As we began the “Rivalry Week” Brian Dohn is already salivating over the prospect of a record blowout on Saturday (emphasis added):

As far as lopsided scores go, the 66-19 pasting in 2005 is a recent memory of how bad things can get for the Bruins.

But given that UCLA ranks 110th of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the nation in total offense (294.7 ypg) and 107th in scoring (18.6 ppg), quarterback Kevin Craft has 12 interceptions and no touchdowns in his last four games, and USC leads the nation in scoring defense (7.8 ppg) and total defense (210.6 ypg), perhaps it bears pointing out that the Trojans won the first two games of this series 76-0 (1929) and 52-0 (1930).

Dohn sounds pretty eager in his passive-aggressive way. It's pretty amusing.

The line for this game started around 27.5 points. Last I heard it was going up as much as 30+ points. I think all this noise is perfect and I hope there is not let up in this kind of clippings online and in the traditional media till kickoff on Saturday.

CRN (BTW did you know a bloggy pundit once actually spent an entire blog post whining about use of the initials “CRN”?) as he has done this entire first season didn’t take Dohn’s bait re. worrying about blowout losses:

"I think if you start worrying (about being embarrassed), you're taking yourself out of the focus of how to play our best football," Neuheisel said. "Our job, as a coaching staff, is to give the kids the best possible chance to be successful. Whether that's scheme, whether that's strategy, or it's motivation, whatever it takes, we've got to find a way to give ourselves the best possible chance to be competitive and successful against USC.

Obviously lot of the focus around UCLA will be on the plight of Kevin Craft. If you are expecting dramatic changes at UCLA’s QB situation heading into Saturday, you should get rid of those expectations now. CRN made it clear again following the ASU game that at this point of time the problems our offense is experiencing is a team issue:

"There were some things where we let him down with some route-running details, some protection issues," Neuheisel said. "It just becomes glaring when it's the quarterback letting go of the football (and) it falls on his shoulders, but we all have to accept our share of the blame, starting with me."

It also didn't help that backup Chris Forcier, who entered the game after Craft's final interception with nine minutes remaining, was 2 of 4 for 13 yards. He was also sacked twice.

As for the fans (especially people wailing on the message boards) who are calling for a drastic QB change, CRN’s message was pretty clear: Craft is the “best option” available to our coaches:

"I can understand that," Neuheisel said. "It frustrates me that there isn't another option that gives us a better chance to win, but we have to do what's in our best interest. And Kevin right now, unless we come up with another plan, is our best option."

As I have said over and over again, if Chow and Neuheisel had a better option available to them at QB, they wouldn’t have wasted any time to go with that option.

Neuheisel also made the following observations re. difficulties Craft has had from adjusting to college from JC:

Neuheisel sees across the nation a paucity of young quarterbacks prepared to operate in the pro-style offense that many colleges employ.

"So many of the high school offenses are spread," he said. "They get in the gun . . . so there isn't as much pocket awareness, pocket presence if you will, being taught at that level."

It's a matter of footwork, dropping back from center and knowing how to be in sync with various short, medium and long passes, he said. A late pass can become a turnover.

UCLA starter Kevin Craft played in a spread-style offense at Mt. San Antonio College, where his dad was the offensive coordinator. This season, Craft has completed 56% of his passes for 2,252 yards but has 19 interceptions against seven touchdowns.

Neuheisel believes that Craft and other quarterbacks accustomed to the spread require time to adjust.

"You just have to understand that has to have a real component of the teaching progression," he said.

So how will Craft respond this Saturday?

He doesn’t have a lot of friends this week expect for his coaches and players (and ironically even though the traditional media looking for cheap storylines have constantly harped on Neuheisel/Craft’s sideline interaction, they have mostly missed the obvious fact that Chow and Neuheisel have remained as Craft’s staunchest supporters never throwing him under the bus this entire season). The odds are obviously overwhelmingly against Craft and right now one would be foolish to make a bet that he will not make any mistakes on Saturday against an outstanding Trojan defense.

