Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Football: Losing Games They Should Win

By Mike Regalado

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Oct 11, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins coach Jim Mora (right) and referee Michael Batlan during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins coach Jim Mora (right) and referee Michael Batlan during the game against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Consistently Inconsistent

There is no denying that the Bruins have made tremendous improvements since Mora got to town, but that has made Bruin fans a little over anxious in their expectations.

In all honesty, they have a right to.

Mora has said over and over that there is one goal he wants to acheive (among several smaller goals) and that is winning a national title. While that is a goal every coach should strive for, there are other things he needs to work on before an NC comes to Westwood.

To start, winning games against lesser opponents would help (and beating Stanford).

The loss to the Cougars was the third of the 2015 season. Though the Bruins were still in the running for the South Division, this loss made the Bruin’s 2015 campaign so much harder then it had to be.

Brutal does not begin to describe it. These losses are momentum killers, plain and simple.

The Bruins had already lost to Stanford (which seems to be a given every season). The week before that abomination, UCLA lost a head scratcher to Arizona State at the Rose Bowl, 38-23. That was to a Sun Devils team the Bruins had demolished 62-27 in Tempe the year before.

And speaking of that previous year (2014), UCLA gave up 10 sacks in a 30-28 home loss to Utah where anything and everything went wrong. Brutal does not begin to describe it. These losses are momentum killers, plain and simple.

As an example, going back to that 2014 Utah game, the #8 Bruins could have been a Top 5 team with a win over the Utes after several Top 10 teams lost that day. Instead, UCLA dropped to #18 heading into a home game against Oregon the week after (which they lost, sending them further down the polls). Momentum killer, indeed.

The point being is that if UCLA wants to be elite, one of the things they need to stop doing is losing to teams they should beat. They need to exert their will. They need to stop playing conservative against teams that have lesser talent on the roster and the coaching staff.

Now about that…

Next: Changes With Leadership