ROSEN BLOOMS THEN VANDER’ GOES

vir15fb_0804 2a

vir15fb_0555 2aGood News, Bad Knee — Rosen honored with National Player of the Week Award in his very first game, but UCLA’s leading tackler Eddie Vanderdoes injures his knee and is lost for the season

For the first time in 10 years, a Bruin has won the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week Award.  Not since Quarterback Drew Olson in 2005 has a UCLA player gotten that honor, until Saturday, when True Freshman QB Josh Rosen ended that drought, in his college debut.

Rosen made National Headlines with his stellar performance, causing some experts to re-evaluate their preseason predictions, suddenly adding UCLA to their prognostications for the 4-team Playoff.  Now that people know that Rosen is for real, they feel like Jim Mora can deliver a Top 4 finish.

But a few hours after Rosen’s honor and the new lofty predictions were published and broadcast, those Great Expectations came into some question, as UCLA’s All-American caliber Defensive Lineman Eddie Vanderdoes was ruled out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL in his knee.

Vanderdoes led the Bruins with 8 tackles on Saturday, before his knee locked up.  The injury may or may not have to do with the TD celebration where he hoisted fellow D-Lineman Kenny Clark into the air following Clark’s Touchdown reception.  You can see my photo of that celebration in the photo array I posted here yesterday.  I didn’t know at the time that that photo was capturing a tragic moment.

Vanderdoes was such a huge force in the D-Line, that even though the Bruins have a couple of good choices to replace him, it is still a monumental loss, and could mean that opponents will now be able to run up the middle on the Bruins, and that would open up everything else for opposing Offenses.  What a blow to Bruin fans.  Just hours after I posted about the Rosen-inspired unbridled OPTIMISM sweeping Westwood.  Let’s just hope that this season’s losses of Ishmael Adams and Eddie Vanderdoes mark the end of the carnage.

Now here are 78 more photos from Saturday, including game photos, Virginia Cheerleader photos, and lots of UCLA Spirit Squad photos, with many more of the Bruin Cheerleaders still to come later this week.