Crazy week in the world of college football.  Highly-regarded offensive lineman Erik Bunte decommits from UCLA.  Alex Redmond, a stud 4-star O-lineman decommits from the University of Oregon.  Friday night, UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora and his offensive line guru and and ace recruiter Adrian Klemm made an in home visit with the Redmond family.  BOOM!  Alex Redmond is now a Bruin commit!

UCLA is a great fit for this very large, very strong and very smart young man.  He wants to learn his craft and play in the league.  He wanted to attend a school with a program that would help get him there.  Those shiny Super Bowl rings on Adrian Klemm’s meat-hooks-for fingers hand, won playing the O line in the trenches, must have made for a compelling argument.  Redmond is an upgrade over Bunte and will surely make his presence felt in the coming years.

Here’s a video from The Opening.  Four of UCLA’s O linemen are shown working drills against some of the best DL talent in the country.  Redmond, Morris, Quessenberry and Lopez all show off their skills and strength.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

It’s still sinking in; today’s heartbreaking loss.  Football is said to be a game of inches and for the most part it’s true.  Sheldon Price came up inches short of defending a TD pass that ultimately won the game for Stanford.  Big Joe Fauria came up inches short of making a critical sideline catch on a late drive.   Fuller came up inches sort of getting out of bounds to stop the clock when we had no TO’s left.  The Mayor had a spectacular game, but took his eyes off the ball on a critical 3rd down play on the final that lead to a 4th and 5 and a failed 52 yard field goal try.  A bad snap that was inches too low.  Those inches magnified enough to cause a long enough and high enough kick to go just wide left.  In the rain.

Stanford earned their No. 8 ranking.  Nobody ran on Stanford.  Not Tailback U.  Not the Mighty Ducks.  Nobody, except for #23 Johnathan Franklin.  The Mayor of LA running behind his 3 freshman, 1 sophomore and one senior O-linemen tore up the Cardinal for 201 yards rushing and 2 TDs.

Stanford, however, won the game of turnovers.  In the pouring rain or in between, with treacherous footing, there was all of one pick and no fumbles.  The pick was turned to 7 points on a drive that should have led to a Bruin 10 pt lead at least.

That was the game, in a nutshell.  Both teams played every second of every play of every quarter from kickoff to final whistle.  I have to think back a long ways to recall a Bruin team that I could say that about.

This loss hurts.  Badly.  24 hours to mourn.  We’ll know where and who we play on Monday or Tuesday.  I expect Mora and Company to send the seniors out with a significant bowl victory, setting the tone for next season.

I just can’t wait for Signing Day and Spring ball!

HC Jim Mora would love to watch Thomas Tyner tearing up the field.  Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Thomas Tyner is one of the most coveted running backs in the nation for 2013.  Tyner is rated a 5* by Scouts and their #4 RB in the nation.  He is rated 4* by Rivals and their #6 RB in the country.  The Beaverton, OR Aloha HS running back is having an outstanding senior season.

Tyner is a solid 6′ 210lb of blazing speed.  As in LaMichael James kind of speed, only bigger and stronger.  Tyner and Craig Lee would make for a UCLA devastating backfield.  Tyner has listed UCLA as one of the schools he is most interested in.   Rivals also compares him to LeSean McCoy of the Eagles.  Pretty impressive company to keep!

Stay tuned for more news as it develops! (Ed. Note: We’ll also have a detailed scouting report of Tyner as his recruitment begins to heat up, with multiple Pac-12 school vying for his services.)

Here are his stats so far this season, courtesy of OregonLive.com:

For an idea of how fast Tyner is, watch this 100M sprint.  He ran a 10.38 as a SOPHOMORE.

Be sure to follow 4EverBruin on Twitter: @USMale7

Sept. 22, 2012; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins cornerback Aaron Hester (21) defends as Oregon State Beavers wide receiver Markus Wheaton (2) grabs a pass in the second quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

What a difference a day makes.  24 little hours.  That’s what the UCLA coaching staff allows the Bruin football squad to savor the sweet taste of victory.  Today however, it’s 24 hours to suffer the agony of defeat; a bad, bad hangover.  Only it’s going to last more than 24 hours.  It’s going to sting until they beat up on somebody.  Colorado is up next.

