I will never route for UCLA to lose. Even if it determines if KD gets fires or stays. What I don’t understand is why is Bethod-Thompson (if that is his name) as the back up. You would think that you would put Osaar as the back up and then BT. Another thing; why doesn’t KD look more closely at Chris Forcier. I don’t know if anyone has seen Chris play or throw but he is a good QB. He has a good arm and and he is fast. Well, it’s game time. Later. Go Bruins!

I actually shouted in frustration when UCLA intercepted the ball when Cal was in field goal range for the victory. There had been a number of questionable plays by Dorrell, including that horrrible decision not to go for it on 4th and 1. But, with this victory, all that will be forgotten and swept under the rug.

Dorrell is like Lavin, where his team always does just enough to keep the coach for another inconsistent and ultimately disappointing season. If we had lost this game, I think this game could have been the tipping point for Dorrell- he would have been crucified this week for not going on it on 4th and 1 by fans and on the radio. But, with this victory, this only gives Dorrell more breathing space. Good thing Cal lost last week and wasn’t ranked number one this week. A upset victory against the number one team could have saved Dorrell like last year’s upset of SC.

You have to this give team a lot of credit, winning without a coach.

That third quarter decision was beyond belief, as they should have been able to pick up a yard as they had all the momentum..

The second choice would have been a field goal, not out of range from 52-53, but the absolute wrong decision was to punt..

Of course, that’s what Dorrell did and as previous writers have already stated, that will now be forgotten..

Lou Gehrig was not “the luckiest man on the face of the earth,”as it’s obviously KD.

You know things are bad when you start silently cheering in your heart for the other team to beat you…

Am I the only one who’s scared that this UCLA team might do just enough to save Dorrell’s job? The goal lines for what a succesful season for UCLA football have clearly shifted. Before this season, it was all about a top ten finish and dark horse chance at a NC. But, now with lowered expectations, UCLA doesn’t necessairly have to do that much. How many games does Dorrell need to win for this season to be considered a ’success’?

Now I am NOT saying that I thought the Bruins were going to win this game, because I thought that more likely than not they were going to lose. But now that the game is over, I am not surprised that they won (I am a happily surprised HOW they won the game, but not surprised they won). This is what Dorrell’s teams do. They lay eggs in their “easiest” games (UCLA was favored in 11 of his 23 losses) and then they come up with these huge games against the tougher teams on their schedule (usually at the Rose Bowl). The guy is Lavin Incarnate - - there is no other way to say it.

All I know is that the guy is damn lucky he recruited Burner-Verner because that kid has saved his ass more than once in the last two years. If our “other” #1 (can’t forget Breazell) doesn’t take that pick to the house, all we would be talking about is yet another coaching gaff by Dorrell and his staff. The way they handled that 4th and 1 in the third quarter was an absolute sin, and as usual he put his guys in a position to fail (as he did in the Domer game when he let the walk-on repeatedly throw the ball around the field). He has ALL of the momentum in the game after Cowan connects with Paulson on 2nd and 20 and then Cowan doesn’t make it on his 3rd down scramble. The players wait and wait and wait (28 seconds by my count)for a play then they call a time out; it sucks to blow a time out at this point, but at least he is commited to converting the 4th down and he is going to foicus the players and run Bell or Moline for the first down, RIGHT??? No, the players come on the field and proceed to run “No Play on 16″ for 35 seconds so they can take a delay and punt! WTF?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?! This illustrates everything that is still wrong with Dorrell. Either play would have been fine: he goes for broke by running for for the 1st down or he goes conservative by trying to draw Cal offsides and then punts the ball down the field. But not being able to make a decision is crippling; its stole all of the momentum from the game, and it has got to be a major FU to your offense that is finally showing signs of life. He is just so GODDAMN WISHY WASHY!!!

That being said, it was an outstanding day at the Rose Bowl for all Bruin fans, and Rasputin has risen from his grave yet again (and he will stay alive as long as he still has a shot at the Rose Bowl, DAMN HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jake in P Ranch

Great Game - intense and entertaining all four quarters…
Well, this was another ’surprise victory’ for UCLA - but I love it.

I’m surprised to read the number of people rooting against the Bruins in the name of Dorrell…

The ‘D’ played good, and Cowen is definitly the starter the raminder of the season (unless Dorrell is just looking to be fired).
Cowen plays with his heart (and brains). The throw to Bell (a throw to his feet), was the best play of the game to me.
Finally…a QB that didn’t try to make something happen out of nothing….

Anyhow - Cowen is the QB for the remainder of the season (unless he gets too comfortable)…

Go Bruins…

p.s. - I’m like all of you - I’m not happy with the HC…But you still got to root for your school/team (alumni or fan)…

I’m still hoping we can finish the season unbeaten (PAC-10)…

Go Bruins!!!

I was at the game today, and you could feel the upset vibe. I kept joking with Cal fans telling them that they were going to lose, and when they did, they would have that feeling of familiarity; that feeling of another opportunity lost that they’ve always felt. Regretfully, Bob Toledo’s team made that feeling all too familiar for me. When the game was over, I kept yelling to the Cal fans that they shouldn’t act as if they’re surprised by this, they know who they are. Some of them nodded in agreement.

