Stanford hired former NFL QB and U of San Diego HC Jim Harbaugh today. Harbaugh turned around the Div 1-AA program in his 3 years. With non scholarship players Harbaugh led San Diego to a 29-6 record, winning 27 of the last 29 games. He takes over a Stanford squad that went 1-11 this year. Stanford fired HC Walt Harris after only 2 seasons. Why Stanford gave up on Harris so soon is beyond the comprehension of Dorrellistas but we at DD are pretty sure that Stanford did the right thing … if they intend to build a football program that competes for the Pac-10 championship.
Speaking of the conference, all open Pac-10 jobs have been filled. Erickson took the ASU job, and that should make ASU more dangerous, Stanford hired Harbaugh, and Washington hired Atlanta HC Jim Mora … oh wait, that was from Jim Mora’s interview and he was just joking … our bad. There are rumors on the Duck boards that Oregon coach Mike Bellotti has taken the AD position at Oregon and will give up the head coaching position because he is tired of it. At this point it’s just rumors.
Dorrell apologists will take today’s loss with some dignity … our defense adjusted to keep us close … our offense nearly came back … the officiating screwed us. The Ducks can also make excuses for not blowing us out. They had control of this game and let up after jumping to a big lead so early … they had some key plays called against them … their star QB was out for key plays and an entire series on UCLA’s side of the field. Dixon missed easy passes to wide open receivers for easy touchdowns. And that late punt return fumble deep in their territory made this game look closer than it really was.
The truth is we found out today what our team can do, with this coaching staff. Our vaunted defense gave up over 400 yards, over 6 yards gained per play (3 rushers with 6 ypc), 260 yards rushing, only forced two punts and gave up a solid 30 points. After Oregon jumped out to their lead they seemed to lose interest in this game. They never really looked tested. Next time KD wants to start with his happy talk about how the D is awesome he should wait until after a win against a quality opponent, not worst-in-the-nation Stanford!! We like the improvement in defense, but we warned about crowning them without any evidence they deserved tops in the nation status.
Offensively, we took some chances on 4th downs, and we applaud that. We put some confidence in our players abilities to come through, and they responded well. But we didn’t test Oregon’s weak secondary with any long balls (our longest completion was 14 yards), especially late in the game when we obviously needed to take chances to get back in the game. Why were we punting late in the game to basically tell everyone including our players that we give up? Why we were running up the middle late in the game and not going for a big strikes, or a least a shot downfield? Way to rally your team coach!! After so many weeks of “learning” and “growing” Svoboda is proving he is not ready for D1A, and KD is proving he cannot take this program to the elite level.
So, now we have answers to the many questions our 4-1 record raised. Now we know that our defense needs more work. Sure, they are better than last year, which is not saying much since we were ranked 113th in the country, near dead last. Now we have plenty of evidence that Svoboda cannot coach at this level. Now we know this is not KD’s “best team yet,” or if it is, we know that KD has coached them to underperform. KD would have to go unbeaten from here on out to make that claim honest. We reaffirm that KD cannot win on the road against a team with a winning record, nor can he win a big game.
The national story on other channels was Oregon beating UCLA handily. That is how it will play to rational people. KD apologists will look at this game differently, as a good effort, a step maybe in the right direction, our defense shut them down for 3 quarters, we were in this game were it not for the officials. Yes, there were some calls against us that hurt momentum. Yes we made it closer at the end. But we never tested them. When will the apologists learn? KD has now ADDED to his mediocre legacy. 0-8 KD, 0-8! More later …
We have been busy with business and have been unable to update the website as often as we would like this week. It’s a shame because this is the biggest week this year so far, as we have been saying. That is the story line that the press is picking up on as well. Today is the litmus test for this Bruiins team and perhaps for Dorrell as a head coach. Hard to believe that one game can carry that kind of importance, but it does. For the first time this year we are playing a real team. For the first time in his career as a head coach Dorrell can pick up a win on the road against a team with a winning record. For the first time in his career as a head coach Dorrell can pick up a big win. Our defense can measure their true talent today against the nation’s #4 ranked offense. Svoboda and the offense can measure their true abilities against an average defense but also in an infamously hostile stadium and against an offense that can put up points.
We have been saying this all week, the way we play today will set up the rest of the season. Pat Cowen is ready to go and the team is behind him. KD says there will be no drop off. No excuses coach, no scapegoats. Let’s get it done!! Go Bruins!!
For the first time this year the money is on us to lose this Saturday at Oregon. Oddsmakers don’t have us even making this game close. Considering the beating Oregon took last Saturday at Cal, that exposed their defensive and offensive weaknesses, we would have thought the line would be tighter. Nevertheless, this is a winnable game and a big game for KD and for this team’s season. We expect UCLA to play a tight game, even with Cowan starting at QB, as the team and coaching staff do not expect a decline in peformance at QB and Oregon is limping on defense.
The season up to this point has been nothing but speculation. Now we will get to measure the quality of our team. Now is the time for our vaunted defense to step up against a great offense. All the happy talk about how great our defense is, #2 in the nation, will be wiped away with an ugly loss at Autzen. A win, with defense leading the way, and every chest-thumping proclamation of dominance will be validated. But more than that, this team needs to earn respect. They need to earn it against a worthy opponent. And they need to earn it on the road. A 4-1 Bruin team should NEVER be left out of the top 25. This team is.
In part, KD’s legacy is on the line Saturday. He has never won the big game, never beat a winning team on the road. He has a chance to wipe out two glaring negative marks on his coaching resume. Without a win Saturday, it will be hard to imagine this team taking it to Notre Dame and Cal on the road later on. KD has got to get it done Saturday. The money is not on him, let’s hope he proves ‘em wrong. Go Bruins!!
This week’s Stat Of The Week is now familiar to DD readers, as we are repeating it for the third straight day. That is a measure of it’s importance. KD has NO wins on the road against teams with winning records. That is a legacy KD does not want to be known for. This team still has a chance to “shock people” as KD said we would during Press Day in late July. We can beat an exposed Oregon on the road with KD’s “best team yet.” KD has said that he expects Pat Cowen to run this offense well, and that the team is rallying behind him. He has not reduced his expectations for this team and we should take him at his word. So we expect a win Saturday and to go into Notre Dame with some momentum. Let’s get it done KD! Go Bruins!