The #19 ranked Bruin Express was well on it’s way to an unexpected Cinderella season, after years of football mediocrity and irrelevance.  Coming into the Oregon State game, UCLA was 3-0, beating top 25 Nebraska.  The Bruins boasted the nation’s #2 offense and showcased a fast and furious 3-4 defense.  Long suffering and frustrated UCLA fans were starting to believe that a return to Bruin football glory past was indeed happening.  The Express ground to a screeching, grinding halt in front of some 55,000 fans on a very hot Pasadena afternoon, coming up short 20-27 against the Beavers.  No, that’s not a senior moment comment.   The 1-0 Beavers came into the Bruin’s lair and beat them in front of their families and friends.  To make matters worse, the wheels fell off the mighty Bruins offense on National TV.

What went wrong?  How did this happen?  Shades of the broken promises of coaches past!  Questions and concerns are no doubt floating through the minds of Bruin fans everywhere.  Rightfully so.  The railing, wailing and gnashing of teeth is evident in certain, well trafficked Bruin fan sites.  I half expected to see calls for the virtual lynching of Jim L Mora and his staff.  Charges of incompetence came fast of furious.  The Bruins were out coached; the team was unprepared; the play calling on offense was bad; the defensive play calling was bad; our FG kicker sucks, etc.  There’s no joy in Bruinville.

No doubt in my mind that somewhere in the bowels of the city, a certain M. Barkley is smiling to himself thinking, “Welcome to my world.  Sucks, doesn’t it?”

So, what really happened?  To begin with, the Oregon State Beavers are for real.  Head Coach Mike Riley and staff have built the Beavers one helluva defense, shutting down a solid, Top 25 Wisconsin squad and Montee Ball, 10-7 in the Beavers’ 1st game of the season.  Now, they’ve defeated another (formerly) Top 25  team to go 2-0 this season.  Not bad at all.  Mike Riley has made a nasty habit of ambushing ranked teams.  He’s a very good coach with a solid staff and they’ve recruited some excellent athletes.  One of those athletes is Sean Mannion, their tall, strong and tough QB.  The son of a football coach, Mannion is a sophomore with a cannon for an arm, but with a 4 year starter’s knowledge of defensive schemes.  Behind a stout, experienced OL, Mannion threw for 379 yards and 2 TDs, against 1 INT.  Unfortunately, two of the scores were passes completed against last week’s secondary hero, Sheldon Price.  After recording 3 INTs against Houston, Price was repeatedly burned by OSU’s excellent WRs.  On one long, scoring pass play, Price had no deep help as Safety Tevin McDonald bit hard on another excellent Mannion fake, moving him away from the play.  The young Bruin defense faced an excellent game plan, and play calling by an outstanding offensive minded coach in Mike Riley.

Give credit where it is due.  The OSU staff had three games worth of film to spot UCLA’s defensive and offensive tendencies and 2 weeks to work on counters.  Their game plan on D was simple enough.  Take away the #UCLA run game and let the freshman beat them through the air.  Hundley almost did.  He threw for 372 yards and a score, plus a QB keeper for another TD.  Hundley also had some misses on receivers that were open.  One time he hit empty grass with nary a Bruin around.  On a crucial throw late in the 4th quarter, Brett Jr. missed a wide open Kenny Walker for the tying TD, tossing the ball just out of reach for the fast freshman WR.  Throughout the game, Hundley’s receivers seemed to have the dropsies at the worst possible time, missing at least 6 very catchable balls.  Two of the passes dropped were sure TDs.  Other drops were drive killers.   Manfro was inconsistent in this game, dropping a sure TD and killing a drive with another drop.  Big Joe Fauria wasn’t much of a factor.  Joe has been off his game and missed an opportunity for a score.  Watching his motion and movement, it is clear Joe has a back problem that is affecting his play.  What is also clear is that Hundley’s speed is way off.  Although not hobbling visibly, it is obvious he is not nearly as mobile or as quick as he was in the first 2 games.