The key to today’s game was simple: the Offensive line! The offensive line has been a TERRIBLE joke this year. IT’s mostly due to the fact Dorrell runs that worthless west caost offense, which doesn’t work in college, and it confuses the heck out of the O-line. This is the primary reason for the ubiquitous procedure penalties.

It was STILL the same ol’ tired offense. It was still the same stale playbook. There was a hint of imagination with the reverse pass (LOVED IT, although it really didn’t work like it was supposed to work) TD, but overall; it was the same ol’ KD.

80-85% of first down plays were runs up the gut. The two drives where we settled for FGs even though we were in teh red zone and the one where we didn’t go for it on 4th and a foot, were all stalled by conservative, run up-the-gut, unimaginative play calls.

The huge difference today was that the O-line showed up to play, and actually made some holes for Bell, Chane and Co. Many of the first down rushes went for 4 yards; a substantial change from the usual 1 or 2 yard gains that Chris Markey is accustomed to earning.

I know that many of you liek Pat Cowan, but he’s just not a good player. There is no question that he injects some sort of spirit into the Offense. There’s no debating that he’s somewhat of a gamer, and makes things happen, but the guy has ZERO accuracy. Today he underthrew, skipped passes in and threw way too high on his way to fabricated first downs. It was crazy. Needing a few yards, Pat would throw 4 feet over our receivers, making them have to jump, contort their bodies and pull the ball down. Many times, if he would just put the ball in teh right spot (no hard task given that it’s usually only a 5 yard pass since we REFUSE to throw the ball down field), the receiver could run well after the catch. It’s asking for too much, though. The guy isn’t accurate AT ALL! It was uncanny… his throws were so poor, that they induced pass interference calls. We used pass interference calls, balls thrown behind receivers and plays like that to fabricate offense today.

This is how you play when you have a good defense, and not a suitable enough offense. This is the best way for UCLA to win. It worked today, and it was great for us to have a win!

THe only down side is that Karl Dorrell has finally turned into Lavin. Lavin would alwasy do this. IN fact, when Cal had a chance to be No. 1 last week, I laughed, because I figured we’d win today. The difference between Lavin and KD is that prior to USC last year, KD didn’t have any signature wins. Lavin kept his job by beating the No.1 team in teh nation and then beating some team badly to reach the Sweet 16. AFter that, of course, we’d promptly be blown out, proving that it was never legitimate. KD has just added his SECOND signature win. He seems to have finished his transformation into Lavin.

We better learn from our past. There is no excuse to accept this kind of attitude.

Dear BrianOC,

At this point, I view it as a necessary evil. Already, this upset is being used as vindication of Dorrell. If Dorrell survives this season, we might look back at this game as the turning point.

If UCLA would have lost this game, then Dorrell would have been crucified by the media and the fans. That would have been two straight weeks where Dorrell made some unexplainable calls. It could have reached the point where there was no doubt that Dorrell was not the right coach and needed to be replaced.

Right now, I would rather lose now and get it over with than suffer mediocrity for years if Dorrell is still coach. Its like the situation with Lavin. We all knew UCLA’s basketball program was slowly being destroyed, but Lavin would do just enough to survive. Finally, we needed UCLA basketball to bottom out before Lavin was forced out. And, now, we have a real coach.

I got to give it up to the UCLA defense and the offensive line. They decided that they were not going to lose the game. I was on the edge on my seat when Cal was driving before Verner step up and pick the ball. Cowan did a good enough job to manage the offense. I was screaming at my TV screen on some of the deep passes that he threw. He is always coming up short when he has the receiver open. But none the less; he did a good job. Bell, what a good RB he has developed too. Cal did not have an answer for him.
Something that I need to get off my chest. The one thing that I hate to hear from UCLA fans is saying how they were routing against UCLA. I don’t care that KD almost blew the game. We should point out his coaching mistakes and make sure people are aware of them. But us as UCLA fans; we should never go agains’t our UCLA bruins. I could care less who is the coach. I never cheer agains’t UCLA. It pisses me off that some of you will.
We all know KD’s record after the first six games of the season is not great. And more than likely UCLA will lose some games. But if KD manage to get UCLA to go to the Rose Bowl then he should be applauded. I know the odds of that happening are not great but that is why you play the games.

WE have to realize what we’re facing here. We’re facing a LAVIN situation!!! Period! There is no other way of looking at it. Like Lavin before him, KD’s teams are capable of winning IN SPITE of his coaching blunders. This happened for five straight years under Lavin. We’re seeing the same issue, but we’re seeing it condensed into one season. This team is talented enough to make individual plays without KD’s contributions. We saw it yesterday with ATV picking the ball off to win the game. We saw it against BYU when Bruce Davis came off the corner, sacked Hall and made him fumble just as BYU was inside of our red zone ready to score the victory. We saw it when Brandon Breazell took a slip screen 67 yards for a TD @ Oregon State; however, when the game calls for management from the coaches, ideas from the staff, gumption from the head coach, creativity from the corp of coaches, NOTHING happens! It’s ridiculous!

Like Lavin’s teams, UCLA’s football players used their talent to pull it off.

The problem with Lavin was that eventually the truth couldn’t be kept down. Players stopped gonig to UCLA, and everyone identified Lavin as a fraud. Keeping KD is simply prolonging what we know is inevitable.