TACKLE-ME ELMO

Bruins aren’t tacklish at all in un-funny 29-21 loss to Wildcats, then big Birds toy with trojans before saying “Open Sesame” to floodgates, and teaching a lesson to (non-) tackling dummies in 53-32 laugher

Usc is 2-3 in the Pac-10.  That WOULD have been good for a chuckle, if the Bruins weren’t 1-4.  Both of the crosstown rivals were at home on Saturday, but neither one looked like the FELT at home, as they both failed to execute late, going on to lose winnable games.

UCLA went first, allowing 583 yards of Total Offense to Arizona in a 29-21 loss.  Disgruntled fans flooded the exit tunnels despite the Bruins being down by only 5 with a few minutes to go, when they failed to score a go-ahead Touchdown and gave the ball back to Zona.  But those fans almost regretted leaving, because the Bruins forced a Field Goal, and got the ball back down by only 8.  But Richard Brehaut couldn’t engineer a last-minute comeback, and the Bruins went down to their third straight defeat.

Brehaut hit his first three passes of the game, en route to tying the score 7-7.  But then he missed his next 7 attempts, including an Interception, and a bad miss when Taylor Embree was wide open way down the sidelines, as the ‘Cats opened up a 19-7 lead at the Half.  Unruffled, Brehaut came back to throw two LONG TD’s — A 68-yarder to speedster Randall Carroll, and a 49-yarder to Josh Smith on a Flea Flicker(!), each of which cut the lead to 5.  But when the chips were down, and time was running out, Brehaut pulled out his old stardard:  He got Sacked, and fumbled away the game.

But you can’t pin this loss on Brehaut or the Offense.  It was the Defense that got shredded for 583 yards, by a second-string Quarterback.  Receivers were wide open all day, including their Star Wide Out, whom you’d think would be the one guy receiving constant attention.  The Bruin Secondary DID have one high point:  Aaron Hester intercepted a pass in the End Zone at the start of the 4th Quarter, temporarily SAVING THE GAME.

While pass coverage and pass RUSH were bad, they weren’t the biggest problem.  The real reason why the Defense failed was their horrible tackling.  The QB was extremely elusive, and kept getting away from the first defender to reach him.  He weaseled out of several sacks, as even Akeem Ayers and Sean Westgate were made to look silly.

Despite all the troubles, the Bruins still performed a hell of a lot better than I expected.  I did not think that they would still be in the game against the #15 team in the Country in the final minute.  So you could say that they gave a good effort, and are “improving.”  But a Conference loss is a Conference loss, so I’m not about to claim a moral victory.  I’ll leave that to Coach Neuheisel, if he really wants to go there.  And he did, sort of.  His postgame apology was the usual “I know you’re mad… We’re mad too” stuff, complete with promises that they’ll get better.  Of course, 80% of the crowd wasn’t around to hear it.

Speaking of which, the All Red Coliseum crowd also bailed WAY before their final gun went off, after the trojans collapsed against Oregon.  The trojans actually had a 3rd Quarter LEAD against the Nation’s #1 Team, who couldn’t contain the sc Offense.  But right after taking a 3-point lead, usc fell apart, giving up 24 straight points.  They swear that they did NOT get tired, but it sure looked like they were exhausted, as LaMichael James compiled the bulk of his 239 Rushing yards late in the game.  Oregon amassed a whopping 599 yards of Total Offense against the Kiffin’s vaunted Defense, despite sc having an extra week to prepare.  Apparently, NOBODY can compete with the Ducks’ Super-Fast, no-huddle attack.  And when the Ducks got the lead late, they slowed down their approach, milked the clock, and still scored, sending the Sanctioned Ones homes with nothing to gloat about.

I’m sure troy’ll have plenty to brag about after they play UCLA.  Bruin fans can be proud of very little, except for their Spirit Squad, which really went all out on Saturday.  The Dance Team donned authentic Football Jerseys, black stretch pants, and UCLA “eye black,”  in order to masquerade as Football players.  Yeah, I know:  That’s what the football team was doing, too.  I even suggested to the Dance team that they throw on shoulder pads and see if Neuheisel could use them on the field to help out.  It would have at least DISTRACTED the Arizona players.

Meanwhile, the Yell Crew all had matching, mask -and-cape costumes, and the mascots were a pumpkin and a witch (not from Delaware).  But the most eye-catching display was engineered by the Cheer Squad.  Thanks to Cheer Squad newcomer Sarah, all their their girls were dressed up distinctly from one another, as different Princesses, and other Disney-type, Storybook characters.  They were so enchanting, colorful, and amusing, that it almost made me be able to tolerate the game.  Sarah was Pocahontas, Dana was Alice in Wonderland, Kelly was Princess Jasmine, and Melissa was Snow White, just to mention four.  I’m not really up on my Princess trivia, so I’m not sure about some of the others, but I don’t think there was an Ariel, because how could she land after a basket toss, with no legs?

Anyway, it was a blast from a photography point of view, and I think you will enjoy the shots, which will be published all through the week.  Today there are about 24 FOOTBALL pics from the game, 1 interesting “fan” shot, and then about 20 Cheerleader photos.  But I already have another 30 Cheerleaders shots, ready to be posted probably tomorrow, and then another 200 that are also worthy of publication, which I will be sharing as soon as I can.  See what happens when Mother Nature allows the sun to break through?

In the next few days, I’ll be e-mailing the special shots to Major Mom as promised, and if the parents that I met on Saturday e-mail me, I will take care of them too.  I got lots of good shots that they would like, but that I am not going to post online.

Final reminders today:  CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE THEM, and if you want to purchase any full-sized (gigantic) originals, please e-mail me.  I don’t ask for much — just a minimal donation to the site, and I’ll open the floodgates.  NO CHARGE TO THE PARENTS, OF COURSE.  Also, if you like the pictures on the site, it would be nice to receive some comments to that effect.  I think the girls would like to see some positive feedback, from someone other than the three regular commenters.

Enough said.  Please enjoy…

Comments

6 responses to “TACKLE-ME ELMO”

  1. VtaHwy73 Avatar
    VtaHwy73

    The photos are excellent as usual. The tackling was not.

  2. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    Richard gave them a chance but like you said, the defense :-(. And Oregon is really good haha. Call me what you want but a part of me wanted them to lose just cause oregon fans are annoying, and the way they treated kevin love that one time I can’t forget that haha. But yeah, their really good, surprised they didn’t win by more.

  3. Ryan Avatar
    Ryan

    I finally made it back on the website! Thanks man!

  4. John Avatar
    John

    As pretty as the girls are, it’s embarrassing that they are the highlight of Bruin football games week after week.

    [T-H’s Note: No argument there.]

  5. BL Avatar
    BL

    Love the Cheer Squad Disney costumes. The other four girls were – Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella from (of course) Cinderella, and Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. Great fun to see them in costumes!

    [T-H’s Note: Thanks!!]

  6. Robert Avatar

    I loved Chelsea’s dress and color, what Disney character was that? (Chelsea is in Lime Green) does anyone know?

    [T-H’s Note: Tinkerbell]