets. This, after 10 Trojans went in 2008, with four first-rounders.

Still, despite losing so much talent and despite UCLA's rise, USC enters the game as a 13-point favorite.

"They're just younger this year," Bruins senior tight end Logan Paulsen said. "They play the same stuff, do the same thing, still have the same mentality. You can see the transfer. You just have to keep in mind you're not playing Rey Maualuga or Brian Cushing."

The players have changed but the jerseys won't.

Yes, I cannot wait to see the blue jerseys in the Mosoleum tonight.

As for our game day traditions here on BN, we will put up a pre game thread around 12:30 pm PST to take in other game actions. Our game thread will go up around 6:30 PST. Of course don't forget to get your pre game guesses in half an hour before kickoff. Enjoy your Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday: Arizona State Pre-game Thread

Nestor — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:24:30 -0000

Here is to Logan Paulsen rumbling into the end zone.

We have less than two hours till our kickoff. The game is a nationally televised one on FSN (Prime Ticket in Los Angeles). We are going to have suffer through with Barry Tompkins and Michael Eaves. Have to say though I am actually interested iin hearing from Petro who will be doing color for this game. I generally like his commentary even though he has his Trojan moments.

As for games around the country obviously the topline game this afternoon is taking place right now in the Big House. The Wolverines are battling against the Buckeyes and showing a little bit of fight (down 10-21). Also, interesting score out of Miami where the Hurricanes are down 13-16 to the Duke Bluedevils. Yes, the Blue Devils can become "bowl eligible" with a victory in this game. Full scoreboard over here.

So if you are watching other games this am, share your quick takes, observations or pre game nervous musings, here is our open thread. As always don't forget to get your guesses in. We will close that thread when our game thread goes up (around 12:45 pm PST).

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday Roundup: Hoping For A Special Senior Day At The Rose Bowl

Nestor — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:29:54 -0000

Well we are just hours away from finding out some answers on how our Bruins are going to respond to the biggest game of this regular season. There is nothing new to add at this point in terms of what this game means to all of us and how it can set up the long term future of our football program under Rick Neuheisel. From the comments we have read from our coaches and players this week, it seems pretty clear that they get what a big deal this game is and how they are going to need to play inspired football against a desperate opponent which also will give everything it has to keep its bowl hopes alive.

Plus there is the big emotional factor of this being our senior day. This is the last time we are going to see kids like ATV, Reggie Carter, Terrence Austin and Logan Paulsen in our home blue at the Rose Bowl. ATV and Carter of course had special careers at UCLA. However, going into today I have the same feeling towards this bunch I did towards kids like DT, CB, and RH who were able to end their careers in Howlandwood on a great note depsite starting it with a toxic one under a sleazbag posing as a head basketball coach. Here is to those kids having a great afternoon and a send off at the Rose Bowl. I would also add Brian Price into that mix because right now from what we have heard it looks like he will be in the NFL next season. So, I would be making sure to yell a little louder in appreciation when the big guy will hopefully make his presence felt in the Rose Bowl.

If the Bruins are going to get that much talked about 6th win today they will have to get it done against probably the best defense in the conference:

"I think this is a really, really talented defense that plays really well together," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said earlier this week. "I have watched the USC game and (saw) just how they fly to the ball, how they have all the fits exactly right.

"Their corners are very aggressive. It's a good group we're playing so we're going to have to play a great game on offense and see if we can't play our last home game for our seniors and play it really well."

Kevin Prince is well aware about how everyone will need to chip in and carry out their respective assignments to move the ball against Sun Devils this afternoon:

"Everybody has got to be willing to do their job when we play," he said. "If you watch game film, and this is the same for any team I've ever been on, you always see one guy who is not doing their job right. It's that one guy that makes the difference. If you can get all 11 guys on the same page doing their jobs, that's when everything starts falling together."

Things started to click for the Bruins in the second half of their game at Oregon State on Oct. 31. The progression, which continued through victories over Washington and Washington State, has been steady, but not swift.

Prince missed two games early in the season because of a broken jaw. He's been trying to make up for the time that he missed and seems to be close to where he should be.

"He's growing by leaps and bounds," Neuheisel said. "I think you can see that it takes awhile to gain the amount of time and snaps to know how the game is played and to be looking down the field rather than at what's coming at you."