The very stout and experienced OSU defensive front 7 were winning the battle in the trenches, getting penetration time and again, schooling the very young Bruin OL in the process.  Unlike some others of strong opinion, I believe that all the coaching and practice in the world cannot impart real game experience.  Only playing can do that.  You use the coaching, techniques and knowledge learned in practice, then apply them in game.  You learn off the film what worked for you and what didn’t, and why.  You learn your strengths and your weaknesses.  Then you go back to practice with the coaches to work on those things to improve for the next game.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  For the great players, this process won’t end until retirement.

Monday morning, this hangover had better be gone.  Classes begin on Thursday for the fall quarter at UCLA.  Coaches Mora, Mazzone and Spanos and the rest will be there at 7am sharp to begin preparation for next week’s game against a suddenly confident Colorado.  The much ballyhooed soft and favorable schedule of the Pac12 is history.  The #19 ranking is history.  The unbeaten streak is history.  The Bruins got into a tough fight and came up short.  There was no giving up.  No surrender.  They played hard to the last down; a quantum shift from before.  The Bruins are better than what they showed and they know it.  That should mean wounded pride and embarrassment for not playing to their full potential.   Time to shake it off.  The only easy game was yesterday.  Time to start a new streak and put all the doubts to rest.  The only ranking that matters is the one at the end of the season.

Bruins, you’ve got work to do.

Sep 15, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins players run onto the field before the game against the Houston Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kriby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

When the UCLA Bruins came out of the tunnel to take the field against Nebraska, the team was loudly repeating a powerful new chant that could make a USMC Drill Instructor crack a smile.

Okay, a small one anyway.

I owe a big shout out to the BruinZone’s UCLA Football Forum and Forum contributor BruinPatti for getting the PC rated version from the author, UCLA Defensive Backs Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, Demetrice ‘Meat” Martin.

This chant, now referred to as the UCLA BOOM! chant goes like this: It sounds like BOOM!

When the Bruins in the place, it sounds like, BOOM!

When we hit you in the face, it sounds like, BOOM!

When we drop that bass, it sounds like, BOOM!

It sounds like, BOOM!

It sounds like, BOOM!

It sounds like, BOOM!

It sounds like, BOOM!

(repeat) 

Let’s hope a new UCLA tradition and chant has begun.  It’s a team chant now, but how cool and how powerful would it be to have the UCLA fans shout BOOM! in cadence with the team?!

Sept. 8, 2012; Corvallis, OR, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back James White (20) heads upfield between Oregon State Beavers defenders D.J. Welch (4) and Jordan Poyer during the second half at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-US PRESSWIRE

Oregon State beat up a pretty solid Wisconsin squad in the Beavers’ first and only game of this season.  A low scoring affair, OSU out muscled, out quicked and out hit the Badgers in an old school, smashmouth football game.  Now, the well rested and very well prepared Beavers have had two weeks to sharpen their incisors, looking to upset yet another highly ranked team; the #19 ranked UCLA Bruins.

Like the Bruins, The Beavers have a solid coaching staff with significant NFL experience.  This team will be very well prepared to play against the spread offense of UCLA.  OSU’s stout defense has had success against other spread offenses as well, so there won’t be too many surprises for them.  The Beavers have good speed and power on both sides of the ball.  Their D line stuffed Wisconsin’s excellent power football run game.  This OSU team is more like the pro style systems of USC, Stanford as well as the Wisconsin team they defeated.  Make no mistake; this OSU team has some stud playmakers on defense.  LB D.J. Welch was named Pac12 Defensive Player of the Week after his performance against the Badgers.  The OSU corners are highly regarded and Jordan Poyer has NFL written all over him.  On the D line, the Beavers are anchored by last season’s two freshman All Americans, Scott Crichton and and Dylan Wynn.  They are going to bring the heat to our two freshman tackles.

Offensively, the Beavers will try to establish a power running game to open up their passing attack.  They use multiple sets featuring at times multiple wideouts or 3 TE formations and are not afraid to pass the football.  QB Sean Mannion has an arm that I suspect may be bionic; it’s that strong.  However, like other uber strong armed young QBs, Mannion tries to force the ball in with brute strength where he should throw the ball away.  Last year he threw for 16 TDs against 18 INTs.  He will have to place much smarter against the ball hawking Bruin secondary.  Mannion is not very mobile, so he’ll need to read and throw quickly or spend most of the day on his back.  The Beavers’ running game wasn’t spectacular against a powerful Wisconsin front 7, but it did manage to grind out the tough yards and keep the Badger D honest.

