UCLA-Oregon State postgame: what a mess . . .

A win is a win and a 40-14 victory makes UCLA 4-1 overall, 3-0 in the Pac-10 and even 2-1 on the road with a match-up with winless Notre Dame next week at the Rose Bowl. There were some highlights:

>> No. 1 on the hot list is the defense: In the last three quarters of the game, Oregon State had a total of 96 yards on offense and wasn’t really close to scoring in the last 45 minutes. The Beavers didn't get further than their own 46 in the second half.

>> In the fourth quarter, the Bruins out-gained the Beavers, 134-28, outscored them by a ridiculous 28-0 and were the beneficiary of two kickoff return fumbles by Gerard Lawson and a blocked punt for 21 of those points.

>> The Bruins ran 43 plays in the second half to 27 before the game degenerated into garbage time after the score was 40-14. Oregon State came into the game giving up 29.5 yards a contest, but UCLA managed 128, more than OSU had given up in total in its first four games. That’s what happens when a defense is on the field too long.

>> Oregon State collapsed when UCLA took the lead on the middle screen from Ben Olson to Brandon Breazell for a 69-yard touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. That single play was longer than any UCLA drive in the game.

>> Team statistics: UCLA had 349 total yards (128 rushing, 221 passing) to 243 for Oregon State (97 rushing, 146 passing). The Bruins had three turnovers that led to seven OSU points, but the Beavers suffered five that led to 20 Bruin points. A blocked Alexis Serna punt led to another touchdown.

>> Individual leaders: Rushing — UCLA: Khalil Bell, 24-77 and 2 TDs; Chris Markey, 16-58, 1 TD; Oregon State: Yvenson Bernard, 24-122, 1 TD. Passing — UCLA: Ben Olson, 16-28 for 221, 1 TD and 2 INTs; Oregon State: Sean Canfield, 23-35 for 146, 0 TD and 2 INTs. Receiving — UCLA: Joe Cowan, 4-46; Bell, 4-40 and Brandon Breazell, 2-99 for 2 TDs; Oregon State: Anthony Brown, 7-33; Brandon Powers, 5-24.

It was a win and that’s good. But Bruin Coach Karl Dorrell told Fox Sports Net’s Jim Watson that the Bruins will play better and will have to in the future. When?

Comments

[AZ BRUIN]

I’ll take the win. I think the defense finally showed up but, I’m still not convinced that Ben Olsen is our guy!!!

[MarcoTheBruin]

This game gave me deja vu from the 2005 season with the many miracle wins. The team looked terrible through 3.5 quarters of football, but I cannot say that I haven't seen it before, especially on the road. Give the defense and special teams credit for bailing us out, but do you really think we will have a chance to beat Cal, Oregon, or USC with a WCO offense that can't even get a first down for the first 20 minutes of the game? Oh yeah, I can guarantee that OSU will be the last team we play that averages less than 30 yards per punt.

Replace Karl Dorrell immediately with an interim coach and restore competitiveness to this program. The precedent for this action is Florida, a program we compete with in basketball, which replaced Ron Zook mid-season under similar circumstances to what we are facing at UCLA.

[Realist Bruins]

I rather be 4-1 Dorrell's Bruins than the $3 Millions/year coach 0-5 Irish. Talk is cheap wanting to get high price head coach.

The bottom line is that this team responding to Dorrell so unless he totally lost control of this team, he's NOT going any where.

[BringBackHomerSmith]

The question of replacing Dorrell, to me, is a tough one. According to Rivals.com, UCLA's recruiting class for next year is ranked second in the nation. That is hard to beat. Twenty-four solid signees. I'm still pulling for Dorrell and I hope he figures it out immediately but, based on the team's continued up and down performance, I'm not optimistic. I'm for waiting for the season to play out. Heck with all the losses to top teams one never knows how things might end up. Homer Smith is an offensive consultant maybe Dorrell should call him for advice or bring him in for two months (even though he played under Smith for four years so it shouldn't be necessary). Also, where is big home run threat Osaar Rasshan? Are they holding him out as some kind of secret weapon?

[BringBackHomerSmith]

The question of replacing Dorrell, to me, is a tough one. According to Rivals.com, UCLA's recruiting class for next year is ranked second in the nation. That is hard to beat. Twenty-four solid signees. I'm still pulling for Dorrell and I hope he figures it out immediately but, based on the team's continued up and down performance, I'm not optimistic. I'm for waiting for the season to play out. Heck with all the losses to top teams one never knows how things might end up. Homer Smith is an offensive consultant maybe Dorrell should call him for advice or bring him in for two months (even though he played under Smith for four years so it shouldn't be necessary). Also, where is big home run threat Osaar Rasshan? Are they holding him out as some kind of secret weapon?

[silverlake bruin]

prediciton: 7-5

Losses to Arizona State, Cal, USC, and Oregon seem inevitable since we can't actually score points unless the other team a) can't punt and b) can't field a kick without a turnover.

KD has destroyed the UCLA football program

[BruinBry]

I for one think this was a huge step for Olson. For the first time, I saw him sit in the pocket w/ poise and confidence, (knowing he's going to get leveled soon)...and throws a rocket to Breazell for a TD before getting hit by 3 Beavers. That ball didn't hang in the air, it wasn't too far ahead of the receiver, it wasn't behind the receiver (as too often the case). Lets not forget Olson has only played less than a season worth of games, with huge gaps in between. The Stanford game wasn't won on great passing, it was won on great receptions on subpar passing. I think this is just a glimpse of whats to come as Olson gets more comfortable.

Defensively, they'll continue to improve as the year progresses and if this game was any indication, I think we'll be more than okay in this department.

Of course, if they lose to Notre Dame this week, I'm nominating DumpDorrell for President.