The more I watch Dante Moore this season the more I think about the young quarterbacks who struggle in the NFL who came from great college programs like a Justin Fields. A lot of young players tend to struggle in the NFL because the game is so much faster and also they usually have poor offensive lines. This leads to them developing poor habits with reading progressions, feeling pressure, knowing when to escape or throw the ball away, etc.

If you think of how many QBs have busted in the NFL a common theme is they played behind poor offensive lines at the start of their careers. I think this does irreparable long term harm to a players development. I bring this up because one of UCLA’s Achilles heels is their pass protection. Moore is certainly dealing with the difference of speed in the game but he’s also starting to see “ghosts” already in that sometimes he feels a rush that isn’t there and other times he doesn’t see a rush that clearly is coming (the second happens more than the first admittedly). Both of these can be major issues and can become habits. It can slow down his development and make him worse long term.

I don’t think the OLine is suddenly going to get better than it is currently. They are who they are. The only hope is to have a good running game and draw up plays that make for easy reads and throws for Moore. That does limit the offense quite a bite, however. Of course, this could be the best option and the most complimentary option to the newfound defensive prowess.

I hope I’m wrong and it doesn’t affect his long term development. But, I was just reading and article about Kenny Pritchett on the Steelers and they said he had a poor OLine his first couple years at Pitt and he has now reverted back to those habits with a poor line on the Steelers.

Cameron Jones had his coming out party:

Based on what we saw at OSU and knowing we are without our 2nd and 3rd string QBs, what are your revised predictions?

I unfortunately think we have been exposed to our weaknesses on both sides of the ball. And without a coach who will line up and commit to the run exclusively, I don’t see us staying on the field enough to rest our defense.

I think we win at ASU and probably at Stanford. We should beat Colorado at home if we can get to QB Sanders enough to turn them over. Cal should be a win.

But I see us losing one of those based on our recent history.

We probably lose at Arizona. We will have to pull off some rivalry magic to beat SC, who is beatable, but will be probably 7 point favorites if they are 8-2 and we are 6-4 going into the game.

My revised predictions are:
7-5 45%
8-4 35%
9-3 10%
6-6 or worse 9%
10-2 1%

So I think there is a slightly better chance that we go 7-5 or worse than 8-4 or better.

I am not a coach but if we don’t commit to the run game and quick passes that don’t need to travel 30 yards across the field for a potential six yard gain, we can win games. Once the run is established and Moore is in rhythm, we can hit bigger plays to burners Brown, Jones, and Sturdivant.

I went on a long walk yesterday with some friends and did not get back until the game had already started. I recorded the game knowing we might get back late. Since I was running about an hour behind, I did not look at the Game Thread as I watched but imagined people were throwing things at the television while cursing our QB and Coach.

After the game, I came to the thread and saw what was expected. It made me wonder why we always fall into this pattern of exuberance and depression and realized that we like it. It makes us feel alive and part of something more. So, even though the game was a disappointment, we actually had a pretty good time watching it, whether we realize it or not. In that spirit, I will list out the positive things I saw rather than the negative ones.

1) We were really competitive in many areas against a very tough opponent in their house on homecoming where they have only lost one game in the last two and half seasons

2) We gave up 17 pts off turnovers and got 3 points on turnovers for a -14 differential. We lost by 12 so, if we take care of the ball better, which is entirely possible, we can win games like this.

3) Coach did realize that Moore could not get it done by himself and gave Schlee a chance and Schlee was fantastic. The entire team seemed to get some juice when he was in there. This guy is a gamer. Hope he is OK and we get to see him play more. I would like to see more throws. He can definitely get yards with his arm but the packages need to include the opportunity to throw.

4) OSU got 3 TDs on blown coverages, rather than players getting beat. This is correctable and I think our D-Coordinator is fully capable of making that happen.

5) The running game is strong. We ran for more yards against OSU than any team this year. Steele has back to back 100+ yard games against ranked opponents. Harden looked like he was back in form and Jones is doing a great job of providing a spark.

6) I thought the D played well. OSU definitely had the best Oline we played against this year, they have two really good RBs and an experienced QB that has won a lot of games. The D was constantly put in tough spots and continued to make plays under really difficult circumstances.

7) Oladejo had his best game as a Bruin. He was all over the field making plays and showed great range on passing plays.

8) Ramsey is stud. It is really going to be fun watching him improve. He has a nose for the ball and an ability to make multiple big plays every game. This is the type of player we need to take it to the next level.

9) We can still have a really good season. With just a little improvement in the passing game this team would be 6-0 instead of 4-2 with three wins over ranked opponents. Of course, there is no guarantee we improve, but it is certainly possible.

10) USC got absolutely destroyed.

Assessing why head coach Chip Kelly needs to put him in better position to succeed early in contests and the continued struggles coupled with poor pass protection:

I hope last week wasn’t fool’s gold. Also, AZ has been very impressive despite a 3-3 record. OT losses at Mississippi State and at SC plus a narrow loss at home to UW. That game will not be a walkover.