UCLA has to bring their A game Saturday.  Hundley cannot afford to stare down receivers like he did against Houston.  The OSU defense will make him pay dearly if he does.  UCLA needs to get the run game going early on.  UCLA needs to keep those two excellent OSU pass rushers at bay and give Hundley time to make a good read and throw.  On defense, if the Bruins play with the same intensity and discipline against the Beavers as they did against the Cougars, they should be able to shut the OSU attack down.

Because the Beavers offense plays to the strength of the UCLA 3-4 defense, I see the Bruins winning going away, 34-10

 Kriby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Brett A. Hundley Jr ‏@Brettjr_17

Bruins are 3-0!!! We will enjoy this for 24 hours. Mistakes were made and will be fixed. We can’t and won’t settle… UCLA FOOTBALL 2012

Jordon James ‏@Jordon_James6

We got the dub, but we gotta get better #uclafootball

Jordan Payton ‏@JordanPayton

W for Westwood. #BruinUp

Sheldon Price ‏@PRICEBOY22

ALL THe GLORY TO GOD !

SIMON GOINES ‏@goines_simon

We couldve played alot better tonight but good win #3-0

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

One of our favorite UCLA Bruins beat reporters, Miguel Melendez of Inside UCLA has transcribed an excellent KLAC radio interview with former UCLA Bruins football head coach Rick Neuheisel.   In keeping with Neuheisel’s role as Pac12 football analyst, the discussion touched on topics relevant to Pac12 football, especially the resurgent UCLA football program under Head Coach Jim L Mora.  One Neuheisel sentence in particular stood out to me:

One of the things I’m trying to do for Jim is make sure people understand that UCLA is leaving a lot on the table with respect to what can be done to build a great football program, especially when you’re playing your home games 30 miles away from your campus. - Rick Neuheisel

Rick’s head coaching stint failed to return the storied university to football prominence, costing him his job.  His replacement was Jim L Mora.  A lesser man might have walked away, disillusioned at the real lack of support from AD Dan Guerrero and the Chancellor, Gene Block.  That’s not Rick Neuheisel.  Rick has never stopped bleeding UCLA Blue and Gold; he is a Bruin through and through.  His Bruin career is vintage Hollywood, complete with a feel good, story book ending.  He was Rocky before Stallone.  Yes, the story is that good.

It is clear to me that Rick has taken the bully pulpit approach to help his beloved UCLA get to where he knows it needs to be, despite the lackluster effort of the AD and Chancellor.  Rick is helping his replacement, Jim L Mora, get the support and facilities Mora needs to return UCLA to it’s rightful place among the elite programs.  Rick Neuheisel has placed his love of his alma mater before his own pride and ego.   Although he couldn’t coach UCLA back to prominence, he may well succeed by bringing intense public pressure on the Chancellor and the AD to do what’s right for the program.

I’m betting on Rick Neuheisel, the former UCLA walk on and Rose Bowl MVP, to succeed.

Cal AD Sandy Barbour took her turn at the mic and began by sharing some additional information about Tosh and the process.

Barbour and Tedford first gave Tosh a raise when his former teammate and Oregon alum Justin Wilcox was made defensive coordinator at the University of Washington (refuting the common sentiment that Cal was back on their heels while Sark the puppet-master directed the strings). This was a proactive attempt to retain Tosh, knowing that Wilcox and UW would be likely to try and recruit (pun intended) Tosh to join them.

In total, Barbour and Tedford would make three different offers to Tosh, with each attempt requiring them to go to a booster group to solicit additional funding to make up the gap. The last time an offer was accepted by Tosh, there was an implicit agreement not to entertain additional offers from UW.

But UW kept calling, and we all know the rest.

http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2012/2/13/2794738/tosh-lupoi-washington-huskies-cal-golden-bears