Brian Dohn ran an interesting graphic in yesterday's Daily News listing Dorrell's biggest losses and how the team fared in it's next game.  In each case, the team bounced back and won. Unfortunately, a couple of those losses occurred in bowl games so the analysis is flawed in that the team that lost wasn't the one that bounced back .. it was a new team and the game they bounced back in was the first game of the new season which were gimmes.

The other major flaw in Dohn's analysis is that it doesn't include other embarrassing losses during the Dorrell era.  Take Notre Dame last year … we got spanked by Wazzu 37-15 (and it wasn't that close) at home the very next game. Not exactly a bounce back there.  Nor did we bounce back after the Wazzu loss, taking a beating up at Cal the very next game.  We could go back to 2003 and list 4 of the 5 straight losses to end the season as evidence of no bounce back .. since we were beaten soundly in every game against Washington State, then Oregon, then SuC, and then Fresno State.  

What is interesting about Dohn's analysis are the quotes from Dorrell and his players after every disappointing loss … they always say essentially the same thing.  The team lacked focus, heart, passion, they overlooked the opponent, they gave a game away etc. etc. etc.  Preparation, focus, playing to win, heart and passion is always about coaching.  One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  It's a little nuts that Dorrell is still our football coach.  To the list:  read more

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2 games into the season, 2-0, ranked #11 in the polls, and STILL Karl Dorrell is getting no respect.  We say Karl Dorrell and not UCLA because clearly if we had a Stoops, Miles, Meyer, Tressel, Carrol, Brown, Tedford, etc. etc., we would be on everyone's list to AT LEAST make the Rose Bowl if not contend for the national championship game.  But Karl Dorrell has not convinced any analysts that he is among even the good coaches in the NCAA. ESPN's Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach have "tweaked their preseason outlooks" for bowl games and they have UCLA coming in 4th in the conference, behind SuC (Championship - BCS#1/#2), Cal (Rose - BCS/PX #1) and Oregon (Holiday - PX #2).  Nice.  They have us playing in the Brut Sun Bowl (PX #3) … do you remember where that is played?! Do you use Brut?

Even though we predicted it, how can this be?  The perfect storm of a season with all the returning starters and seniors, the favorable schedule, the easy road schedule, etc. etc. … one reason … the coach.  Dorrell brings down our program.  The predictions aside, we are not changing our expectations for the season … conference championship and BCS bowl.  Go Bruins!!! 

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It's finally here. Gameday 2007.  It's time to walk the walk.  We are 100% behind our team … let's kick some Farmhands asses today!!  So much to get to … we are going to bullet it:

• Bruce Davis is hungry!: Got to love Bruce Davis and his winning attitude and play.  He is the epitome of a great UCLA football player.  He is going to strike fear in the Stanford OL and most likely see double coverage all day.  But that doesn't deter him, "This is a dangerous game for Stanford because we’re hungry,’’ he said. “We’re definitely hungry. It doesn’t matter who steps out there. It could be a team of first graders. If they’re man enough to step out on the field against us, were going to go after them. We’re going to go straight for the throat."  Nice.
• Markey wants to blowout Stanford:  Not to be left out, Chris Markey had this to say about today's game, "We want to execute everything perfectly and blow out Stanford," UCLA tailback Chris Markey said. And the offense, Markey says, feels the urgency to be like the defense, "There is definitely a sense of urgency for the offense. We feel we have to catch up with the defense." Nice.
• Dorrell's rally cry: We can't make this stuff up.  Here is what Dorrell had to say on the eve of this significant season: read more
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Just when nearly everyone on the planet is finally giving UCLA a shot at having a special season for the first time in 10 years, including Karl Dorrell and the players themselves, Dorrell is starting to backtrack on his earlier rosy assessments for the season.  Before we show you how he is backtracking, let us show you what Dorrell was saying before the expectations obviously started to get to him:

"Inside and out, this is the best team I've had," Dorrell said. "Inside as people, and outside as performance. Our expectations are so high. The pressure we put on ourselves is greater than any outside pressure."

