Blame It On Brehaut, Blame It On The Bellboy, Blame it on Tunney, Sheller, Chow, Bullough, Neuheisel, and anyone else not wearing black
All you idiots who thought that Kevin Prince was the problem, please raise your hands. Now put them down, and write in, admitting that you were wrong.
A couple of months ago, some UCLA fans were clamoring for the demotion of QB Kevin Prince, in favor of Richard Brehaut. They even accused the Coaching staff of having an unfair vendetta against anyone not named Prince. Some insisted that Brehaut was superior, and one even called for third-stringer Darius Bell to be given a chance. Then, after Prince went down, the Coaches had no choice but to play Brehaut, who barely managed to eke out a win over the horrible Washington State Cougars. That victory had the Brehaut camp claiming victory, saying that Brehaut had now proven to be better. And of course, they accused the Coaches of being morons for holding back the team with their Prince fetish. I hope those fans were watching on Thursday night, when Brehaut put forth a Crafty effort against the Washington Huskies, that basically destroyed the Bruins’ chances of reaching a Bowl game this season.
Brehaut missed almost every receiver he targeted, throwing one Interception, and two more wounded quails that SHOULD have been Intercepted. Several of his misses were on 3rd Downs, with his Receivers WIDE open. But the passes sailed over the heads of the Receivers, bringing on 4th Downs, then bringing on a Nationally-televised tongue-lashing from Coach Neuheisel on the sidelines, and finally bringing on the 3rd-string Quarterback, much to the delight of the brainless fan on Bruin Zone who has been pimping Bell — a JC transfer — for the last month or so.
Of course Bell, playing in his first real game ever, was horrible. He didn’t gain a single yard through the air in his two series, missing a wide open Receiver on a huge play (when the Bruins still trailed only 10-7), and finally throwing a horrible Interception. Bell was immediately benched, giving way to Clayton Tunney, who showed exactly why he was the 5th-string QB on the depth chart before the season began. You know you’re in trouble when fans are waxing nostalgically about Kevin Craft.
The atrocious QB play allowed the Bruins’ 7-0 lead to turn into a humiliating, primetime 24-7 loss on ESPN, for the whole Country to laugh at. Even master recruiter Neuheisel will have trouble recovering from this debacle. Losing to #1 Oregon by 50 is one thing, but failing to score more than one time against the Nation’s worst Defense is something entirely different. How could you even blame top recruit Brett Hundley if he decommitted? Of course, there is no other school in the Nation where he would have a better chance of Starting every game as a true Freshman.
Sadly for UCLA, the Quarterbacking on Thursday was not the only embarrassing aspect of the game. Offensive Lineman Sean Sheller incurred THREE different major penalties in the Second Half, all by himself. In fact, the Bruins suffered more lost yardage in penalties in the 2nd half, than they amassed in Total Offense. After their one TD drive — a 92-yard drive on their second possession of the game that included only two passes and culminated with a 31-yard Jonathan Franklin TD with beautiful blocking all the way — they completely melted down. They couldn’t even run against a team that can’t tackle a tackling dummy.
The Defense held Washington to 7 Points in the 1st half, but as the Offense continued to choke, the Defense pretty much gave up, missing more tackles than even the Huskies normally do. They never got to QB Jake Locker, and they crumbled against the run, allowing both Husky RB’s to have career days. The D-Line was shredded to create huge holes, and the rest of the team missed every first attempt at the tackle.
There is no excuse for this sham. Neuheisel and Chow will be apologizing all week, but you shouldn’t accept it. They truly did not earn their paychecks this week, and nothing they did to “adjust” worked.
UCLA could still become Bowl-eligible, by winning next week at Arizona State, and then beating sc at the Rose Bowl on December 4th. But seriously, if you think that is going to happen, you really haven’t been paying attention. The trojans should be favored by 40 points… and I would GIVE those points. If the whole team just QUIT right now, I wouldn’t be surprised. I think I’d rather forfeit than see what is likely to occur.