Well let's hope KP with the help of all his team-mates can stay in the same rhythm we have seen from him during last 9 quarters as he has thrown for 49 of 60 passes for 724 yards and four touchdowns since that fourth quarter comeback. More quick game day notes and links after the jump.

Going into today's game Bruins also are well aware of what took place against the Sun Devils last season:

The Bruins outgained the Sun Devils 306-122.

They had 18 first downs to Arizona State's 10, outgained the Sun Devils 89-21 on the ground and had more than 110 more passing yards. UCLA's offense even outscored Arizona State's offense, 9-3.

But, oh, that one simple fact.

Arizona State scored four defensive touchdowns, including three off interceptions, in a 34-9 win that knocked the Bruins from bowl contention.

There is no forgetting that loss, especially the cold, hard facts.

"It's fresh in my mind," said senior wide receiver Terrence Austin, who had 188 all-purpose yards in the loss last season. "We've definitely talked about it. We know we pretty much prevented ourselves from winning the game last year, had some turnovers that really broke up the opportunity to win. We realize what we did last year, and now we're trying to capitalize on their mistakes this time."

Well let's hope today it's the Bruin defense who can come out and create similar opportunities for our offense. For more on today's game here is the write up from AP and the LAT. The LAT of course couldn't but leap with this cheap shot:

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel calls it a "barrier." Former UCLA coach Karl Dorrell would call it just another season.

Whatever Foster, who is probably bitter about getting exposed for being a shoddy reporter. Anyway, the kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm PST. We will probably also do a pre game thread starting in about an hour or sooner to take in other actions from today. Enjoy the Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Rounup: Early Thoughts On Arizona State

Nestor — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:47:54 -0000

More photos » by Rick Bowmer - AP

Samson Szakacsy (10) gave the Sun Devils a little spark last Saturday in Eugene

Browse more photos »

Let's start this Monday with an announcement of a simple rule for this game week. We don't want to see any discussion here on BN on any game other than the one coming up this weekend at the Rose Bowl. Period. If we see any more fanposts, fanshots or comments that talk about UCLA's last regular season game of the year overlooking a solid Arizona State football team with one of the best defenses in the conference, we will be hitting the delete button. So if you want to waste your keystrokes on our game against Chetey's bunch, you will have to do it somewhere else. It doesn't mean that we have to stop making fun of Petey or his lapdogs in the traditional media because that's an evergreen topic on BN. We just don't want to think about that game right now because we have a bigger one looming against Arizona State

Dennis Erickson's team is coming off a 21-44 loss against the Ducks. Looks like the Sun Devils might have found a young QB in that game who helped them make a little bit of run or at least make the score respectable in Eugene:

True freshman Brock Osweiler, who played the second half of the loss to USC on Nov. 7, got the start in place of Danny Sullivan. But he was ineffective Saturday, going 5-for-10 for 14 yards with one interception before leaving halfway through the second quarter with an apparent forearm injury.

But it wasn't Sullivan who came in. He had been limited during the week because of a biceps injury.

Coach Dennis Erickson sent in sophomore Samson Szakacsy, who entered the game with the Devils down 31-7. The Ducks would go on to win 44-21.

Szakacsy had been expected to the primary backup this season, but his elbow injury opened the door for Osweiler. Szakacsy, in his first extended playing time of the year, went 13-for-22 for 113 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.

He is the most mobile of the Arizona State's quarterbacks, and he rushed five times for 9 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.

With the help of an Oregon fumble on a kickoff, Arizona State got within 31-21 in the third quarter.

ASU now has a record of 4-6 (2-5 in the conference) which puts them on the same boat as us heading into Saturday's matchup. So they will be approaching Saturday with the same sense of desperation making it for all intent and purpose an elimination game.

Looking through ASU's season statistics the number that obvious jumps out right away is their defense. The Sun Devils are coming into the Rose Bowl with a defense which is ranked number 1 in Pac-10 (alsi in top-15 in all of college football). It's a stingy bunch that gives up 105.5 yards on ground and 195.9 yards through passing game. So Kevin Prince and co., who are probably feeling pretty good about themselves after what they have done in last 9 quarters, will have a game in their hands which will serve as a real measuring stick for the 2009 season. More after the jump.

