UCLA Bruins: Jim Mora On Hot Seat
Last night the UCLA Bruins took on the Stanford Cardinal — the final score was 56-35 in a losing effort.
This is only the Bruins’ second loss of the season.
The offense continued to play and fighting.
The downside was that the defense quit at halftime, it seemed like.
Yes, they lost Myles Jack a leader of their defense but they got back Ishmael Adams who is just as good given he is in a different position and has different capabilities.
Adams can and needs to be the leader of the defense and is the leader of the defense.
He needs to step up, because his actions are already shown on the field and now he just needs to be vocal.
It will hard for him to be a vocal leader since he plays in the secondary.
Usually defensive leaders or signal callers are linebackers who can communicate with the d-line and the secondary.
That is not to say Adams cannot be a leader on the defense.
For example, in the NFL, the Oakland Raiders veteran leader on defense is Charles Woodson.
However, will this loss cause them to go on a downward spiral if the Bruins defense play like they did tonight every game.
Their defense and team will go far if the defense will just keep fighting.
They face an improving Cal team who just faced Utah and had a chance to win even the QB Jared Goff thew five interceptions.
Long story short, Cal is dangerous.
My question is how will UCLA bounce back from a loss this big?
Is head coach Jim Mora on the hot seat with two losses already, or do the two losses just limit the Bruins chances of making the Pac-12 championship game and the possible college football playoff?
My answer is the losses limit their chances for a berth in the playoffs because Jim Mora once coached in the NFL and knows what he is doing.
The UCLA bruins will keep Jim Mora in the end because with Josh Rosen at QB as a freshman, they would like chemistry and like every college football team they want to win a national championship.
Keeping Mora as the head coach gives them high chances because of his experience and season as a UCLA football head coach.
I will say this it wont get any easier.
Other schools have young quarterbacks who are also freshmen or sophomores who will excel as the years go by.
And by Rosen’s senior year, he, Luke Falk from Washington State, Washington QB Jake Browning, and the University of Arizona’s football QB Anu Solomon will be the top four quarterbacks in the Pac-12 in the next 2-4 years.
It will get better for UCLA but it will also get better around the conference and that is why UCLA needs to make moves now and this summer to keep their hopes alive to win a championship.
Secondly, the Pac-12 is the most competitive conference out there. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day at any time anywhere — home or away.
Thirdly their offense showed fight and that they are they to win even though they lost the game.
They finished the game strong.
What the team needs to work on and address is the defense who didn’t show up in the second half or at all in that matter.
When the Bruins defense plays a full football game against a conference rival they will help the offense be able to stay on the field longer and be able to generate plays yet the same goes for the offense.
Even though the offense played better than the defense tonight.
Being a one-loss team trying to make the playoffs is hard enough but can a 2 loss team make the playoffs?
I do not know.
If UCLA can hold on to win the rest of the season then they could have a chance for a bid at the playoffs.
The downside is they lost to Arizona St. who is second and UTAH is 1st int he PAC 12 South.
By the time UCLA meets Utah, each team could have multiple losses and then once again what we keep talking about is that that game could have playoff implications.
The reason I say this is because how the Pac-12 is so competitive and you never know who will beat who on what day.
For example, just last week we saw Washington St. defeated Oregon.
Given Oregon is not the same as the Bruins, but it is Washington St., folks.
This is the Pac-12 for you.
We will not officially know until the end. UCLA does have a chance but right now it looks like a slim chance because the teams that started out in a negative direction are heading towards a positive direction and vice versa.