That was just last week.  Now, the Chris Foster of the LA Times reports in an article titled "Dorrell tries to diffuse expectations" read more

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We have already stated on a few boards and here in various posts our thoughts on how this season will play out.  We are going to put it together in one post now.  Last year, if you recall, we picked the team to finish 7-6 and they did.  The losses we picked were not all the right ones, but we did pick the SuC victory.  We had just come off a 10-2 season in '05 and we at DD certainly went against the grain with our 7-6 prediction last year when many people thought we were going to dominate again.  We took a lot of heat, but it turned out as bad as we said it would.

This year, the predictions by "experts" are all over the map, picking us as high as #10 in the country, to as low as unranked and finishing #6 in our own conference.  There is pretty unanimous agreement that this year we have the talent to do very well. The key factor in the variability of rankings and predictions is, as you know, the quality of the coach, Karl Dorrell.

So here is our prediction:  We think the worst case scenario will happen - Karl Dorrell will lead UCLA to a 9-3 record, and lose in an insignificant bowl to end the season 9-4, starting out 6-0 with the easy opening schedule, then quickly doing the annual end of season flop.  Not enough to get him fired as we have long ago established. Also, not good enough to get him serious looks at the NFL … although we can always hope there is an Al Davis waiting to make their next mistake. But we can't count on that. So, we will be stuck with Karl Dorrell for yet another .500 season in '08.  Which sucks for us because we want to shut this site down and dream of a Howland like re-emergence of our football program.

Season Breakdown 

Breaking the season down, we see losses coming to SuC, Cal and a loss to either Oregon, Oregon State, or Arizona State.  These last 3 games should be easy wins, but Dorrell will do his usual stumble.  Finally, we think tomorrow's game will end with UCLA winning 27-10 against Stanford, with the Stanford defense scoring their only touchdown and their offense scoring a FG.  

So there it is, the way the season will play out according to DD.  Obviously, we EXPECT more .. we EXPECT a Pac-10 championship and a trip to a BCS bowl game, things Guerrero and Dorrell himself said was expected of Dorrell when he was hired, and he has yet to come close to achieving.  The average of Dorrell's placing in the conference is an abysmal 4th place!  His conference record in those 4 years is also 4th in the conference. And his overall record in those 4 years is actually 5th in the conference.  Dorrell peaked at 3rd in '05 and only did that once.  How much longer will the Bruin faithful accept what no other high stature football program would accept is the big question. You can bet that we will be here to apply the pressure if Dorrell falters this year. Go Bruins!!!

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Lots to talk about today!  We will have to do this in several posts. To start, we are going to continue to focus on expectations … from the players, from Dorrell, from the beat press and from the national media, and now importantly from Dan Guerrero himself!  It's important to note that EVERYONE expects this to be a special year, one of no excuses.  We all have done our job in setting the appropriate expectations so that this year of all years Dorrell cannot escape with his usual excuses, growing and learning and 3-game seasons.  This year it's all on the line, as Dorrell said, "If I dont do my job I'm going to get fired." 

It is very important to point out that Dan Guerrero publicly set the goals for Dorrell this season in easy to measure terms, like a report card, in an interview with Brian Dohn, Daily News. Note the tone … that if these things dont happen then there will be problems for Dorrell:

"The important thing this year" Guerrero said, "is that we don't beat ourselves, that we play with consistency, that we're an excellent second half team and that we improve as the year progresses."

Now this is an important quote, so lets parse it out.  read more

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If they didn't know who actually said these words, you know Dorrell cultists would be calling the speaker of these words a "hater" a "Trojan" or some other ridiculous derogation. But it was Dorrell himself who spoke them loud and clear during his weekly press conference:

"The season’s starting, it’s time to put up." 

Exactly! There it is for all of us who want to return to our winning traditions in football.   We could not agree more with Karl Dorrell himself.  All our arguments are being made for us by the very person whose responsibility it is to bring back our winning tradition. It's time to put up … or shove out.

