The good
Kenny Clark - why he was still in once the game was decided is beyond me.
Rosen - is already very good and will be great (he may regret not taking that offer to go to Alabama, where he would be the starter for a NC contender something it's unlikely he will get a chance at UCLA)
UCLA's first string defense looked like they might be somewhat competitive against Stanford's backups. Probably still lose, but it would've been interesting.
The BAD
Where to start....
THE OFFENSIVE LINE is marshmallow soft. It's time to accept that Brendel doesn't have bad games, he just isn't very good. The guards are weak and the tackles only strength is pass blocking. You can rip Mazzone all you want but if you outnumber the guys in the box on 3rd and 1, you should be able to pickup a first down. Against a weak pass rush they still gave up sacks and hurries. After UA, people said this was a good line. Go back and look at the game. UA almost always had players in position to make a tackle they just missed.
WIDE RECEIVERS It's hard to decide their worst quality. They are slow, have bad hands, and all run lazy routes. Gotta say some of this has to be coaching. The pick six wasn't a good decision but watch the route. Fuller never breaks the corners cushion and doesn't even use a head fake. Payton at best is a decent 2 or 3 WR on most good teams.
Payton - slow but mostly catches the ball, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Fulller- sloooooooowwwwwwww, okay hands, no wiggle, can't break a tackle
Massington - slowwwwww, bad route runner, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Walker - can't catch so who knows what else he can do
Duarte - slow, can catch, can't block, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Andrews - caught the ball when no one covered him.... that's a step up from the rest.
RUNNING BACKS if Perkins had any top end speed he would be elite, he doesn't. Starks looks worse each week. Jamambo, I just don't see it. not explosive, hesitant in the hole, easy to tackle. Olurunfrumi looks like a young Perkins, but with not as quick feet and also no upper end speed.
DEFENSIVE BACKS - Wow these guys are terrible. Wadood is just lost. I know why Adams holds, because if he doesn't, he has no clue where the WR is. Goforth is decent safety but a pretty bad corner. Rios looked better last year. Goodman knocked a ball down which makes the elite player in a pathetic group. Hogan under-threw a ton of balls, most teams would've picked them off.UCLA dbs are so lost they just run into the WR.
LINEBACKERS - alternated between not filling, missing tackles, or just getting freight trained. They're soft zone coverage was pretty terrible too. Young should not be playing. He's more likely to hurt himself than anybody on the other team.
DEFENSIVE LINE- Clark is great. Hollins is still a one trick pony who should be only playing when it's 3rd and 35. Hard to see who played well since they spent so much time getting flat-backed or run off screen by Stanford players.
COACHING- Wow. I want to apologize for ever comparing Bradley to Scrappy-doo. Scrappy has puppy power, is aggressive, and gives the impression he knows what he's doing, Bradley does not. In what is a continuing theme, UCLA's defense sucks. They haven't been worth anything since Spanos left and even then they were just okay. All night you saw defensive players waiting to absorb contact instead of making plays. You can tell me Mora is defensive minded since he spent so much time in the NFL, but guess what, Karl Dorell spent years on the offensive side of the ball in the NFL and he's terrible at offense. Mora needs to hire someone who thinks the opposite of whatever he does. This is a badly coached defense, they are fundamentally weak, and the scheme is nonexistent. Beyond that even the announcers noticed they just quit in the 3rd quarter "they've tapped out." Being bad is one thing -- being gutless is a far bigger problem that starts with head coach.
Mora remains a mid-tier coach who is closer to Sark (minus the pills and booze) than he is to Harbaugh. That said, he is the best UCLA can or likely will make an effort to do. His only hope is to hire assistants that are actually good at their jobs. Current guys that should be on the chopping block are Bradley, Martin, and Yarber. Bradley should never have been hired, but that's for another day.
Mazzone isn't the most creative guy or smartest but he currently sucks less than the other side of the ball. At least he showed the ability to change.
I would say do yourselves a favor and bet on Cal. A far worse Cal team almost (should of) beat a better UCLA team last year. At least make some money off the mediocrity. This team could lose to every team left on it's schedule except maybe OSU, which could be a barn burner.
