(AP Photo/Francis Specker)
Well I’m satisfied. I was extremely nervous this morning; my dilemma was over the consistency of Kevin Prince and the Bruin offense. Today, Norm Chow and company really did a number on the UW Secondary today racking up a breakthrough 455 total yards, another benchmark performance for the rising Bruins. Box Score here. The theme today; Aggressiveness
More after the jump
Offense:
When Prince started moving the ball, I couldn’t help but feel at ease. The comfort and “effortless” dynamic behind the offense really made me believe that we were going to win this game... and this was WAY before KP got hurt.In the limited time that KP got, he was the commander of the team. He was comfortable, in control, and a true threat. His release and timing was all compacted in his Post-Wheel combo play to Austin in the far corner of the field. It is arguably the hardest throw to make in all of football, and when Chow was convinced he had a QB that could handle it, the play was put in, and it worked like a charm. I still have yet to get confirmed evidence that KP will be back next week, so I won’t jump to any conclusions here. That being said, his limit is literally the Heisman, which is bold I know, but his development, IMO, is even better than the likes of Matt Barkley. I might be carried away, but he has a lot of things left to do before he leaves UCLA.
Anyways, when KP did go down, I was concerned... if that is the word for it. I heard that Prince had a great practice, which means, in context at least, that his reps weren’t split up, making Brehaut even less prepared. So, when Brehaut proved... once again... that he isn’t ready to play QB yet, I expected Craft to play should Prince not return. I was right, for once.
Next, Craft stepped in, and Chow kept that Aggressive nature up. It has been mentioned before, but the fact that Chow “pretended” it wasn’t Craft back there, definitely won the game for the Bruins. The vertical passing game from the slot and inside-out passing game showed up; the first time for Craft since he played against Tennessee last year, if you can even argue that. Also, the Flood play came back, and the extended pocket created by the line basically managed Craft into the game. By the way, Craft finished 10/14, for 159 yds with 1 TD and 1 INT.
I saw a different team on offense today. One with will, determination, and certainty. Chane’s “willed” catch and carry was a microcosm of that sentence. I hope that UCLA can maintain this going to Futility U next week, pad their stats, and get 1 step closer to that bowl.
Defense
I’d like to focus on how UCLA’s DC Chuck Bullough decided to go aggressive this week. Towards the start of the second half, the blitzes and stunts came out in full force. First came the skulls (overload with LB and Corner), then came delayed blitzes (good for confusion for Locker), then came Engage Blitzes (Kamikaze). Basically, the entire season was one of uncertainty and hesitation, and the fact that Bullough pulled out the stops led me to believe that he is headed in the right direction, but I could be wrong.
Conclusion
I’m really excited for these final games... start the chants; “4 and 0!"