Right now it looks like if the Bruins want to take control of this game, we are going to need Kevin Prince to be in rhythm early on. Thanks to Kevin's numbers our passing game's numbers are starting to look respectable (ranked 4th in the conference). Prince will have to keep spraying passes all over the field to loosen up the Sun Devils defense opening up some space for our running attack.

And, speaking of our running attack, the coaches will have to find a way to get JetSki back in a groove. I think it's pretty clear that he is our best all around back. I watched most of the replay of our game against the Cougars last night. When I was zeroing on the RB spot, to me it looked like JetSki was doing the best job in terms of providing extra pass protection for Prinice. Given the pressure we are going to face from ASU and the team speed of their defense, I think the Bruins will need JetSki to make a meaningful contribution this weekend. So hopefully he has erased the memories of those sloppy fumbles and locked in at Spaulding.

As for personnel news, Bruins might get some reinforcements this weekend:

Neuheisel said he hopes to get senior defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski (foot) and junior offensive guard Ryan Taylor (foot) back this week. ... Redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Hester is expected to return to full-speed action this week. He has been hampered by a fractured leg suffered in Week 1. ... Senior tight end Logan Paulsen suffered a calf cramp that kept him down on the field for a few minutes against Washington State, but Neuheisel said he was fine.

CRN also is focused on the most important objective for this game week:

"I'm just focused on us getting to 6-5 this week," Neuheisel said.

For those who are coming on to BN to talk up UCLA football this week, we'd love to hear your takes on Arizona State. We'd love to read and here more about how our guys match up against Erickson's Sun Devils team which is also going to be fighting and clawing for a post-season bowl bid.

Don't forget it is also senior day. So it's going to be a pretty emotional day for kids such as ATV, Reggie Carter, and Terrence Austin who have collectively been through a lot during their four years in Westwood. Kevin Prince mentioned right after the Washington State game what a special day it is going to be at the Rose Bowl and how he wants to do his part to make sure seniors can be sent off on a great note from the Rose Bowl. So once again let's lock in and keep all of our focus on the Sun Devils till kickoff at 1 pm PST this Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday Roundup: Getting & Staying Warm In Pullman

Nestor — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:42:46 -0000

Let's start with the weather broadcast today since we have heard all week it could be a potential factor in this afternoon in Pullman. Per weather.com right now it is about 25 degrees in Pullman (which is not too shabby to start the morning). At least on weather.com, they are not really expecting snow and projecting temperature to get up to around mid 30s this afternoon:

Partly cloudy. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Oh and there is about 20 percent chance of precipitation. So it's really cold for someone who is from Southern California but it could be lot worse. It shouldn't be an excuse for a team that is looking to go all out in these last remaining games to scratch and claw their way into a bowl game. Thankfully the guys on our team are not making weather an excuse:

UCLA defensive end Korey Bosworth, who played at Plano (Texas) West High, said: "I've played in it all, thunderstorms, rain, freezing rain, ice. I don't know about everyone else here, but I'm looking forward to it."

And Korey's team-mate Reggie at least on paper is striking the right notes heading into a matchup against a struggling football team:

"It's not like we've been winning all year," Carter said of the Bruins (4-5, 1-5). "We are just coming off a five-game losing streak. Regardless of what people think, we have to go in and fight. Everyone knows that if we lose this game, it will really hurt our year, not that it isn't already hurting."

Carter is also well aware how Pullman is probably the toughest road trip in the conference:

Carter is among a handful of UCLA seniors making their last collegiate trip to Pullman. The prospect does not bring tears to his eyes.

"I don't like that place," Carter said. "It is the worst trip. There is nothing there. It is 1 1/2 hours from the airport. It's cold and even the hotel is bad. Everything is rough out there, man. You have to be a strong person to go there. Hopefully, we'll go there, get the victory and run home as fast as we can."

For the Bruins to get out there with a victory means they will have to start the game in a good rhythm. More on that after the jump.

