UCLA Football Still Can’t Get Over the Hump

It was a rough day at the Rose Bowl. In a measuring stick game against a big time Pac-12 opponent on a national stage, the UCLA Bruins once again came up short in a big game.

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Even when Oregon is down(ish), they still seem to have the Bruins number. Karl Dorrell is the last UCLA coach to chalk up a win against the Ducks. That was 2007, and if you can name the starting quarterback for that game, you deserve a prize. . . it was Osaar Rasshan! (remember him? neither do I).  The fact of the matter is that UCLA has struggled with the top schools in the Pac-12 since the dawn of the Dorrelian Era. Oregon and Stanford have ruled the Pac-12 for the past half decade, and before that it was Oregon and Pete Carroll’s USC. During those teams dominant runs through the Pac-12, UCLA has been a combined 5-25 against those three schools and has lost 6 in a row to Stanford and Oregon (see charts). As much progress as UCLA has made under Jim Mora, the Bruins still can’t seem to win the big Pac-12 Conference Games.

Oct 11, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins receiver Jordan Payton (9) is tackled by Oregon Ducks players Christian French (96), Troy Hill (13) and Rodney Hardrick (48) at Rose Bowl. Oregon defeated UCLA 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Bruin fans are calling for the heads of Mazzone and Ulbrich this week, but UCLA’s most recent loss to the Ducks looked strikingly similar to the last few games against Oregon. The Bruins could not muster enough fire power or come up with enough stops to beat the Ducks yet again.

Oct 19, 2013; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal linebacker Shayne Skov (11) watches as safety Jordan Richards (8) intercepts a pass from UCLA Bruins quarterback Jerry Neuheisel (11), not in picture during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Stanford won 24-10. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The Bruins have played some extremely close and competitive games against the Cardinal the last few years, but they have failed to break through. Over the same time period, Stanford has been the only team to consistently be able to dominate the Oregon Ducks (winning 3 out of 5).

November 17, 2012; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Damien Thigpen (25) is stopped by USC Trojans linebacker Hayes Pullard (10) at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Save one magical 13-9 year, UCLA could not beat the Trojans under Pete Carroll. It started with a 27-0 drubbing in 2001 and ended with Matt Barkley rubbing it in with a play action TD bomb with under a minute to play that almost started a riot.

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As upset as Bruin fans are over the more recent struggles against Oregon and Stanford, keep in mind that this has been the status quo for many years now. UCLA Football had been mired in a decade and a half of severe mediocrity before Mora was hired. Since

Cade McNown

last led the Bruins to the Rose Bowl in 1998, UCLA has enjoyed just one season with more than 7 victories (that was the 10 win mirage 2004 year). Mora has already won 9 and 10 wins in his first two season, but he obviously still has some work to do.

The fact that the team had such high expectations has many fans deflated, and UCLA has no one to blame for those inflated expectations but themselves. As soon as Brett Hundley announced he was returning for another year, @UCLAFOOTBALL started the #Hundley4Heisman campaign. In the spring UCLA was labeled as a “darkhorse” candidate for the College Football Playoff, but as more and more pundits jumped on the bandwagon the Bruins were granted a top 10 preseason ranking and the honor (burden) of starring in the Pac-12 “The Drive” documentary. In hindsight, instead of trying to capitalize on all the attention, maybe the Bruins should have tried played it a little closer to the vest. They probably should have proved it on the field instead of grasping for the spotlight, but who can blame them for getting excited when the bright spots had been so few and far between?

The bottom line is that fans shouldn’t forget that the last few years under Mora have been the best UCLA teams we have seen in over a decade. Mora has installed a standard for his teams and has consistently put himself into postion to get to the top of the conference.

Now he just has to find a way to win those big ones.