Kenny Clark - why he was still in once the game was decided is beyond me.
Rosen - is already very good and will be great (he may regret not taking that offer to go to Alabama, where he would be the starter for a NC contender something it's unlikely he will get a chance at UCLA)
UCLA's first string defense looked like they might be somewhat competitive against Stanford's backups. Probably still lose, but it would've been interesting.
The BAD
Where to start....
THE OFFENSIVE LINE is marshmallow soft. It's time to accept that Brendel doesn't have bad games, he just isn't very good. The guards are weak and the tackles only strength is pass blocking. You can rip Mazzone all you want but if you outnumber the guys in the box on 3rd and 1, you should be able to pickup a first down. Against a weak pass rush they still gave up sacks and hurries. After UA, people said this was a good line. Go back and look at the game. UA almost always had players in position to make a tackle they just missed.
WIDE RECEIVERS It's hard to decide their worst quality. They are slow, have bad hands, and all run lazy routes. Gotta say some of this has to be coaching. The pick six wasn't a good decision but watch the route. Fuller never breaks the corners cushion and doesn't even use a head fake. Payton at best is a decent 2 or 3 WR on most good teams.
Payton - slow but mostly catches the ball, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Fulller- sloooooooowwwwwwww, okay hands, no wiggle, can't break a tackle
Massington - slowwwwww, bad route runner, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Walker - can't catch so who knows what else he can do
Duarte - slow, can catch, can't block, no wiggle, doesn't break tackles
Andrews - caught the ball when no one covered him.... that's a step up from the rest.
RUNNING BACKS if Perkins had any top end speed he would be elite, he doesn't. Starks looks worse each week. Jamambo, I just don't see it. not explosive, hesitant in the hole, easy to tackle. Olurunfrumi looks like a young Perkins, but with not as quick feet and also no upper end speed.
DEFENSIVE BACKS - Wow these guys are terrible. Wadood is just lost. I know why Adams holds, because if he doesn't, he has no clue where the WR is. Goforth is decent safety but a pretty bad corner. Rios looked better last year. Goodman knocked a ball down which makes the elite player in a pathetic group. Hogan under-threw a ton of balls, most teams would've picked them off.UCLA dbs are so lost they just run into the WR.
LINEBACKERS - alternated between not filling, missing tackles, or just getting freight trained. They're soft zone coverage was pretty terrible too. Young should not be playing. He's more likely to hurt himself than anybody on the other team.
DEFENSIVE LINE- Clark is great. Hollins is still a one trick pony who should be only playing when it's 3rd and 35. Hard to see who played well since they spent so much time getting flat-backed or run off screen by Stanford players.
COACHING- Wow. I want to apologize for ever comparing Bradley to Scrappy-doo. Scrappy has puppy power, is aggressive, and gives the impression he knows what he's doing, Bradley does not. In what is a continuing theme, UCLA's defense sucks. They haven't been worth anything since Spanos left and even then they were just okay. All night you saw defensive players waiting to absorb contact instead of making plays. You can tell me Mora is defensive minded since he spent so much time in the NFL, but guess what, Karl Dorell spent years on the offensive side of the ball in the NFL and he's terrible at offense. Mora needs to hire someone who thinks the opposite of whatever he does. This is a badly coached defense, they are fundamentally weak, and the scheme is nonexistent. Beyond that even the announcers noticed they just quit in the 3rd quarter "they've tapped out." Being bad is one thing -- being gutless is a far bigger problem that starts with head coach.
Mora remains a mid-tier coach who is closer to Sark (minus the pills and booze) than he is to Harbaugh. That said, he is the best UCLA can or likely will make an effort to do. His only hope is to hire assistants that are actually good at their jobs. Current guys that should be on the chopping block are Bradley, Martin, and Yarber. Bradley should never have been hired, but that's for another day.
Mazzone isn't the most creative guy or smartest but he currently sucks less than the other side of the ball. At least he showed the ability to change.
I would say do yourselves a favor and bet on Cal. A far worse Cal team almost (should of) beat a better UCLA team last year. At least make some money off the mediocrity. This team could lose to every team left on it's schedule except maybe OSU, which could be a barn burner.