Yet, one thing Craft has going for him that has made an impact on the entire team is how he has maintained his public composure amidst all the unreal adversity he has experienced this entire season. Not once has he complained about getting chewed out by the coaches. Not once has he complained about having an OL which probably would have sent any other QB to the emergency room (their protection scheme led to PC’s collapsed lungs and BO’s numerous injuries in previous years). Not once has he complained about not having a credible running game. He just keeps taking those bone crunching hits and keeps getting up.

I’ve got to think his team-mates realize and appreciate what this kid is going through and I think it’s one of the primary reason there has been no break in team unity in what has been a sobering rebuilding season. I also think it has allowed the defense not to get too frustrated and keep persevering and improving even as the team collectively has experienced one tough loss after another. All that might amount to something on Saturday. If the team shows the same determination and grit, it has shown since that embarrassment in Provo, they will have a shot no matter how much snickering they are subjected to all week from Trojans, traditional media reporters, pundits and in some cases some of our own fans who are expecting (and some in the traditional media are relishing) a total slaughter.

GO BRUINS.

Over at the LA Times, Trojan Alum - Adam Rose (who is also the lead blogger for "What's Bruin") - is already lamenting the prospect of Southern Cal playing in the 2009 Rose Bowl on All Things Trojan:

Is the Rose Bowl good enough?

Once you get over just how disgusting it is for a headline like the one you see here (I almost threw up in the back of my mouth while typing it), it's actually a fair question.

USC, unless they stumble into the BCS National Championship game or stumble against a completely outmatched UCLA team next week, will be in Pasadena on January 1st playing Penn State. It'll be the Trojans' fourth straight trip, and fifth in the last six years. The one year they missed was due to a bigger engagement -- a national title game in Miami. Had Oregon State beat Oregon on Saturday, the Trojans held out hope for another BCS game -- most likely the Fiesta, but possibly the Sugar or maybe even the Orange.

Adam then runs a poll on his blog asking his readers (Trojan fans) whether they "are satisfied with the Rose Bowl over another non-title BCS game," clearly making plans beyond next Saturday.

Adam's colleague and Pete Carrol's biggest cheer leader - Bill Plaschke - is also upset about Trojans going to the 2009 Rose Bowl (emphasis added):

With Oregon State's championship-costing loss to Oregon, the Trojans are but a slam-dunk victory over UCLA next week from returning to the Rose Bowl for the fourth consecutive season, a development that can elicit only one bit of intelligent analysis.

Whoop-de-darn-do.

As written here before, Pasadena is a nice place to visit, but the Trojans don't want to live there.

They don't need it for reputation. They don't need it for recruiting.

They needed a Fiesta against a high-scoring Big 12 team, some Sugar against a traditional SEC power, anything that could enhance their national presence and propel them into next season's polls.

They don't need another Rose bouquet against another Big Ten vase.

At this point, I should apologize to those e-mailers from Penn State, who were outraged when I included the Nittany Lions in a list of slow teams from the Midwest.

LOL ... Bill is not even worried about "e-mailers" from UCLA.

Why should he? Lot of well intentioned and knowledgeable UCLA football fans are already waving their fight flags pointing to a Saturday where they are expecting Trojan's dominating defense to eviscerate UCLA's anemic offense (from Bruin Report Online's premium football forum)...

... leading to the ultimate rock bottom for this program resulting from years of mismanagement under Bob Toledo and Karl Dorrell:

I understand the frustrations underlying those posts (and some of them in fairness are well reasoned and articulated ... even thought they come with jarring titles). And, I am not sure I need to go to the stats because if we look at them they will pretty much support the basis for some of the comments we are seeing above.

Over here over the years we have always taken pride in building a community which is realistic and which forms opionions based on facts and numbers.  So all that said ... why even bother getting ready for Saturday?

Why should our guys who have been busting their rear ends all year under a new head coach even bother showing up?

CRN points to the 1989 game as a possible answer:

The Bruins figure to be heavy underdogs against the fifth-ranked Trojans, but Neuheisel said he had an answer for that too.

The 1989 UCLA team entered the USC game with a 3-7 record. Quarterback Bret Johnson was inexperienced, just like current quarterback Kevin Craft.

"You know, a lot of similarities," Neuheisel said.

The Bruins would have won that year if kicker Alfredo Velasco's 54-yard field goal attempt had not bounced off the crossbar at the Coliseum. The final score was 10-10.

