Our first impressions of the Bellotti deal turned out to be correct. Two sources are reporting that Bellotti met with Oregon's AD this morning and told him he is staying put. So, we are taking down the Poll we just put up.
Dan Guerrero has finally done it … the search for our new head coach of our football team is the talk of the town and the Bruin internet. Yesterday was a big day. First Chow bows out, something that some are now speculating was only a temporary thing, throwing the Dorrellista and Walkerista crowd over bridges. Then the stunning news that Mike Bellotti of Oregon had been interviewed. The news was moving fast yesterday it was hard to keep up.
This morning we woke up to read more
Update: Brian Dohn is reporting that Bellotti confirmed the interview through a spokesperson. Other Dohn sources say Bellotti will make a decision in the next 72 hours.
The Oregonian reported this evening that the AD for Oregon, or anyone else associated with the football program apparently, would not deny Brian Dohn's news that Mike Bellotti interviewed for the UCLA head coaching position. The Oregonian: read more
There is so much to cover regarding the game yesterday and all that surrounds our football program that we couldn't cover it in one post. We will start with the most critical factor of all: what Dan Guerrero is thinking. What DG said yesterday after the game should bring Holiday cheer to every Bruin's home, Steve Dilbeck Daily News reporting:
"It's all about the body of work," Guerrero said. "When you evaluate a program, you have to let the season run its course."
There it is. Guerrero gave Dorrell no vote of confidence when he had the chance to give it. What can a Dorrellista or TJ Simers/Bob Keisser/Brian Dohn (the Save Dorrell local press) say to that?? It's about the body of work!! There is not a single read more
Vegas is the best place to watch a football game. There is nothing like being at a Sports book watching the full 60 minutes of a game long since over at 44-10 but everyone is still watching for that last field goal to beat the spread. But there is something bitter about today's gameday. Today might be, hopefully will be, Karl Dorrell's final game at home as coach of our Bruins. Too much to say about that and there isn't enough time. Today we are fighting for bowl eligibility and at least a .500 record to end the season, THE season. That about says it all.
It's horrible that 25 seniors are walking out onto the Rose Bowl field for likely their last time (we still have an outside chance of winning the Pac-10 and playing in the Rose Bow game), having lost all the promise they had when they first walked down Bruin Walk and onto Spaulding Field. We all had great dreams for this group of seniors this year. The entire nation expected more. It is a sad legacy they share with Karl Dorrell, but they deserve our standing ovation for their play for our alma mater. Even if we lose today, the Rose Bowl should be standing tall for this group of seniors.
But we expect our Bruins to win today. There are many reasons for this, the most obvious being that Leaf is at QB for the Ducks. He is mistake prone and more importantly he limits Oregon's daunting spread offense that DC DeWayne Walker simply does not have an answer for. Last year Oregon jumped out to a huge 21-0 lead in the first quarter of our game up north. Oregon cruised the rest of the way. Oregon won't jump out to such a great lead today. Leaf can't run the same offense the great Denis Dixon does. Bellotti has to simplify the offense, make it more pro-style, for Leaf. And that plays right into Walker's only defensive strength.
Our Bruins will also be playing with a chip on their shoulders, being stung by all the recent talk nationally about replacements for Dorrell, in addition to it being Senior Day. It's sad that our 25 seniors are playing for bowl eligibility and a .500 season but that is what we get with Dorrell. In the end, it's always about our Bruins winning. Go Bruins!!
This DD editor is in Vegas and I don't have time to write a full Stat of the Week report. So I will keep this brief. Last game's Stat of the Week was on the money again, taking us to 10 for 10 on the year. We thought that in order to beat Arizona State that we would absolutely have to have special teams come up big and score a touchdown. We also said that we had to win the turnover battle by 2. Special teams were responsible for both touchdowns and were it not for our turnovers, avoidable turnovers, we would have won the game.
This week's Stat of the Week is a throw together analysis so it will probably be the least thought out of the year. We think to beat Oregon we pretty much have to do the same things we needed to do against ASU. We cannot win without special teams coming up big again. We need a score from special teams, or the defense, to put up enough points against Oregon's very good defense. Our defense will deflate Oregon's offensive production just like we did against ASU. We also have to take the ball away from the Ducks more than they take the ball away from us. More to the point, Dorrell and co have to make sure that we put the team in a position to hold onto the ball. That means not forcing anything. It doesn't mean going conservative. Dorrell might not know the difference. To summarize, the key Stat of the Week, is special teams scoring, defense scoring, and positive turnover ratio. We cannot win without those things happening. Go Bruins!!
Not a whole lot going on today in UCLA football given the bye week. But we at DD are preparing for next week. Some of our readers have given us great notes on next steps once the ads start publishing in the Daily Bruin on Monday. We have had a couple of additional contributors to the ad in the last many days. That will go some ways towards the minor deficit we have since 5 contributors decided to get a refund, which we gave … no worries.
Despite the bye week, there are some news bits to report: read more
Oregon Football head coach Mike Bellotti ended speculation that he would jump to the AD position at Oregon in the off season when he signed a 5-year contract extension today. AD Bill Moos said the contract provides stability to the program. Bellotti has guided Oregon to the 2nd best record in Pac-10 victories and taken them to 10 bowls during his 12 years there according to Moos. Bellotti does not make as much as Dorrell however, his guaranteed income coming to $800,000 - $80,000 less than Dorrell. His incentives don’t match Dorrell’s either, reaching as high as $1.1 Million - $245,000 less than Dorrell. It is cheaper to live in Eugene but not by that much. Then again, Oregon doesn’t have the stature, tradition and advantage that UCLA has.
What a great coach. Ben Howland. Not enough great things can be said about him, how he coaches, how he recruits, how he prepares for games, how he adjusts during games, how he keeps the team focused, how he handles adversity, how he handles losses, how he deals with the press. He took responsibility for the loss at Stanford, didn’t throw out cliches, didn’t throw his kids or assistants under the bus. He explains in technical terms, in basketball terms, what happens in games, what he tries to achieve, where things went right, where things went wrong. You hear the same from the players, teenagers most of them, acting and talking like pros. Getting an education in basketball and in life … we know who that sounds like.
And Ben Howland is read more
More coaches bailing on their programs and contracts. Of interest: Oregon OL Gary Crowton left his job Monday to take the same position at LSU. He replaces Jimbo Fisher who left LSU to take the OC position with Miami under new head coach, and former DC, Randy Shannon. This might be good news for read more
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