Well, it's another day of being a Bruin fan. A game that we should've won, could've won, but didn't deserve to win.
I think Ed pretty much nailed it in his summary, so I apologize if I repeat some things.
--I'll start with a positive, I think we are in good hands with our offensive coaches. All of them. Fisch, Frailey, Dougherty, and Rip. I have no issues with any of them. There's a part of me that is concerned that if the season were to go South and Mora actually was fired, that we'd lose these guys. I think they've all done a great job so far.
--One more positive. I think both Jalen Starks and Stephens have bright futures. Yes, Stephens had the fumble, but he has some good burst. Starks showed a lot! Also on D Chigozie Nnoruka looks like he could be a diamond in the rough.
--Ok, the negatives. A very typical Mora regime game starting with losing our discipline at inopportune times. Some bad penalties, some bad tackling when we needed to shift the momentum.
--Another (in my mind) typical mistake, clock management. I'm specifically speaking of the end of the first half. As I posted in the game thread, I screamed at the TV when they took the time out after we got a sack. Here was my thought process--my guess is that Memphis would have let clock run, knowing they had the ball first coming out of the halftime break. If I'm UCLA fine. We've got the lead, we've got some momentum. Instead we call the timeout. So now Memphis says, ok, they'll probably use their last one on the next play so we might as well open it up. There wasn't much risk in regards to losing time and, what the heck we've been getting big plays on UCLA all day. Sure enough, deep ball, followed by another, touchdown, and the positives we had are suddenly flipped.
--Bradley. Not really much to say. Seems like a nice guy, can't say he's been impressive at all during his stay.
--Josh. I'm certainly not putting the blame on him. We aren't even in it if it isn't for him, but I think we are all aware that Josh makes some poor decisions when pressure is on. He wants to make the big play instead of taking what's there--which includes taking a sack and throwing it out of bounds. I forget who it was who had the offensive P.I. at the end, but no blame on him he saved a game-over INT. Josh was out of the pocket, just throw it out of bounds and it's 2nd and 10. We all love Josh, he's a great QB, but that part of his game has to somehow change. And no, I won't put that on the coaches. Josh's confidence in himself is a great attribute, but also has led to poor decisions, thinking he can always make the play.
--DB's. Martin has done a really good job of recruiting, and by no means am I a football mind, but it sure seems like we hold a lot and don't play the ball well, including jumping routes. I'll let those who know more chime in.
--Jaelan Phillips. Can only hope that the young man isn't too badly hurt. Although it didn't look good. He's a star, and seemingly already one of our best players. Time will tell. Heal quickly Jaelan.
Well that's about it. Hopefully the D can get healthy and show some signs of life moving forward, because it certainly is unfair to expect the O to save us week after week. And it leads to Josh falling into the one negative aspect of his game when he feels like he always has to make a play.
Hope everyone can still enjoy their weekend. And we'll be right back here next week for Furd.
Go Bruins!
I think Ed pretty much nailed it in his summary, so I apologize if I repeat some things.
--I'll start with a positive, I think we are in good hands with our offensive coaches. All of them. Fisch, Frailey, Dougherty, and Rip. I have no issues with any of them. There's a part of me that is concerned that if the season were to go South and Mora actually was fired, that we'd lose these guys. I think they've all done a great job so far.
--One more positive. I think both Jalen Starks and Stephens have bright futures. Yes, Stephens had the fumble, but he has some good burst. Starks showed a lot! Also on D Chigozie Nnoruka looks like he could be a diamond in the rough.
--Ok, the negatives. A very typical Mora regime game starting with losing our discipline at inopportune times. Some bad penalties, some bad tackling when we needed to shift the momentum.
--Another (in my mind) typical mistake, clock management. I'm specifically speaking of the end of the first half. As I posted in the game thread, I screamed at the TV when they took the time out after we got a sack. Here was my thought process--my guess is that Memphis would have let clock run, knowing they had the ball first coming out of the halftime break. If I'm UCLA fine. We've got the lead, we've got some momentum. Instead we call the timeout. So now Memphis says, ok, they'll probably use their last one on the next play so we might as well open it up. There wasn't much risk in regards to losing time and, what the heck we've been getting big plays on UCLA all day. Sure enough, deep ball, followed by another, touchdown, and the positives we had are suddenly flipped.
--Bradley. Not really much to say. Seems like a nice guy, can't say he's been impressive at all during his stay.
--Josh. I'm certainly not putting the blame on him. We aren't even in it if it isn't for him, but I think we are all aware that Josh makes some poor decisions when pressure is on. He wants to make the big play instead of taking what's there--which includes taking a sack and throwing it out of bounds. I forget who it was who had the offensive P.I. at the end, but no blame on him he saved a game-over INT. Josh was out of the pocket, just throw it out of bounds and it's 2nd and 10. We all love Josh, he's a great QB, but that part of his game has to somehow change. And no, I won't put that on the coaches. Josh's confidence in himself is a great attribute, but also has led to poor decisions, thinking he can always make the play.
--DB's. Martin has done a really good job of recruiting, and by no means am I a football mind, but it sure seems like we hold a lot and don't play the ball well, including jumping routes. I'll let those who know more chime in.
--Jaelan Phillips. Can only hope that the young man isn't too badly hurt. Although it didn't look good. He's a star, and seemingly already one of our best players. Time will tell. Heal quickly Jaelan.
Well that's about it. Hopefully the D can get healthy and show some signs of life moving forward, because it certainly is unfair to expect the O to save us week after week. And it leads to Josh falling into the one negative aspect of his game when he feels like he always has to make a play.
Hope everyone can still enjoy their weekend. And we'll be right back here next week for Furd.
Go Bruins!