I know, I know. I have already heard the rant about how Craft is worse than Bret Johnson. If you want to do more of that attacking a kid who has shown incredible courage and heart all season without voicing a single complaint in public about the unreal beating he has taken behind a fragile OL ... please find a message board.

I remember that game really well watching it as a high school student. But for me it was the 1992 game that framed my mindset for this rivalry as a student and I will stick with that no matter what the circumstances are around this game.

I am not going to go into details of 1992 all over again. I think we have shared the John  Barnes story enough of BN.

I will also stick with players like Norris who have found a way to persevere and give his best effort despite having a difficult season on the field. Norris is sticking with the program and his coaches' message of unity:

The message Neuheisel, and his coaching staff, sent to the Bruins after the (ASU) loss was one of unity. It was the same message delivered several other times this season, and it is being received.

"We just have to keep fighting. That's all we can do," Bruins cornerback Michael Norris said. "We'll never be divided, because that's poison to a team. That's cancer. We're not going to let that happen."

Well, I think it would be a good idea to take the cue from Norris and rest of our players and stick with them and our entire team this week. I am not asking that we need to go all rah rah and delude ourselves re. our chances next Saturday. But at the same time, that doesn't mean we concede this game.

GO BRUINS.

I didn't get to see this game. So you guys will have to fill me and rest of us (who didn't get to watch tonight) on what we missed out on.

This game was supposed to serve as a classic tuneup for our young Ben Ball warriors as they continue to prepare themselves for the conference season. From the final score - 89-54 - it sure sounds like JA and rest of our freshmen had a blast:

Photo Credit: AP (via Yahoo)

Per the box score, JA finished the night with 8 points. It was his freshman team-mate - JH- who let the entire team in scoring with 20 points (w 2 assists and 4 boards). Heading into this game Bruins were working on basic team defense and judging by the scoreboard, it looks like they had a decent night, shutting down the Panthers and limiting them to 34.9% shooting.

Anyway, I think we should be careful about not taking too much out of what was essentially a practice game for our Ben Ball warriors. Hopefully the in game experience our youngs got tonight will be a useful building block for our next game, which is a big one against a great Texas program.

So if you watched the game tonight on TV or from Pauley, share your impressions right here in the post game thread.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE - N: Don't forget .... right now our women' soccer team is taking on Duke Bluedevils out at Drake in the Elite Eight. Full details on the matchup here and here. rye will be keeping us updated right in this thread. GO BRUINS.

JS and rest of our Ben Ball warriors are back in action tonight:

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

They have had more than a week off since their last game in the Big Apple. Per practice reports Coach Howland has been trying out a a little motion offense during practices this week. It will be interesting to see the result of those practices tonight when they take on Florida International Golden Panthers.

The tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm PST.  Once again it will be broadcast on FSNPT. You can track it via the official site.

As always if you are watching the game, share your instant thoughts/commentary here in our game thread.

Fire away.

GO BRUINS.

These guys have a big weekend coming up next Saturday:

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

I imagine lot of you college football junkies will be taking in some of the rivalry action across the country today.

Our basketball game doesn't get started till 4:30 pm PST.

Until then you can check out Alabama trying to end their (6 game IIRC) losing streak against Auburn in the Iron Bowl (3:30 pm PST). Florida is going to try stay hot against Florida State (3:30 pm PST), while Georgia and Georiga Tech will go after each other between the hedges. That action gets started at 9:00 am PST. Here is the ESPN scoreboard.

If you are hanging around BN, watching these games, and waiting for Ben Ball open game thread to pop up around 4:00 pm PST, this is a special college football open thread just for you. Fire away.

GO BRUINS.

From Brian Dohn:

Even without the aid of recruiting, UCLA's porous offensive line should receive an upgrade with the return of one starter, and the availability of another potential starter, next season.

A key component to the 2009 starting line is Colorado transfer Kai Maiava, who had to sit out this season under NCAA rules. He is ticketed to start at center next season.

"I think Maiava has toughness and I think he has real good strength," UCLA offensive coach Bob Palcic said. "I think he has a chance to be a very good center, but that's all speculation."

