Recruiting Rankings

MONDAY
You still believe that great class Neuheisel and Co. just signed is going to translate into wins?

The Cold Hard Facts:
2010: Recruiting class ranked #8: UCLA record 4-8
2009: Recruiting class ranked #5: UCLA record 6-6
2008: Recruiting class ranked #10: UCLA record 4-8

There's No Crying In Football Bruins!

THURSDAY
It was a sad state of affairs in Bruin Land on Thursday.

From the Inside UCLA blog on LA Daily News network: UCLA freshman defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa sat on the team bench with just minutes to play, eyes bulging, tears streaming down his face, screaming at his teammates. "I refuse to give up!" Odighizuwa said. "I refuse to give up. This isn't over! It is not over!"

From the LA Times: Strong safety Tony Dye sat crying, seemingly oblivious to Neuheisel, who poked his head around the corner and said, "Got to keep your head up," to the players in that corner of the locker room.

Neuheisel's Pitch to UCLA Recruits

FRIDAY
UCLA coach still has talking points he believes can form a winning sales pitch to potential recruits.

The goods, courtesy of the O.C. Register:
Given the consistent second-tier status, Coach Rick Neuheisel was asked during his Monday news conference how he sold progress to recruits. "Well, I think there is certainly a story to be told, but it's not one that needs to be out there in the public," Neuheisel said. "It's one that needs to be told in homes about where this program is and how we're going to get there."

Then Neuheisel went into elements of that pitch. "We certainly talk about the virtues of this great university. We certainly talk about where we were once and how we're going get back there," he said.

Neuheisel's reference point is his UCLA career, which he began as a walk-on quarterback in 1979 for a team that went 5-6 and ended with his MVP performance in the 1984 Rose Bowl against Illinois, the second of three Rose Bowl victories in a four-year stretch for the Bruins under Coach Terry Donahue.

Star QB Missing at UCLA for Years

TUESDAY
I continually wonder, amidst the Bruin's struggles year after year, how it could possibly be the QB play could be so unbelievably bad.
Isn't UCLA one of the finest academic institutions in America? Located in one of the most beautiful places in Los Angeles, CA.?

Greg Patton of the Press-Enterprise of Riverside examines the situation over the last decade.

Bottom line, the Bruins have not had a solid quarterback in a decade.

The only Bruin in 10 years to get an NFL look was Drew Olson, who spent practice time with three teams, but never played a down.

The Cal Bear Defense Is Reborn

SATURDAY
HUGE difference in the defense I am watching right now (shutting down UCLA) and the one I watched give up 500 yards (and 52 points) to Nevada in Week 3 of the season. Appears to be easily explained. Mike Mohamed did not play against the Wolfpack.

The guy is amongst the Top-3 defensive players in the Pac-10 conference this year. No discussion needed. Mohamed, Vontaze Burfict of ASU and Akeem Ayers of UCLA are at the very top of that list.

The Cal D is very simply not the same without Mohamed. With him in the lineup, they are one of the most talented units in the conference.

UCLA cannot do anything in this game...which really means they cannot run the ball. Without Franklin and Coleman gaining yardage on the ground, this Bruin offense is completely inept.


Just like you, I watched UCLA beat up Texas a couple weeks back. One important note. Kevin Prince threw for 27 total yards in that game.

Kevin Prince threw for 39 yards in the Stanford defeat.

Kevin Prince may very well not surpass 50 yards in this beatdown at the hands of the Cal Bears.

Could This Be The Year UCLA Jumps USC?

Just putting it out there . . .

HUGE Win for the Bruins

MONDAY
Let's give UCLA some love. Neuheisel, Norm Chow and the Bruins deserve it.
Things were looking awfully bad for the baby blues after losses to K-State to open the season and Stanford to the tune of 35-0.

Now you can rationalize the victory by focusing on the injury to Houston QB Case Keenum that took him out of the game. Yet I don't believe most people understand that the Bruins completely dominated the Cougs in every phase of the game and were rolling toward an impressive victory (up 21-3 on the way to another score) with or without that unfortunate turn of events.


"We watched so much film throughout the week that we pretty much knew everything Houston was trying to do," said safety Rahim Moore."With that type of offense being so dynamic, we didn't let it confuse us. You know what's funny? Nobody gave us a chance. They said the defense couldn't make plays. They were giving us all kinds of letter grades that were bad, and we took it personal."

Remember the name Patrick Larimore. The guy was all over the place on Saturday, leading the Bruins with 11 tackles (three tackles-for-loss), two pass break-ups and a forced fumble.