The UCLA Football Team

In the afterglow of Washington State Cougars stunning come-from-behind victory, I've been eagerly focusing on next weeks test coming on the road at the Rose Bowl Coliseum against the UCLA Bruins. Having only caught glimpes of two UCLA games, I know very little outside of the struggles of what now appears to be the former starting quarterback Kevin Prince against Texas. That was one of the more self-defeating first quarters I've seen from a QB in a while. It's always fun when each pass attempt becomes a coin-toss over which team is going to make the completion. But I have a few observations, then ultimately more questions about the offense in general.

After briefly perusing the fellow SB Nation Bruins Blog, I've come across few interesting topics of discussion circulating among their faithful. Not surprisingly, one of these discussions revolves around finding head coach Rick Neuheisel's replacement for next year. To many, it seems like his termination is an inevitable outcome, having failed to create any significant positive contributions either on or off the field, despite having what many feel is more than adequate talent to compete in the newly formed Pac-12. I'm sure many of you have your own impressions of Rick Neuheisel and his exploits throughout college football. However aside from his past transgressions and inconsistent program he's put together at UCLA, he remains respected as a football coach and it is believed he may still have time to salvage his position with a stellar, yet seemingly improbable, run from here on out. It just seems as though the fans and administration have little loyalty to the coach and that is definitely a problem for a team that should be competing what some believe is the weaker South division.

Having taken thorough drubbings at the hands of upper-echelon teams Texas and Stanford, UCLA feels like a team that is reeling and feel even more hopeless and without drive than their sanctioned counterpart USC. That can often be the case when your team has question marks surrounding the team's signal callers which leads to the next issue. After getting the promotion in lieu if Kevin Prince, Richard Brehaut, the junior from Los Osos high school in Rancho Cucamango, CA, has performed at least average, throwing for 202 yards and a couple of scores against Stanford. He won't trick anyone into thinking he's among the Pac-12 elite at the QB position, but he has proven serviceable if unspectacular. For all his efforts however it is likely just a matter of time before the Brett Hundley begins to grasp the nuances of college football and is given a chance to seize the starting spot. As those of you that are Seahawks fans out there are certainly aware of, the most popular quarterback in town is the backup, especially when he came into town with 5 pretty gold stars next to his name.

A bit to chew on for fun, but my question is, what the hell kind of offense is UCLA running? Looking at their statistics, they appear a bit scared to throw the rock, handing it off almost 60 more times than they've passed despite having few leads down the stretch. Someone hook me up with the link to analysis or better yet, give me your own take.

And also, what's going on with the defense? Are we looking at a cover-crazy squad that is either super-confident in its front four to get the job down or damn scared its secondary will get torched if asked to do anything alone.

Give me the run down if you will. And as always..

..GO COUGS!

Max K