Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I think we can all agree that the last two years have been an absolute pit of misery for UCLA football.  The wins over Tennessee were great, but by no means dominating performances.

We all know that Coach Neuheisel inherited a disastrous situation.

And a lot of us believe that the coaches could be doing some things differently with these players, as young, inexperienced and limited as they are.  Because of all this, our team essentially has to play mistake-free football, which is a lot to ask of such young players.

But on top of all this, I can't help but think...

By golly, CRN has had some terrible luck along the way.

He lost Patrick Cowan before the 2008 season started...

...then lost Ben Olson on the very next play...

...then lost a starting offensive lineman to a freak golf cart injury...

...had an injured Khalil Bell as a running back...

...lost his best Tight End in the first game of the season last year...

...and then this year, our starting QB, who had shown some promise, goes and gets his jaw broken...

...a promising corner (Hester) breaks his leg...

...a bunch of freshmen go and do something stupid to get suspended.

Anyway, what am I getting at?

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Bumped. Still gathering my thoughts. Let me say this: tasser and yours truly started as students UCLA on the same day in the same class. We attended all the games sitting in the student moshpit watching UCLA teams from the 90s. Bruins Nation has always been about holding our athletic programs accountable to maintain the standards set by our tradition. We are not giving up on Neuheisel. I personally will do my best to wait till the end of his 4th season to make my final determination on whether he is the answer. That said anything less than 6 wins in 2009 will not be acceptable here on Bruins Nation. If our team doesn't get to 6 wins this year, we will consider it as first strike against Neuheisel in his career as the UCLA head coach. GO BRUINS. - N

19 games into the Neu era.

What has our football team improved in?

Well...the QBs are throwing fewer interceptions.  They're just replacing them with fumbles.

The field goal kicker is having a record season.  Because the offense can't score TDs.

The punter is even better than last year.  Because the offense can't convert on third downs.

The wide receivers drop even more passes.  Nelson Rosario is officially doing a Brian Poli-Dixon impersonation.

The defense is better than last year...it is sad to see their efforts go to waste because our offense just can't score.

The OL is doing a better job, though still inconsistent.

This is a sad, sad state of affairs.  I think it is fair to say that overall there has been zero progress made since last year.  Zero.  What is the point of bringing in all this talent only to have game plans that take the game out of their hands.  If our coaches don't trust the players, then don't friggin' recruit them.  Freshmen...freshmen are calling out Norm Chow...on friggin' twitter.  We are losing games, eminently winnable games, because the coaches just cannot bring themselves to take the training wheels off.  That is not what inspires people, and that is not what motivates players. 

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