Offseason edition looking back on the 2006 season

The 2006 Bruins won seven games. After going 10-2 and surprising many around the nation. They took a step back, winning seven games which was a common theme in the Karl Dorrell era. He won 6 or 7 games in four of his five seasons. With the one 10-2 season mixed in there. The defense, which was a problem in 2005 really helped them in 2006. As they had a lot of change at quarterback and struggled on offense. Patrick Cowan completed only 52.5% of his passes for 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on the season.

The highlight of the season was one of the best memories in UCLA history. With UCLA just playing for pride they ended USC’s National Championship hopes with a 13-9 win. Which put them into a bowl game where they went to San Francisco and played in the Emerald Bowl. Ultimately losing 44-27 against Florida State in a game where UCLA controlled until the 4th quarter and then fell apart.

UCLA had the 7th toughest strength of schedule playing three top 10 opponents. They were up 17-13 late on the road against Notre Dame before losing on a long touchdown by Jeff Samardzija. Yes, the one that went on to play baseball, foregoing the NFL Draft. The defense held opponents to only 19.9 points per game. Which was good for 39th in the nation. Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis each had 12.5 sacks on the season as UCLA was very good at rushing the quarterback.

Eric McNeal’s USC game was one of the most athletic we have ever seen. It was truly fun to watch and we hope the UCLA defense today can start to get back to that. Although the offense struggled, Chris Markey had his best college season running for the 1,107 yards. There wasn’t much production out of the receivers as UCLA was not able to throw the ball well. Dorrell was a coach that flip flopped seasons. He either had a great offense and bad defense or great defense and bad offense. Which led to 6 wins almost every season.