Kickoff at 5 p.m., airing on FOX

Most people forget this but Cade threw 24 picks between his freshmen and sophomore years. And that team had a bunch of talented players too. But, they stuck with him until he turned into the legend he became. But, it was brutal going through the growing pains.

I don’t think coaches should sacrifice a season for the growth of a QB. It isn’t fair to the rest of the guys.

UCLA played just six offensive linemen in Saturday’s loss at Oregon State and reserve left guard Siale Taupaki played just three snaps.

Last year, the Bruins prided themselves on having a rotation of anywhere from seven to eight or nine players.

Transfers Khadere Kounta and Jake Wiley have not been able to add depth to a unit that sorely needed it coming out of the spring.

Transcript courtesy of Ben Bolch and the L.A. Times:

UPHILL CLIMB WITH TURNOVERS?

“Yeah, you know, whenever you lose the turnover battle and the X-play battle, you’re going to lose the football game–and we lost both of those today and that’s something that we talk about all the time and that we emphasize and we have to do a better job. We can’t continue to turn the ball over and that’s on us as coaches–we need to put those guys in better situations to make plays.”

ESPECIALLY WITH A PICK-SIX?

“Yep. They all hurt and we have to clean it up.”

WHAT DO YOU TELL DANTE AFTER A TOUGH GAME LIKE THAT?

“Same thing. We’ve got to come back, he’s a resilient kid and that’s one thing that’s a great quality of his and we’re going to sit down and watch the film with him and go over what his decisions were when he had the ball and how those things happened and we’ll continue to grow as a football team.”

COLLIN HURT?

“Collin was unavailable, yeah.”

WHEN DID IT HAPPEN?

“I was just told he was unavailable for a little bit in the first half and then at halftime they said they would see if he could go and they told me after that that he was unavailable.”

OREGON STATE QB?

“I thought he did a really good job running Jonathan’s offense. I thought he played within their system–you know, Jonathan’s got a great system, you know, he ran it when he was at Washington and then he’s had a lot of success here and I think DJ’s kind of gravitated to what Jonathan’s doing and he did a really nice job.”

HOW HAPPY WITH YOUR RUN GAME?

“It was hit or miss sometimes. You know, I think Carson obviously is a tough, physical, hard-nosed kid, I think Collin gave us a little bit of spark with some designed quarterback runs or reads, but we need to be more consistent rushing the football just like we need to be a lot more consistent throwing the football.”

YOU SAID IT FELT LIKE OREGON STATE HAD 12 GUYS ON FIELD WITH WAY THEY RUSH QB?

“Yeah, they do a really good job. Trent Bray does a really good job with that defense and they give you a lot of different looks, especially on third down and there’s a lot of times where you know who the known rushers are and they’re coming but they play really hard and I think that’s the mark of a good football team. Jonathan has that whole group playing really hard and even though they’re blocked, at times they beat the one-on-one and came off and made it hard on the quarterback today.”

RAN FOR ALMOST 300 YARDS, CONFUSED ABOUT THE NOT BEING PLEASED WITH THE RUN GAME?

“I don’t think it was consistent, that was my point. There were a lot of big runs in there but there were some runs where I think we left some meat on the bone. We have to be more consistent in all phases of what we’re doing offensively right now.”

PLAN TO BE PASS-HEAVY EARLY?

“No, I mean, we know and have a set of plays. I think we’re usually balanced, it’s usually some type of balance–I don’t think it was that run-heavy; you know, we planned on using Collin early and we did and I thought he gave us a spark. We had a package for him that we felt he could help us with and I think he did a nice job with that.”

DEFENSE GAVE UP MULTIPLE TDS FOR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON BUT ON FIELD A LOT IN BACKED-UP SITUATIONS. GIVE THEM A PASS BASED ON THAT?

“I think we can correct everybody, but I think our defense plays really hard and I think the X plays, we’ll really address those are the big things, if we can keep the ball in front of us, but there were too many deep balls today that it’s either–and we’ll look at it, where was the rush on those plays and then where we on the back end of a couple of those, but I’ve been pleased all year with how our defense is playing and I know they play hard. I think everybody competed and played hard, but we’re making too many mistakes when you play a good football team that you can’t make those mistakes and expect to win the football game.”

THOUGHTS TO GO FOR TWO ON LAST TD TO MAKE IT 11-POINT GAME?

“Yeah but when you look at the analytics, it’s not going to happen until you’ve got how-many possessions left in a game and we based it on the number of possessions that were left in the game. You know, if we had scored, it would have made it 36-30, you kick it, you’re down one, so now you’re still down five and it’s a one-score game so you look at it all the time. The one thing when you look at going for two and not going for two is getting the two isn’t guaranteed either, but our analytics told us by the amount of possessions that we should have kicked it.”

FALSE STARTS ON DRIVE, HOW MUCH IS ENVIRONMENT?

