Drawing hope from a loss to OPU

So UCLA lost to that OPU (other public university ““
abbreviation is pronounced as o-poop) up in the Bay Area, and by
looking at the final score, 45-28, it would seem that the Bruins
were outmatched in every way.

Never fear, Bruin fans “”mdash; your eternal pessimist actually
thinks there might be some cause for optimism for the rest of this
season.

I mean, granted, you have to dig through the 500-plus total
yards that the OPU Golden Bears ran up on UCLA, not to mention the
Bruins’ hideous two tries to get a yard in the red zone, but
it’s there.

You might have to squint a little, spray some Windex on those
glasses or steal a magnifying glass from the biology lab, but
it’s there.

The Bruins tallied more points against OPU than even USC did, an
amazing feat given that UCLA was without Craig Bragg.

With Bragg back, Bruin offensive coordinator Tom Cable must be
giddy thinking about the possibilities. He could run play-action,
throw some deep balls, or run some wide receiver screens, something
we haven’t seen a lot of in the last three games.

Or Cable could call the play where Drew Olson throws to Tab
Perry over the middle for about a 10-to-15-yard gain, the safety
jumps on his back, and Perry carries him 27 yards down the
sideline. That reminds me ““ I should start charging my
goddaughter, Lily, for piggyback rides.

The other thing that made the game seem like a blowout when it
wasn’t was the two fourth-down conversions by OPU that led to
touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Bruins missed two key fourth-down
conversions.

There’s even reason to be optimistic about the defense. I
know, OPU racked up huge rushing yards, but at least UCLA’s
defensive line fought and held its own, and most of the
Bears’ yards were the result of uncharacteristic missed
tackles, which is something the Bruins can hopefully be coached out
of. The key word being “hopefully.”

Either way, UCLA will have to outscore Arizona State this
Saturday because the defense will likely bend. Whether it breaks
remains to be seen.

Like UCLA, the Sun Devils are difficult to judge because they
haven’t really played any good teams, except USC, who blew
them out of the water. More than likely, they’re a pretty
good team that will finish somewhere between third and fifth in the
Pac-10, which will make them a stiff enough test for the
Bruins.

Hmm, sounds familiar. Rare wins against quality opponents,
cupcake-schedule to open the season, and a loss last week to a
Pac-10 power? Arizona State should remind you a lot of UCLA, which
is why this weekend will be a lot of fun. It took seven weeks, but
the Bruins will finally play a game in which both teams are pretty
evenly matched.

Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if the Bruins could knock
Andrew Walter out of the game like they did last year, but we would
never advocate hurting other players. Wink, wink. And even if
Walter stays healthy, the defense should still be able to leave the
offense in good position to win the game.

On offense, teams haven’t really been able to score at
will against the Sun Devils, but they’re not really a
shutdown defense either, so it’ll be interesting to see how
effectively UCLA can move the ball. Cable’s playcalling has
been questioned, so we’re probably going to see a more
aggressive style to start the game, especially if the Sun Devils
jump out to an early lead.

But no matter how good things might look now, there’s
always history. You’ve heard of the “Curse of the
Bambino.” Well, I have “The Curse of the
Great-Start-Bad-Finish-We-Blame-Toledo.” Basically,
it’s where UCLA has a great start, a poor finish, and blames
it all on former coach Bob Toledo.

Does history repeat itself?

Well, we could compare this season to last year’s.

Good start?

Check.

Naive optimism for the end of the season and UCLA’s
chances against USC?

Check.

Despite this, everyone still can’t wait for basketball
season so they don’t have to hear about how USC is the top
team in the nation?

Check.

First loss followed by string of match-ups against good
teams?

Check.

Oh, poop.

If you notice, Bruce never said Cal once, except just now.
Dang it! E-mail Tran at [email protected].