Washington State Football GoJoeBruin vs AllCougdUp Pt 3: UCLA Game Talk

Pt 3:

GoJoeBruin: Shots fired! UCLA actually got 81,000 fans to the stadium against Arizona which is likely double the size of the state of Washington and triple the size of the WSU alumni base Numbers, numbers!

UCLA fans are stoked about being better than USC but man, let me tell you, these SC fans are super hostile right now. Go up to one of them and even whisper “UCLA” and they’ll get on you like a pack of wolves. It feels good to be on top of these guys. I know the Pac-12 is rooting for us, as is the rest of the nation, so I’m down with it.

Mike Leach is a bad-ass. That said, the dude doesn’t work anywhere else except WSU or Arizona State, at least in the Pac-12. He’s too brash for UCLA, too crazy for Arizona and probably too honest for anywhere else. I like him, but good lord, has WSU sucked all season.

OK, OK, on to the game. UCLA doesn’t have to worry too much about WSU’s offense except for all the 35 quarterbacks Leach likes to throw in there. They do, though, earn the 7th most passing yards per game in the country. That a function of the Cougs getting blown out or are they legit through the air?

AllCoug’dUp: Hahaha. I like it. Washington’s not quite that small but I get your point. Too bad most of those tickets were from Arizona fans. They didn’t get to cheer during the game but they were there. 🙂

Most coaches don’t work everywhere. It’s why there is so much turnover in college football. Leach is the right guy here though.

Yes, let’s talk about the game. Here’s the thing about the 7th most passing yards. If the receivers could catch the ball (WSU probably leads the nation in drops) and the O-line could protect against a simple 3 and 4 man rush (we are way up there in sacks allowed), they would be even higher. It’s a combination of a legitimate passing game and using the pass game as a run game through a variation of screens. Think West Virginia and Baylor, but on a smaller level and not as much down the field. The pass game has the opportunity to explode any week now.

Where I’m worried is defensively against Franklin and Hundley on the run. If I were the Bruin OC, I would run a lot of option reads to the outside, since that’s where we’ve been having major issues. 3 running backs have taken an option read down the right sideline for at least 48 yards and a td. So major challenge there. How bout the TE’s though. It seems Hundley is using them quite a bit, just based off of what I’ve seen? It actually looks like UCLA is very similar to Stanford this year, but with more speed and explosiveness on the outside.

And how bout Mora? He has been a much better fit here at the college level than in the NFL.

PT 2:

GoJoeBruin: Good call, not “whipping anything out” to see if urine freezes mid-air. I have been up to the state of Washington once and it actually wasn’t bad. But this was in slightly less cold times: June.

UCLA hasn’t really played in cold weather yet (coldest, I think, was Colorado, and even then, it was not horrible). Does that matter? I don’t even know. Jim Mora played up at UW so maybe he knows how to get them to adjust. Knowing Mora, he probably sticks them in a freezer for about three hours and glares at them. *Shudder*

Hey about Utah, though. That was a nasty game; I mean, losing to Colorado was really low but this has to be one of the lowest points of the season, right? Also, Mike Leach has proven to be a huge jerk. Glad we didn’t end up landing him. You still diggin’ his work or are you ready for him to leave already?

AllCoug’dUp: I didn’t realize it’s supposed to snow over the next couple days and I sure do hope it carries into Saturday, we’ll see. June is a LOT less cold. Out of curiosity which part did you visit and why were ya here?

Saw some of that Buffs game. Of course that was the week after our infamous collapse that allowed CU to practically ruin our season. But yeah it didn’t look that cold. I’ll tell ya what was cold, when Utah came up last season it was SO cold. Stands about 2/3 full, if that, so not to much body heat from fellow fans to feed off of and of course it was windy and snowing. I don’t know about Mora’s methods, but I know ASU never was able to adjust last season and looked really, really cold while they were getting smacked around up here. Since Mora reminds me a bit of a younger Dennis Erickson, I can’t help but be excited about the possiblity of similarity.

Hey going back to the 2/3 full thing, has UCLA finally started filling up the stands this season? The Rose Bowl is notorious for not bringing enough home fans to pack the stadium, even when you guys are any good. It’s depressing to see, really. I mean when was the last time UCLA sold out a game there and how do you call yourselves better fans than USC? And now speaking of USC, what’s the buzz now that the Bruins are more highly ranked than the Trojans for the first time since the turn of the century?

But yeah back on track. Honestly Utah is not close to the CU game when it comes to low points. Being up 17 with 7 minutes to play and losing was just a sickening feeling. But I don’t have to tell you about how low Colorado can make you go ;). Keeping you out of the Pac-12 Championship last season was just funny. And on the Leach thing, I have no problem with what he’s said, none. Make no mistake, Mora’s done a terrific job down there in L.A., but he would be having the same issues as Leach is here in Pullman. The Cougs have more than a few babies, not the least of which is supposed to be their best player.

Leach is honest and like Mora he doesn’t accept less than 100% effort. The difference is Mora’s team actually gives it to him. But to your point, Leach has always been the way he is. His personality hasn’t changed one bit and that’s what we hired. He’s simply telling the truth and personally it’s a breath of fresh air to see that from a coach. For so long we’ve had a lot of apathy around here from our coaching staff and everybody saw the results, and it’s not acceptable any more. The team needs the slightly nasty medicine Leach is making them drink.

PT 1:

GoJoeBruin: UCLA has to play up in Pullman, WA, where I have heard some fans say their urine freezes before it hits the ground. 1) Is this true? 2) How do California boys do around these parts? UCLA struggled last year vs. Utah in the snow but that was last year when Utah actually mattered. Thoughts?

AllCoug’dUp: 1. Um, if it’s that cold out I’m not whippin’ anything out to find that answer… I will say that during my early morning paper route last season, getting out of the car was not exactly worth the price I was getting paid.

2. My dad is a Compton native before being recruited to Washington State in 1980. He loves the snow… as long as it’s outside the window. I think California boys develop poor circulation or something and he hates to be outside in it. Sometimes it takes him hours to warm up after being out in it for 20 minutes, lol. My brother decided to skip town and travel South, down to the San Fran area, so I guess true Cali-boys are partial to the warm sun and big city stuff. Who would have guessed!

WSU always has a lot of Cali-kids on their football team, so it’s probably not as much of an advantage as it seems when California teams come down here. I don’t know about Utah (and quite frankly after last week I don’t even want to talk about em), but Cal didn’t seem to have trouble when they came down and right now it’s not as cold as it could be, so I’m not holding onto too much hope that a huge advantage will be gained this week.

Don’t sleep on the Cougs though, UCLA dudes. Where it will be an advantage is in the stands. For everybody that is coming to the game from Pasadena to watch at new and improved Martin Stadium, don’t forget to bring your one and only UCLA coat, cause if not you’ll have to drop buy the Crimson & Gray and wear some Coug gear to the game. While that’s all fine and dandy, we don’t want you to misrepresent Coug Nation by crying in the wrong gear after you get upset!