“Yeah, they do a good job. This crowd’s awesome, they’ve always been great, you know, the Beavers fans always make it difficult to play up here, they have a distinct home-field advantage. You know, we pipe in music whenever we play away games and really work in that environment, but it’s hard to simulate no matter where you are when you play in places that are loud, obviously it affected us a little bit, so we’ll talk to the players about when it happened and what the situation was and try to make those corrections.”

DESIGN OF STADIUM MADE IT LOUDER?

“I think it’s louder than it was here last time, you know, I was here–I don’t remember what year but we played here twice, but I think because there’s two high sides now so it kind of bounces off–it seemed like it was louder today than I remembered it, but I don’t have a decibel-level thing on the sideline so I couldn’t give you a guarantee but we knew coming in and our players were aware how faithful this fan base is and how loyal they are to their team and the team’s playing really well and they were loud and they made it difficult on us today.”

Obviously, this is a huge game. If the Bruins pull this off, they will be favored in every remaining game sans the Toejams.

OSU has a stout group upfront and I’m still concerned about our pass protection, but if Dante doesn’t let the game get too big, we have a great shot. Especially if our surprising D continues to shine. Go Bruins!

Stanford was down 29-0 and came back to put it into OT, then 2X OT then the knife thru the ❤️.

Great game. Furd may have found their spark.

Prime and company gotta be just 😵‍💫😱😭.

I just looked at the national defensive stats and it seems so amazingly weird to see UCLA in the top 5/10 of virtually every major category. I don't think we have been that highly ranked after 6 games on defense in over 20 years. The defense under Mora had incredible star power and were really good as was the defense led by Dewayne Walker but I don't think either put up stats like this. This is truly incredible!

My BBS makes me feel like we are going to come crashing back to earth but I want to just stay in the moment and enjoy. Tomorrow should be fun...I hope!

I'll start...Kain Medrano. This was a guy that started out as a WR and moved to defense and has really proved himself in Lynn's defense. He may of improved his draft stock and if he continues to improve could be a first or second day choice.

Runnerup is Alex Johnson....That player started the season as an unknown and has really stepped up his game.

The part I found most interesting was that the group rallied around Coach McGovern's "We can do hard things" and the emergence of players like Alex Johnson, Latu and Medrano

Positives
- The front 7 can stop the run. Utah has one of the best offensive lines in the country. Not many teams could play at Utah, face 48 runs and hold Utah to 2.1 a carry. That was incredible.
- Medrano is a stud who has the ability to make huge plays on D
- Davies was fantastic and it was nice to see a corner make a difference
- Carson Ryan is real at TE, Moore needs to start trusting him and give him a chance to make a play more often
- Punt coverage was great

Negatives
- That may be the best example I have ever seen of a talented true freshman QB who is not ready for a situation. Maybe Chip should have given Schlee a chance but I have to believe this game will stick with Moore and he will use it to improve so that it never happens again. Primarily, he needs to learn to either release the ball or start moving away from pressure with his head up after a two count. I saw at least 10 times where he dropped his eyes after 2-3 seconds in the pocket and no defender was within a yard.
- Did not like the run game calls. Running to the 4 hole with slow developing runs clearly was not working, why not split out the Olineman a bit and let them use their athleticism rather try to bull doze a big strong dline. Or how about moving Moore to the right or left where he can dump to an RB if he does not find it further upfield. Mix it up and find ways to get the ball to the RBs in a manner that gives them a little more room to maneuver. Put them in one-one-one situations. The RB usage was too predictable and played to the advantage of the opponent.
- On special teams, someone else needs to get a chance to return kicks or just fair catch it. The punter is limited. Utah's punter may have won the the game by constantly giving them a field position advantage. We need that.
- Penalties on first down on O. It killed all momentum and put the O in terrible situations against a good D.
- The INT to start the game and the dropped TD pass shortly thereafter. Just cannot happen on the road against a good opponent, if a team expects to win the game.

Overall a lot of assumptions about this team appear to have played out. The Front 7 on D is legit. They are going to keep us in games and possibly win a game or two for us. The play of the QB and Oline will be the keys to our success. If we can establish the run and the QB can hit the open man we could win out. If not, we could lose 4-5 more games.

Today’s story is focused first on Oregon State’s offense:

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Here is the full main stage media session with UCLA head coach Mick Cronin plus Adem Bona and Lazar Stefanovic plus breakout sessions with the Bruins coach and players discussing the upcoming season. Cronin provides his thoughts on the future of college hoops, how he will approach scheduling, the development of his team and much more.

Chip speaks just before 9 so coming up pretty soon

Was told that UCLA will be slotted third and got four-first place votes.

Arizona is expected to be picked to win the conference with 18 first-place votes followed by USC, which also had four votes.

USC had more points, 264-249, suggesting that UCLA was picked in a wide range of spots due to a roster that is so unknown to the voting media.

The order is expected to be: Arizona, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona State, Utah, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, California and Oregon State.

To Nov 30?? Too late in the season??

Kenny Churchwell III back after not practicing yesterday