Maiava started last season on the offensive line at Colorado, but was moved to fullback in the spring. Unhappy about the move, Maiava transferred to UCLA in the summer, but was not eligible to play this season.

"I just wish I could go out and help my fellow players out there and do some hard work, but I jut have to accept my role, I guess," Maiava said. "I feel like I can contribute, maybe bring a new style, a new attitude. That's about it."

Also, the Bruins are expected to have Sean Sheller in the mix. He was slated to be the starting right tackle this season but injured his knee in an off-road vehicle accident in the summer. He missed this season, but his rehab from reconstructive knee surgery has him on track to participate in spring practice.

Sheller, a junior, was recently cleared to run and has regained much of his pre-injury weight and is at 280 pounds.

The news re. Sheller is uplifting. It will be wonderful to see him make a comeback.

Don't forget how the coaches are scouring the JC ranks for reinforcements as well.

I can't wait for Palcic and co. to work with all the new blood coming into the program. Getting the new guys in place will definitely help the coaches in implement the much needed "culture change" in this program.

GO BRUINS.

Luckily we don’t have to spend a lot of time on dwelling on the dispiriting football game from last night. We have a basketball game to think about tonight. Ben Ball warriors get back in action tonight with a game against Florida International, which should present a great opportunity for this team featuring five freshmen to get better before the conference season.

We have talked about Coach Howland has been working to implement a motion offense during the practices this week. In addition to working on offense, our veterans (no doubt influences by Howland and his staff) are talking about the need to play better defense:

Guards getting beat off the dribble and big men getting lost on screens and also blowing assignments close to the basket dotted UCLA's games this season, and it has led to a not-so-familiar look.

Bruins coach Ben Howland's teams are known for strong defense, but that is not UCLA's forte entering today's game against Florida International at Pauley Pavilion.

"I think we're struggling defensively right now," UCLA senior center Alfred Aboya said. "Teams are beating us off penetration dribble. Teams are shooting (45 percent) against us right now. That won't get you anywhere, so we have to go back to our fundamentals, go back and play defense like we did the past three years."

Last season teams shot 41.8percent against the Bruins, compared to 42.8 percent two seasons ago and 41.5 percent in 2005-06, which was Howland's first Final Four team.

Aboya said one of the problems is the guards' inability to stop dribble penetration, partly because they are guarding too far away from the basket.

"We're way out there, like two big steps beyond (the 3-point line)," Aboya said. "That's easy for the offensive player to go around you. I think what we need to work on is give a little room and just try to contain the other things. That will be the key."

In response to the defensive concerns, the team has been focusing on a lot of defense specific basic drills this week in practice:

So this week, swingman Michael Roll said, the team worked on "step-sliding on defense, keeping your man in front of you, a lot of box-out drills, help rotation. Just a lot of basics."

It might help that they are facing a Florida International team that is shooting less than 40% this season.

Senior point guard Darren Collison also figures it might take a while for the freshmen on the team to appreciate the effort and intensity required to play good defense.

"I know I didn't when I was a freshman," he said.

Well those freshman will get a chance to show what they learned in practice tonight against Florida International.  Bruin Basketball Report has a preview of our matchup against the Golden Panthers:

The Golden Panthers are 3-3 in games this season which included a 74-51 loss to the Washington Huskies, 74-51, in Seattle.

FIU is averaging 58.3 points on just 39.7% field goal shooting and hitting on just 31.3% from beyond the arc.

The Panthers only have two players averaging in double figures. Forward Nikola Gacesa (6'9, 238, Jr) is averaging 10.8 points and guard Michael Dominquez (6'3, 185. Jr) the team's only three-point threat, is averaging 10.5 points.

The team does have some good size along the front line, in addition to Gacesa, the Panthers start seven-footer Russell Hicks (7'0, 260, Sr) and have Freddy Asprilla (6'10, 280, Fr) coming off the bench. Hicks is averaging 9.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks a game while Asprilla leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 per game.

Despite the Panthers' size they will not be able to handle the Bruins' advantage of athleticism and skill at every position on the floor. The game will give UCLA yet another opportunity with its preseason schedule to work and improve its game prior to the Pac-10 season.

