In fall camp every coach has a few simple goals: avoid major injuries and eligibility issues, settle on the starting lineup, discover the team's assets and strengths; build some unity, discipline and character, and stay off the police blotter. He wants a team that is physically and mentally ready for competition with a minimum of distractions and setbacks.
One team in the PAC-10 has made woeful progress toward those few simple goals, and their season could be ready for the crash cart by the time PAC-10 play hits full stride in October.
You know what you see when the smog lifts over Pauley Pavilion? UCLA, and the view isn't pretty.
No one rises to low expectations, and the Slick One ramped up the attitude at Westwood from the day he arrived on campus. He picked a very public fight with Pete Carroll in several installments, billboards, booster club speeches, and then this ugly one-upmanship by Carroll and USC in their annual rivalry game that escalated into a midfield brawl.
While Neuheisel succeeded in ramping up the contentiousness he hasn't delivered wins. In two seasons his Bruins have finished 8th and 8th in conference, 3-6 each year, and despite a talented and athletic roster they can't shake the image of being soft and underachieving. They snuck into the Eagle Bank Bowl in 2009 and won 30-21 over Temple to bring their record to 7-6, but it's certain the same Bruin boosters who listened attentively to his Petey rant expected more from him when they approved his hire. The Slickster doesn't make most hot seat lists, but he's not in a position to order new carpet for his office either.
What about 2010? He and Norm Chow were supposed to bring innovation and excitement to the Rose Bowl, where UCLA home games are played, but so far it hasn't materialized. This spring they installed a new "Pistol" offense created by Nevada's Chris Ault, which was supposed to feature the dual-threat talents of redshirt sophomore Kevin Prince. Only one problem: Prince has been dinged up all camp, struggling with a lower back/oblique muscle injury that has kept him throwing no more than a handful of passes with plenty of time in the treatment room.
Meanwhile his offensive line has lost three starters, two to injury and one to academics. Guard Jeff Baca, a Pre-Med major, took an overly ambitious class load this spring and wound up with grade problems, losing an appeal to the NCAA. (Duck fans know all too well how those NCAA appeal and clearing house issues work out. Brian Bosworth wasn't far off years ago when he wore a jacket that said "National Communists Against Athletes.") Baca is changing majors and planning to return in the spring. Center Kai Maiava is out at least 10 weeks with a broken ankle, and Right tackle Mike Harris is suspended for the Kansas State game for violating team rules. Xavier Su’a-Filo, last year’s starting left tackle, left school in December to take his LDS mission.
It's a long list that leaves UCLA with just two linemen with significant starting experience. A study in the Wall Street Journal last season showed that, statistically, offensive line experience is the single biggest determiner of success in major college football. The Bruins are a team of mis-matched parts; they successfully recruited premier blue-chip five-star running back Malcolm Jones, the Gatorade high school national player of the year in 2009, but they may have walk-ons up front trying to put a hat on somebody. Norm Chow will look less like a genius with every snap.
Defensively, UCLA took a huge blow at the start of fall camp when defensive end Datone Jones broke his foot running on the artificial turf of the Bruin's practice field. Counted on to be the anchor of a defense that lost five starters to graduation and one to the NFL, he's out 10-12 weeks. Jones had four sacks last season, tops among returnees for the baby blue and gold. Defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough already faced the serious challenge of replacing all-conference defensive back Alterraun Verner, who graduated, and PAC-10 Defensive Player of the Year DT Brian Price, who defected to the NFL. The Bosworth brothers are also gone, and with them a lot of heart and energy. The two remaining stars, safety Rahim Moore and linebacker Akeem Ayers, will make a lot of tackles. They'll have to.
Fire Marshall's Report
The fall camp motorhome looks like a meth lab fire in Los Angeles, and the September schedule provides the Bruins with a couple of quick punches in the mouth. After opening on the road at Kansas State, (a winnable game, but not ideal for a team with so many questions) they start PAC-10 play on September 11 versus Stanford. That game is in the Rose Bowl but no coach would want to test his undermanned defense that early against a conference title contender and Andrew Luck. To make things worse, they follow this game with road games facing Heisman trophy candidate Casey Keenum and Houston, then number five Texas at Royal Stadium. This is a brutal opening schedule; going 1-3 or 0-4 is a distinct possibility that would leave them reeling. It would be a challenge to hold a team together after a start like that, particularly at UCLA, where the football teams have a deserved historical reputation for packing it in when a season goes bad.
October isn't much better. They get their best chance to right things October 2nd at home versus WSU, but then they travel to Cal on the ninth. Then comes a much needed bye week (Isn't it interesting how many teams in the conference have a bye week scheduled the week before they face Oregon) before hitting the road again to Autzen for an ESPN Thursday night match-up with the Ducks, October 21, too soon for their injured keystones, Jones and C Maiava, to come off the disabled list.
It doesn't project well for the Bruins. Preseason forecasts that had them in the upper half of the conference and going bowling were premature. UCLA looks to be the surprise bad team of the conference, and will struggle to pull together another 3-6 finish. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
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