Bruins Mauled By Bears In Berkeley – Again

Remember what I said in my article previewing UCLA’s game with the California Golden Bears – that on paper the Bruins were the better team with the better stats?

Oct 6, 2012; Berkeley, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins receiver Cassius Marsh (99) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the California Golden Bears at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-US PRESSWIRE

Or at least looked like the better team?

Unfortunately, you don’t play football games on paper, and those Bears from Berkeley more than proved that on Saturday night as UCLA did exactly what I said they couldn’t do in order to win:

* 12 PENALTIES FOR 99 YARDS, which once again stopped Bruin drives and enabled Cal’s drives;  defensive back Aaron Hester committed three by himself.

* SIX TURNOVERS, including four interceptions by Brett Hundley in, although he did throw  for 253 yards and two scores, what can safely be said was his worst performance in his young career as a Bruin – three of those picks were in the fourth quarter alone by one guy: Kameron Jackson.

Meanwhile, the Bears played precisely like I thought they might play – like a wounded and cornered dog that was desperate – as they used UCLA’s screw-ups and errors to smash the Bruins, 43-17, before a Memorial Stadium (which was officially rededicated that night) crowd of 57,643.

Plus (probably) a few hundred people who I am sure were enjoying themselves on Tightwad Hill.

Being that they were 1-4 going into the game with their fans calling for coach Jeff Tedford’s head, it wasn’t surprising that Cal stepped up big time, especially quarterback Zach Maynard, who had the game of his life as he completed 25 of 30 passes for 295 yards and was responsible for five of the Bears’ six touchdowns – four of them by the air, including  a strike of 68 yards to C.J. Anderson in the fourth quarter that buried Jim Mora’s team once and four all.

The loss, which continued a pattern in which the home team has won in this series this century, was the Bruins’ seventh in a row in Berkeley to their older U.C. brethren.

Johnathan Franklin was a bright spot for UCLA as he ran for103 yards on just 15 carries, and Shaquelle Evans seemed like the only Bruin who was able to hold on to passes as he caught seven for 68 yards.

Cassius Marsh and Joseph Fauria were responsible for Hundley’s two TD passes, but this was definitely a case where the bad far outweighed the good as…

Not only did Cal outscore UCLA 43-10 after Marsh opened the scoring in the first quarter with his touchdown catch, the Bears did a great job in exposing the youth and inexperience of the offensive line, pressuring Hundley all night in sacking him five times while on offense, Cal used quick passes and yards after catch to get plays of 30 yards or more, two of them resulting in scores.

To make a long story short, the Bears played inspired football while the Bruins, well, their performance induced nightmarish flashbacks of the previous two years; I’m sure some UCLA fans who were at the game were wondering whether either Rick Neuhiesel or Karl Dorrell were rehired and on the sidelines in Mora’s place on Saturday night.

While I’m not going to put this season in crisis mode – yet – Saturday’s game gave a better idea of the kind of football team that UCLA has as the season officially hit its halfway point, and it’s not all good.

Sure the Bruins can put the hurting on weak teams like Rice and Colorado, and get inspired enough to beat a ranked, big-name team like Nebraska at home, but put them up against a formidable opponent or a team with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove – like the Cal Bears this past Saturday – and the story’s no different than it was the past several seasons, with the team making stupid mistakes and playing undisciplined ball.

Even though to be fair, the Bruins are playing with a new system and scheme on both sides of the ball and have young guys playing everywhere – 12 true freshman have seen action on the field this season – that’s how I see things so far.

With a record of 4-2, including a disappointing 1-2 in the Pac-12 Conference, the true test for the Bruins will not only come with tough opponents like the Arizona schools, Stanford and USC in the coming weeks, it begins with their next contest, against the Utah Utes this coming Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl.

This upcoming game against the Utes will show once and for all what kind of team UCLA has, and will give me a much clearer indication of how the rest of the season is going to go.

By approximately 5:00 p.m. on October 13th, I will know.

A preview of the Utah game will appear on this site this Wednesday.