Bruins finally find their air game, AND get their longest TD run in 6 years, but the Defense doesn’t molest anyone until the second half, and Cal takes advantage, 45-26
All the leaves are Brown… And the skies are grey… Or so said the Mamas and the Papas in “California Dreamin’.” And it doesn’t take Mackenzie Phillips to see that the forecast for UCLA is gloomy. The Cal Bears, coming off two blowout losses, beat UCLA by 19 points. The Bruin Defense had its worst game of the year, giving up 35 points in the first half, and the Bruins never recovered, despite over 300 yards passing from Kevin Prince, and a 74-yard TD run by Jonathan Franklin.
The Defense held Cal to 3 points in the second half, but a Kevin Prince Pick 6 killed any hope of a comeback. The Bruins were driving in the 4th to cut the lead to 5, but a horribly-thrown pass (with a Receiver wide open) put the game out of reach.
Kevin Prince threw for 311 yards, proving that he has the ability to far surpass anything his predecessor is capable of, but he fumbled again, which led directly to one Cal TD, and the big Interception was inexcusable. Prince still deserves to start, but if he doesn’t curtail his Freshman mistakes, Coach Rick Neuheisel is going to start seeing bumper stickers around town that say: “Neuheisel: Proving that Dorrell wasn’t so bad, since 2008.”
If the Bruins, who have lost three straight, continue losing winnable games, the fans will lose faith in Neuheisel and Norm Chow, and things will get very uncomfortable in Westwood.
Coming later on Sunday night: More photos from the Cal game and pre-game rally, as well as a few more in-depth observations on what is going wrong with UCLA Football this year.
Comments
2 responses to “CALIFORNIA REAMIN’”
Rick – would you still say going 5-5 after a 3-0 start is “terribly disappointing”? Right about now, going 5-2 the rest of the way would be cause for celebration.
What is terribly disappointing is UCLA’s defense. With two freshman QB’s and a generally young offense, amidst the inevitable ups and downs, what you hope to see is steady progress. Progress is debatable, due in part to Prince’s injury. But to give up 38 points to a team that scored six points in their last two games, Best or not, is very discouraging.
Yeah, 5-2 would be a real “triumph.”
Of course, the “terrible disappointment” already exists; that’s what happens when three straight win- able games are lost– the very definition of underachieving…