And Dorrell is not the only one talking big. RB Chris Markey had this to say (HT to Perelman at LAT): read more

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In case anyone was wondering how good we have it this year, whether DD was putting expectations too high, Karl Dorrell sets the record straight himself (HT Nestor at BruinsNation):

"Inside and out, this is the best team I've had," Dorrell said. "Inside as people, and outside as performance. Our expectations are so high. The pressure we put on ourselves is greater than any outside pressure."

We cannot think of a more clear message than the one Karl Dorrell is sending in his own words.  This year we EXPECT great things. He has all the talent, everyone and he himself agrees .. the only thing missing is coaching.  No Excuses!!

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Speedpost today folks, a few things to cover:

1. By now you may have read ESPN’s Pat Forde’s article on Karl Dorrell and the special year we all expect this season (HT Nestor at BruinsNation). The upshot of the article is Pat Forde’s undeniably fair assessment of Dorrell’s job performance thus far, noting that:
• “If Karl’s golf game is anything like his head-coaching career to date, he cards a bogey for every birdie.”
• “These Bruins have never seen a Pac-10 title up-close and personal.”
• “With 20 returning starters and a bunch of winnable road games, the time is now for UCLA to win back a share of Los Angeles and make a push into the national elite.”
• “In terms of schedule, this season sets up nicely.”
• The Bruins’ first five road games — Stanford, Utah, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona — are against teams with an un-threatening 2006 average Sagarin rating of 50th.
2. Backup QB Patrick Cowan pulled up holding his left hamstring as he went out of bounds on a drill. Tests will be performed tomorrow. Bethel-Thompson has been made the #2 in his place. One reporter, Brian Dohn, prefers Bethel-Thompson as the #2 over Cowan.
3. From the Irony Department, WR coach Eric Scott made Ossar Rasshan shed his gloves for missing a wide open TD at the scrimmage Saturday. Eric Scott had this to say: “I have a rule, if you drop passes, you have to take your gloves off for at least the period. Sometimes, I’ll make them go without gloves the rest of the practice.”  Now that is some funny stuff right there. Hey Eric, the United States has a rule, don’t buy or carry unregistered weapons!!
4. Morning practice today was very lethargic according to a few reports. The afternoon session was better. Let’s hope the guys are well conditioned as they stated they were when Training Camp started. Stanford is next week.
5. “WR Osaar Rasshan didn’t practice in the night session because he is dealing with some after affects of the concussion he sustained last week.” - Brian Dohn.
6. Following up on our Scrimmage report on the sudden illness of Jerzy Siewierski’s grandfather Jack Turrentine at Drake, we are happy to pass along the report that although he is still in critical condition, Jerzy’s grandfather is feeling better and talking. Get well Jack.

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CSTV has an interesting piece about Karl Dorrell and the team with the kind of optimism you’d expect at the start of the season. But CSTV played it fair, noting that many fans are not satisfied with the job Dorrell is doing. We have to give them credit for that, which is something we here at DD have not had the opportunity to do often. And it’s not because they gave us a nod in the piece. CSTV:

If Karl Dorrell was going to lead an orchestra of UCLA fans, he’d probably only get half to listen.

We agree with that assessment. It’s fair, and yet both sides of the Dorrell divide (no one questions that Dorrell has divided the faithful) can argue against it. There is something there for everyone.  CSTV goes on to mention that what the other half is listening to basically is the kind of tune being served up here at DD:

Plenty of fans, such as those at DumpDorrell.com, are still grumbling even though Dorrell has shown signs he’s developed his rhythm as a head coach.

Dorrell may have shown signs he’s developed a rhythm but more importantly he has cemented signs that he’s not up to the task of reaching the standard Dan Guerrero and Dorrell himself set for the football program, no matter what rhythm he’s developed.  And that is the bottom line.

The pre-season rush article also has a few good quotes from players that sounds like they are ready to play to win, even if Dorrell tries to dampen expectations with his “factor in the conference” and “learning how to practice” inspirational quotes.

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