So about the ryhthm thing, Logan Paulsen and co. have been feeling it since that fourth quarter against Oregon State. He now wants to hold on to it:

Although it's great to not be at the bottom anymore, kinda be on our way up, it's more important that we're improving every week," Bruins senior tight end Logan Paulsen said. "We kind of got that rhythm, and the hardest thing for a young offense is to find that rhythm. Early in the season we had it in moments, but we lost it a little bit for five games.

"Oregon State, we got it back. We felt it."

Well, Logan can do his part by showing senior leadership. That means minimizing mistakes, which Logan has made a lot of (despite that 50+ catch and rumble last weekend) in recent weeks. Logan and rest of his team mates must minimize mistakes if they want to seize the momentum early on and hold on to it. This means eliminating stupid penalties and holdoing on to the ball no matter what the weather conditions are up in Pullman (and it looks like we might not have to deal with snow - fingers crossed).

Logan's QB - Kevin Prince - has been having good practices this week despite getting banged up last weekend against Washington. Kevin has been enjoying the feeling of clicking with his receivers:

"This whole season has been about developing a whole trust with the offense, and I think it's finally clicked," said Prince, who showed no ill effects this week after the concussion and has been fully cleared to play. "I don't know if it's what coach Neuheisel said to me, or just kind of what our game plan was. We were going into the (Oregon State) game saying we were going to throw fade balls. We were going to make our receivers work for it. Executing that game plan showed us, 'Wow, we can do this."'

Hope he can keep doing the same right off the bat up in Pullman.

Meanwhile, speaking of doing the same, our defense will try to maintain and build on their second half showing against the Huskies from last weekend:

[T]he Bruins looked somewhat like their old defensive selves in the second half, limiting the Huskies to 146 yards and getting another interception from Rahim Moore -- the national co-leader with eight -- to wrap things up.

Call it an improvement after giving up 463, 456 and 494 yards in their previous three games.

"There were a lot of fundamental issues we weren't addressing," Bosworth said. "We weren't tackling. We weren't pursuing the ball as we should. I feel we have addressed those. If you don't do the fundamentals, bad things happen."

Well, I think it has to do more with fundamentals. It has lot to do with scheming. Right now the problem with our defense is we are simply not generation enough pressure on the QB with our front 4. If that dynamics doesn't look any different in the first few snaps against the Cougs, I hope Bullough is not waiting till the second half to mix it up with his blitzes. The Washington State offense will probably not enter this game with a lot of confidence on offense. They are going to work in a QB who even though started earlier this season, has been on the bench. We are going to need to bring pressure early on to bottle them up, while making sure Tardy and co do not gash up with their rushing attack.

Our defense is going to be very interesting to watch today. This is a golden opportunity for them to really get back some momentum they had earlier in the season. They can't blow it by going passive early on and giving a struggling football team any hint of life. In other words, they can't wait till the second half to get "warmed up" in Pullman. The D along with their offensive team-mates should be ready to go in full speed and clicking on all cylinders from early on keeping them heated and warmed up for entire 60 game minutes in Pullman.

The kickoff is around 2 pm PST. We will put up a pre-game thread around 12:30 pm PST and our game thread will go up about half an hour before our kickoff. Enjoy your Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Sunday Reflections: Resilient Bruins Keep Battling Away

Nestor — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:29:43 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Dear Coach Neuehisel: How About Sticking With Those Home Jerseys Rest Of This Season?

Browse more photos »

Let's hit the reset button again this am. For last few weeks we have seen the UCLA beat reporters working hard to weave the storyline about how Rick Neuheisel is losing control of the UCLA football program. We have had the LA Times making a big deal out of a frustrated true freshman's twitter post. We have had Trojan alum posing as OC Register reporter running wild with unverified face book musings of a frustrated parent's as some kind of legitmate news story. Piling on top of those nonsense Rick Neuheisel and our football program have had to deal with routine classless attacks from LAT's TJ Slimers on a weekly basis.

