Boo, Boo! — Bruins cough up 7 Turnovers, give up 5 Sacks, and commit 12 stupid Penalties for 99 yards, in an old-fashioned Pic-a-nic of Sucking, losing to (formerly 1-and-4) Cal, 43-17
Is UCLA afraid of success? Once again ranked in the Top 25 (barely), the Bruins thoroughly suck in almost all phases of the game, and get rolled by Cal 43-17. Despite 4 Interceptions, a Muff, 2 fumbles, and a dozen penalties for nearly 100 yards, the Bruins were still very much in the game in the 4th Quarter, driving to cut the lead to 5, but miscue after miscue cost them any chance they had to come back.
Beaten in the trenches, and dominated in the Defensive Backfields, UCLA couldn’t get anything going DOWN THE FIELD, while Cal was successful on 3rd Downs, and with short passes that went for big yards… and big points. Everyone will say that the Bruins shot themselves in the foot, with Turnovers, and with penalty after penalty, most of which killed momentum, negated 1st Downs, and gave 1st Downs to Cal. The main trigger-man was Aaron Hester, who committed a Personal Foul for a blatantly late hit out of bounds, and a 15-yard Facemask. Also, he and most of his DB cohorts got exposed, as Cal notched 4 TD passes on the night.
The Bruin Receivers couldn’t match their counterparts’ production, as Starter Jerry Johnson caught one early pass, then disappeared, like he has all season long. Defensive Players Datone Jones and Cassius Marsh each has as many TD Catches on the Season as the Bruins’ Starting Wide Receiver Johnson. The other Starting WR Shaq Evans was more effective, but couldn’t get anything deep, and had two obvious miscommunications with QB Brett Hundley, one of which wound up as a Cal Interception in the End Zone.
Even Special Teams was not exempt from the Team-wide choke. Despite blocking two Cal PAT’s, the Special Teams gave away more than they earned, when a blocker ran into a Punt Receiver, causing a costly muff. The Bruins also missed a long but makable Field Goal.
This game was a giant step backwards for Jim Mora’s club, as they were outplayed, outcoached, and out-emotioned all night long. To the Bruins’ credit, THEY DIDN’T QUIT, and were still very much alive late in the game, but they could not get the big scoring plays down the stretch. But the bottom line is that the team looked like the OLD Bruins, making mental and physical mistakes that gave away the game. Mora was supposed to eliminate this kind of pathetic, humiliating loss, especially to a team that hadn’t won a single game all year against a real (FBS) school.
No one will be asking you any more if the Bruins are for real… because based on Saturday night, they aren’t, and they left no doubt about it in anyone’s mind. And remember one other dark fact: u$c destroyed Cal a few weeks ago.
Comments
One response to “DON’T FEED THE BEARS”
I was at the game with my son and I was fearful that Cal was better than their record (they should have beaten Ohio State and Nevada plays well in big games) but it was disappointing to see all the UCLA mistakes. Bruins have potential with so many young, talented athletes and were still in the game mid-4th qtr…. but as my son said, you don’t deserve to win with so many penalties and turnovers.
Test will be if they can pull together for the remaining games….
Go Bruins