The tipoff is scheduled for around 4:30 pm PST (on FSNPT). 

We will have a special college football game thread go up around 9:00 am PST ... for all college football junkies on BN. That should keep you occupied up until Ben Ball game thread goes up around 4:00 pm PST. Enjoy your Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

I don't want to dwell on last night's loss too much. Predictably there is a lot meltdown going on over at message boards where posters still can't deal with the dose of reality of a team playing with a third string quarterback behind a decimated and patchwork offensive line. The 4-7 record at this point of the season is not a surprise to lot of us. We fully expected this at the beginning of this season. As I said in the comment threads despite these gloomy rebuilding times, I expect this team to have a modest turn around year next season (hopefully getting 8 wins), setting it up for a good year(s) CRN's third and fourth seasons. This will require a lot of patience and relentless optimism, and I will do my part to keep supplying it here on BN.

I am not going to get into Kevin Craft's problems. At this point I am not even shocked any more. I am not going to dump on this kid any more because the whole (Bruin) world can see what has been going on the entire season. Hopefully though after last night we will never have to hear from Tom Craft again.

I am not frustrated with Chow or Neuheisel because I will defer to their track record on QB development and judgement on who they think is the best option for our team this season. My main question for Chow and Neuheisel is about our running back situation. It's bugging me a bit re. why Bell continues to get more carries than Derrick Coleman. The numbers were pretty obvious even last night. Coleman rushed for 43 yards in 3 carries, Bell had 24 in 12.  For the season, Coleman has 285 yards in 52 carries (5.5 average) while Bell has 358 in 126 carries (averaging 2.8). I get that Bell might be in for protection purposes and blocking schemes, but at this point how much is he really helping? I am not getting it and its probably the main question I have for CRN and his offensive staff.

As for post game comments, CRN stepped up and took responsibility:

"I don't know why the turnover bug keeps biting us, but the entire offense takes responsibility," UCLA coach Rich Neuheisel said. "That's coaches first, players second."

As for the players, Kahlil Bell was disgusted with the offense's performance:

"We can't ask our defense to play any better," UCLA running back Kahlil Bell said. "Offensively, as a unit, I don't know what we need to do, but we need to stop talking about it and stop all the rah-rah and stuff. If we don't step it up and figure out a way to make that happen, it's going to be an embarrassing Saturday next week."

Defensive leaders like Reggie Carter to his credit is not getting down:

"It was a great defensive game," linebacker Reggie Carter said. "They didn't score a touchdown on me. I really can't pout about it. We could have got more turnovers and taken them to the house, but we can't be mad about it."

They have no reason to pout considering the kind of performance they put together on national TV last night:

The scoring barrage by ASU's defense overshadowed another splendid game by UCLA's defensive unit, which allowed just 122 yards -- the lowest since giving up 42 to Arkansas in the 1989 Cotton Bowl. UCLA gave up just 21 rushing yards.

To say that they were impressive would be an understatement. Absolutely fantastic job by DeWayne Walker, whose stock is going up after two great performances in this tail end of the season, signaling the clear and discernible development of a young/exciting defense.

I wanted to single out couple of players for having great nights after going through a lot of adversity during their UCLA careers:

• Michael Norris: We talked about Norris a lot during the game thread last night. It's not a stretch to say the kid has been a weak link in our secondary this year. There is a reason the opposing QBs kept throwing at his direction all year this year. Yet he has hung in there. Norris had the best night of his Bruin career. He finished the night with a team leading 5 solo tackles and 1 interception. He got beat once in a while during coverage, but he was recovering well and staying with his man and flashed a little speed when he picked off a bad Carpenter pass after getting beat early. You have to feel great for this kid who has been maligned a lot this year.
  
• Marcus Everett: The Bruin senior finished the night with team leading 8 catches for 75 yards. You have to like Marcus trying to finish his UCLA career strong and giving everything he has after the unfortunate injury issues have wiped away his two attemps at having a good senior season.

Both Norris and Everett are examples of great kids not giving up through adversity.They have been fighting, scratching, and clawing, leaving everyting on the field. We will need that attitue to prevail through the entire team for them to make us proud next Saturday.

GO BRUINS.