If the UCLA football program were truly "falling apart", it would have quit a long time ago and got blown apart in Arizona or in Oregon, and walk around like zombies at the Rose Bowl during their home coming game yesterday. Yet game after game, we see these guys battling away. While the defensive tentativeness, silly penalties often make me want to throw my remote into the TV screen, these guys keep fighting back every game. They almost pulled it out last weekend when ATV had a chance to put the Bruins ahead in a heart pumping win. They got it done yesterday when Sheldon Price, who has been deservedly criticized all season long, played a huge part in the game clinching interception. Price and Moore's efforts yesterday were the hallmark of a football team, that not only appear resilient, but united under Neuheisel's leadership in Westwood:

"It's called teamwork, man, and teamwork makes the dream work," Moore said. "That two-minute drill, we do that in practice all the time. That's the camaraderie we have with one another. I mean, Sheldon ran up to me and was like, `I love you, man. I love you, Rahim.' As a team, we've been through so much, to pull out this win is a blessing."

CRN offered up the following comment on UCLA's comeback after falling behind by a score of 14-23 without our starting QB:

"To keep coming back, to keep fighting like that, is easy to preach, it's harder to get done."

And than brings me to CRN's comments on Kevin Craft:

"He's been maligned," Coach Rick Neuheisel said of Craft in a television interview afterward, "but he keeps coming back, and that's what sports is all about."

Let's get something straight first. UCLA is now Kevin Prince's team (when he is healthy). Prince showed in the first half yesterday why Ryan and others were so hyped up about him coming into this season. Moreover, Brehaut's performance during that firs half series (more on that below) also vindicated Norm Chow and other observers who were steadfast in their conviction that Brehaut isn't ready to step up this season.

As fro Craft he had a solid day as a backup. He managed the game really well and allowed Chow to stick with his regular offense. However, at the same time there were spots when Craft showed why Prince is the starting QB for this football team. He missed an open Moya on 3rd and goal. His pass to Austin was slightly under thrown. Still it felt really good to see him get the win. Just like Sheldon Prince Kevin Craft is the picture of resiliency of this football program and proof how the players in this team have bought into CRN's leadership, despite some of nonsense the local reporters have tried to blow up out of proportion this season. More after the jump.

Going back to Brehaut it CRN is making sure the kid keeps his chin up:

"I got to hold onto the ball," said Brehaut, who also fumbled in his last play against Oregon State in the previous game. "I got to have a better thought in my mind. I have to take off running, I just can't hold onto the ball like that. Coach Neuheisel told me to keep my chin up, that he is still behind me."

Neuheisel, while not blaming Brehaut entirely, said, "Competition at this level requires a great deal of concentration and a great deal of preparation. . . . I told him I still had high hopes for him, and was still going to get him more playing time, but this is harder than he thinks it is right now in terms of preparing."

Brehaut will have his time before he is done in Westwood. I think the key for him right now is to take his cues from Craft and stay plugged in with the offense every which way he can. This means total concentration not just during practices but during every film sessions and meeting with Chow and Neuheisel when they are going over the offense.

As for other positives from yesterday let's start with the offense. Ryan laid out below how Nelson Rosario has emerged as a go to receiver in our rotation. Let's hope takes advantage of his confidence to maintain his concentration and focus. His emergence is also important for another reason. CRN can also offer him up as the clear example of what happens when a young player locks in with focus to kids such as Pressley and Carroll.

We now need a RB to step up. JetSki has fumbling issues. I wonder if some of this has to do with health. He hasn't been the same since he screwed up his ankle against Cal few weeks ago. Perhaps he is thinking too much when he is out there. He still does a solid job in terms of blitz pickup but he has to protect the ball. Obviously loved watching the Wildcat package with Milton Knox. Hopefully he gets into the mix even more in the remaining games. He looks a little unsure as a RB during regular formation but perhaps that will change if he gets more carries. Oh and welcome back Mr. Coleman.

I am not going to spend more time giving credit to the OL. They are clearly coming along and point to obvious sign of improvement from this past season. Anyone out there who wants to blather about this team not improving from last season, just has to look at our OL and the kind of time it is providing our QBs. They need to get better at run blocking but I am not too worried about it. Under Palcic's coaching it is going to happen over time.

My big complaint from the offense is unfortunately the seniors. We need Logan Paulsen to wisen up. He had a huge play yesterday but once again he committed stupid penalties that hurt the team. Seems like he has hurt the team with one dumb penalty for 3 straight weeks. It just shouldn't happen from someone who is looked up as one of the senior leaders in this team.

