Mistakes Kill UCLA on the Farm in 45-19 Loss

It wasn’t as if nobody expected this…

Back in August, I predicted that the UCLA Bruins’ game against the now-7th ranked Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto would be the almost guaranteed loss on the 2011 schedule, not only due to Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck but also due to a smash-mouth, physical style on both sides of the line that Rick Neuheisel’s team just hasn’t been able to match.

After UCLA’s 45-19 loss, which leaves them at 1-1 in the Pac-12 Conference and 2-3 overall, I was proved right.

It was the Bruins’ third straight loss to Stanford; they’ve been outscored 104-35 over that span and 80-19 the past two years.

Despite various Bruins saying that they had equal talent to the Cardinal and it was Stanford’s execution that was better, there remains a big gap in the two programs, which showed on Saturday night as in giving up a total of 442 yards, UCLA was pushed around on defense for most of the night, Luck enhancing his Heisman campaign not only by throwing for 227 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of 27 passing, but also by making a fine, one-handed catch in the first quarter that led to the first Stanford score.

Not bad for a quarterback.

Luck certainly played like the number one overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, which as sure as I’m sitting here writing this he will be in April.

Mistakes sealed the Bruins’ fate, particularly the fumble by quarterback Richard Brehaut and the muffed punt by Taylor Embree which led to 14 Stanford points. The two missed extra points by Jeff Locke didn’t help, either.

There were some highlights in UCLA’s performance, as Brehaut showed once again that he’s the starting quarterback in going 18-of-33 for 202 yards and two scores to tight end Joseph Fauria. Johnathan Franklin earned 96 yards on the ground on only 12 carries, and Nelson Rosario caught eight passes for 83 yards.

The biggest illustration of how the night went for the Bruins, and the difference between them and Stanford’s football program at this point, showed itself in the first quarter…

During that quarter, UCLA drove all the way to the one yard line, and on 3rd and goal from there couldn’t score in two plays. After that, the Cardinal drove 99 yards and unlike the Bruins, did score from short yardage.

The talent may not be that far apart between the two teams, as players such as Patrick Larimore and Dietrich Riley stated, but Saturday’s game made it plain that UCLA still has a long, long way to go in its progress as a program.

Put it like this: The Bruins have three losses in their first five games.

Meanwhile, Stanford is 4-0, the highest ranked Pac-12 team in the Associated Press Top 25, and is on track for the showdown of all showdowns when 9th ranked Oregon comes to the Farm on November 12th in a game where if ESPN’s College Game Day doesn’t broadcast from there, then that show would lose all of its credibility.

UCLA used to have games like that once upon a time – those were the days…

NEXT OPPONENT:  Washington State Cougars, October 8th, Rose Bowl, 7:30 p.m.

A couple of years ago, this was a “gimme” game on everyone’s schedule due to the fact that these Cougars from the Palouse were so pathetically bad.

That’s not the case anymore, as though they have played cupcakes such as Idaho State and UNLV, Wazzu has already won more games this year – three – than all of last year.

And all of this despite standout quarterback Jeff Tuel breaking his collarbone earlier in the season; backup QB Marshall Lobbestael has filled in rather neatly in throwing for oodles of yards.

With wide receiver Marquess Wilson, the Cougars’ offense has continued to progress and could give UCLA problems this coming Saturday night; the defense has to step up once and for all, making stops and causing turnovers and general chaos, in order to win.

A Bruin loss will spell disaster as after the Wazzu game and a bye week, they have to travel to Tuscon to face an Arizona Wildcat team that has always given UCLA a bad time; they will be looking at a 2-5 record then if they don’t beat the Cougars at the Rose Bowl.

And that, in all honesty, could signal the beginning of the end for the team and particularly for Neuheisel.