That being said, do you think I’m going to sell my tickets? Hell no. I haven’t missed a home game in 40 years, and I’m not going to start now, no matter how hopeless things appear. In 2006, I felt exactly the same way. I didn’t think UCLA had a chance in Hell of beating them. I even talked a guy out of making a bet that cost him $7000. Then came “13-9.” So I’m sorry to be so negative and pessimistic, but what the hell else can I write after what happened on Thursday night? Should I buy the company line that Brehaut was removed due to a head injury? Should I blame his piss-poor performance on the freezing wind, which was bad enough to make Kai Forbath badly miss a 44-yard Field Goal? Should I accept that Washington’s “Black out” Black jerseys, fans all wearing black, and emotion of Senior Day, was too much to overcome? Should I try to be upbeat and supportive? I don’t think so. Neuheisel understands how mad the fans are, and he doesn’t blame them at all. So yeah, I’m pissed, and wouldn’t protest if they totally “clean house” tomorrow morning. But regardless of what happens, I’m still a Bruin, I’m still a Bruin fan, and I will be in my seat at the Rose Bowl on December 4th, come Hell or high water, rooting the best I can, until that game is totally out of reach… with 7 minutes left in the 1st quarter, probably.
[T-H’s Note: It appears that Brehaut was pulled due to memory loss effects indicating a concussion. The reason why I was skeptical originally is that he played another series after the hit. BUT… it was only then that the Coaching staff realized that he was concussed… which doesn’t make the medical staff look too on the ball, but certainly explains why Bell was inserted. I thought that it was Brehaut’s horrendous performance that mandated the change, but the concussion took away any choice that Neuheisel had.]
Comments
4 responses to “ARM-AGEDDON”
We need to get used to this. UCLA does not pay the coaches enough. There are tougher requirements to get into the school (nothing wrong with that) that prevents UCLA from getting players that want to wear blue and gold. Also the athletic facilities on campus for athletes are not at the level of other schools. All of these things create the sub standard teams we have been seeing for the past decade.
Changes have to be made at the top. And I am not referring to the head coach. At other schools people can donate money to pay for coaches or other people’s salaries. Not here. So people get used to the sub standard teams and after a few years get used to crowds in the Rose Bowl that will not fill the soccer stadium in Carson.
I enjoy going to the games and rooting on the Bruins. But how many of you out there will have had enough in a short time if you have not come to that conclusion already.
Well, Prince has proven that he was not good enough to start and RB has not had enough starts for us to truely judge him yet. Chow need to go.
Prince was a problem and had to go. Years of development and nothing. Brehaut had a bad game and deserves to hear about it. There are no free passes in life. You play bad, you hear it. You play well, you hear it.
But to condemn him this early is just unfair. If you want to be fair, you have to give Brehaut the same time that we gave Prince which is 3 years.
[T-H’s Note: I respect you for having the courage to write in again. That being said, Prince never choked as badly as Brehaut did on Thursday, against one of the worst Defenses in the Country. Was it the freezing wind? The hostile crowd? Whatever it was, Brehaut proved that Prince wasn’t the problem, and Brehaut wasn’t the answer. Then again, maybe you’re right: Maybe it was JUST ONE BAD NIGHT. But fans were all over Chow and Neuheisel for starting Prince over Brehaut, and on Thursday, Brehaut returned to the form that he showed in practice, thus EXPLAINING why the Coaches stuck with Prince. If you still think that Brehaut is superior to a healthy Prince, then you might be surprised in Spring, when the competition will be wide open again. The only factor that may work out in your favor is Prince’s apparent fragility. If he can’t stay healthy, then Brehaut will have to be The Man… unless Hundley is mature beyond his years. And once again: Thank you for writing in again — At least you have the guts to stick to your guns.]
Your entire argument is based on a healthy Prince and an uninterrupted developmental process. Neither of which occurred. Normally, after 3 years, you should be a pretty competent QB. I always said that Prince in an ideal world is the better QB. But reality is that he can’t stay healthy enough and the team has to basically wait for him. Do you race with the 600 hp Ferrari that doesn’t break down or go with the 1000 hp Bughatti that can’t go more than 40 miles without running out of gas?
[T-H’s Note: I appreciate your civility, and perseverence. I go with the Bugatti, because there’s no guarantee that it will break down (although I admit that it’s extremely likely to). If and when it crashes and burns, you pull the Ferrari out from under the car cover. Unfortunately, instead of Bugatti/Ferrari, it looks more like Toyota/Yugo, but I still go with the extra horses, for as long as I can. But I understand your point, and consider it a valid one.]