Revolution #9 — For the moment, #9 UCLA can look down their noses at the Red-nosed Sarkisian and his Red-nosed Clown College trojans, who are the Nation’s Biggest Losers, dropping 13 spots to #19 after getting upset by an unranked Stanford squad; The Bruins also passed Florida State and Alabama (!) in the AP Poll
If you had been told in August that UCLA and their True Freshman Quarterback would soon be ranked above u$c, Florida State, and Alabama, you would have been skeptical at the least. Even after QB Josh Rosen had a mega-auspicious debut against Virginia, the Bruins still had a way to go before being considered in Alabama’s class.
Well, after the Bruins’ 3rd straight win on Saturday night, over a ranked BYU team, the Bruins are in the Playoff discussion, while Alabama and their Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin dropped 10 spots to #12 after losing AT HOME to Ole Miss. That’s a huge drop, but not as big as sc’s 13-place freefall after losing AT HOME by 10 to 10-point Underdog Stanford. In addition to passing those two Saturday losers, the Bruins also leapfrogged Florida State, who won their game 14-0.
So if UCLA passed three teams after starting the week at #10, why aren’t they #7? Because they were themselves leapfrogged, by two SEC teams. The Bruins can’t complain, since they barely squeaked by 17-point underdog BYU, AT HOME. That allowed poll voters to place both Ole Miss and LSU (who whipped Auburn) above the Bruins.
Not to worry — If the Bruins keep on winning, the Polls will sort themselves out, and the Bruins will make the Playoffs. But they will have to play much, much better than they did on Saturday. Converting only about 11% of their 3rd Downs will not get it done. neither will throwing 3 Interceptions (two in the Red Zone). This Saturday, Rosen will play in his first-ever truly HOSTILE road environment, when the Bruins travel to Arizona. The Wildcats scored 77 points on Saturday, so it looks like Rosen will have to get in rhythm faster than he did against BYU. And the Defense will have its hands full, with slick QB Anu Solomon at the helm. It will be helpful to have Kenny Young back in the fold. While his back-up Isaako Savaiinaea played great and was involved in a team-leading 14 Tackles, there is a reason why Coach Mora named Young the Starter, and also, the D will be even more productive and energetic when it has both bodies to spell each other.
The Bruins have been installed as the Road Favorite, by about 4 points. The odds were fairly prophetic in the first two games, but not at all in Week 3. All it really means is that the 4-point spread will evenly split betting money on both teams. But if Rosen doesn’t adapt to the environment, and he plays like he did in the BYU game First Half, taking those points would be the smart money bet. However, I think that he will grow from this experience, and show marked improvement, especially with the Coaches using more of the vaunted Rushing attack to take the pressure off Rosen.
Speaking of vaunted, here are 66 more examples of why the UCLA Spirit Squad is perennially ranked in the Nation’s Top Five. Today, I have even included some of the dedicated female members of the crucial Yell Crew, who were instrumental on Saturday, at pumping up the Rose Bowl crowd, which really unnerved the Cougars, and played a substantive, tangible role in the Bruins’ victory.
Click on the pics to enlarge them, especially the horizontal ones.