Moving over to the defense. While Price and Moore were the obvious stars from the defensive side, lot of issues remain. Washington's offense racked up 5.95 yards per play against Bullough's defense. While Bullough did mix in some blitzes later in the game (which yielded results) they looked throughly confused and on their heels at the outset. Chis Polk ran for 132 yards in 15 carries against our front 7 tearing them up every time he was touching the ball. Polk almost made it look too easy and I have to wonder why Sarkasian (the so called young offensive genius) didn't stick with the running game to bloody up our defense.

The huge problem right now with our base 4-3 is that our front-4 is not generating much pressure on their own. Brian Price is a monster but he is not getting much help from the other three guys. So it's a matter of deciding when to bring in our LBs or SS to rattle the opposing QB. That depends on Bullough thoroughly scouting the offensive schemes and the tendencies of the opposing QBs. Once again I was surprised why we waited long to bring pressure on Locker who clearly looked uncomfortable when he got a little heat. In fact one of his "sacks" was pretty much Jim Evertesque when he went down sensing Datone Jones around him.

As for ATV he got burned couple of times yesterday. I think that has to do with his health. He has been dealing with a dislocated toe he suffered few weeks ago. While he is all right, he is clearly not 100 percent. Same goes for Reggie Carter who even though played a decent game yesterday doesn't look 100 percent either. So, I think it goes back to Chuck Bullough making sure his defense doesn't look predictable when they come out of the game.

That brings me up to the topic of James Washington, the commentator. I am kind of sick and tired of the cheap shots that I often see hurled towards James here on BN and other places. People need to cut that nonsense out. I understand that James's voice, words choice are often not perfect for TV. I think he knows that too. Well many would say that about the Big Red during his early years of broadcasting career.

I can sense in listening to James that he is making an effort to get better. If you listen to him very closely, he offers some incredibly valuable insights based on his observations from practice. Particularly he is frank and candid. Multiple times yesterday he called out Chuck Bullough for not scheming aggressively and not bringing pressure to rattle Jake Locker. That doesn't happen from vanilla, boiler plate commentators who are afraid to offer up criticisms of coaches because of fear of losing access.

Listening to him, I get to hear an impassioned Bruin who loves everything about blue and gold, and who is offering his exact words he would offer up to young defensive back in blue and gold. James is doing all right and in many ways I find him as enjoyable as listening as Petros Papadakis when commenting on Pac-10 football games. So let's cut the cheap shots out against James Washington and reserve them for morons like David Norrie who is somehow ashamed to let out his UCLA colors while offering up commentary.

Anyway, back to our game. The season is clearly alive. However, right now on BN we need to make this week all about Washington State. We can't afford to get caught up in bowl projections because all of that will be moot if we don't get it done in Palouse which has always been a brutal place for our Bruins. I hope our fanbase and our team will be locked into next weekend's game like it's an NCAA tourney game. We need it badly. We will have to wait to see the word on Kevin Prince. The word from yesterday was that he was being treated for concussion like syndrome. Prince was feeling all right and was gracious towards Donald Butler:

Prince, who sat out four weeks this season because of a fractured jaw, said, "I remember diving and then I was on the ground and not feeling too good. I'm feeling all right now. As far as I know, it was a perfectly legal hit."

Hopefully he will be ready to go at practices and pick up on the same rhythm and total command he was in of our offense. It looked like things have slowed down for him a little as he was going to his secondary receivers.

Lastly, speaking of gracious, CRN had this to say after the game:

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel stepped to the microphone as he does after every home game, and for the first time in weeks, he was welcomed with cheers.

His voice cracked, his hair messed, Neuheisel made a plea to all those who have jumped ship as one loss became five.

"For those of you who jumped off the bandwagon, I understand," Neuheisel yelled to UCLA's embattled fans. "I'm just asking you to get back on."

I think he is being too kind. I don't really want bandwagoning losers supporting our team, especially those who are openly talking about "throwing ... away" that last regular season game. We don't need those kind of "Bruins" here on BN.

If we can get Prince to come out in the same form and take care of business, we are going to find ourselves in pretty good shape on the eve of our last home game of the season. For now though, we just need to worry about Washington State and hope the team keeps building on the resilient spirit they have shown the entire season. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the ride.

GO BRUINS.