Congrats, UCLA Fan!
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:22 am
Had to work today so I taped the game so that I could watch it when I got home tonight. I just watched the tape and once it was over I watched the end of the triple O.T. Rutgers-WVU game while switching back and forth with the Big XII CCG.
Now, here I am...
Gah.
First off, let me add my congratulations to OU and to Louisville, especially to OU. Very cool to see, after they persevered through so much bad luck and bullshit these past couple of seasons. They seemed so snake bitten and it was almost painful watching B-t-H going through so much agony as OU would suffer one horror after another these past two seasons. Now they're Big XII champs again and they'll probably roll right through Boise St so OU is coming back to being OU again.
Congrats, B-t-H, RF and ou_skull. Gutty season, gutty effort. Good shit.
Anyway, we'll doubtless be all over OU this coming month and this one's about UCLA-USC...
SoCal, good deal, dude. We've been going at each other for so freaking long now and finally you got one. A sincere congrats to you. I hated to see us lose by having it once again come down to a final drive, only to come up barely short. (Different scenarios but still it felt like the Oregon St and Texas losses....so close, but no cigar.) Still, as I was watching this game there were a few things that were very apparent to me that made me feel, hey, win or lose UCLA was the more deserving team today...
-UCLA played with so much more fire than USC did today. I'd predicted that coming off this three game stretch and then having to follow ND with UCLA on the road USC would come out and play a flat, uninspired game today. I was right on that one. I didn't think it would be bad enough though to lead to a loss; I thought they'd again slog through an ugly win. Watching UCLA's defense though, as well as their RBs and especially Cowan, yeah, they wanted it more. They fought to take it. USC just kept waiting for the inevitable comfortable lead to open up and they never went out and made the plays to get there.
That was huge of UCLA to play so big in a game that meant nothing to them but pride. USC had everything to lose here and everything to gain here. UCLA had nothing to lose and really not much to gain either and still they somehow came out with more passion than USC.
GREAT effort, UCLA. (Hope you enjoyed it, Seer, since it undoubtedly saved Duhrell's job for the immediate future.)
-UCLA's defensive line was fantastic. They dominated USC in the trenches. They held USC to fuckall in the rushing game and they never let Booty get comfortable. They disrupted USC's timing so badly that even USC's receivers looked out of synch. Too many times Booty's passes were arriving seemingly too soon for the USC receivers and they were dropping balls and catching balls in spots where they didn't want the ball just yet. That was entirely down to UCLA's defensive pressure. (How in the fuck did you guys blow that ND game again??)
Watching UCLA completely stuff C.J. Gable time and time again, and then watching your defense come pouring through to hurry Booty, it looked like a mirror image of most recent USC-UCLA games. Physically, your defense dominated. That's fuggen had to accept for us but hey, that's what happened.
-Cowan played great, all things considering. Sure, UCLA only managed 235 total yards and 13 points but for the most part they played smart and they made the few big plays necessary to stay in the game. Cowan avoided the big mistakes that could've given USC the spark they needed. Cowan's runs were a total pain in the ass. Man, I wish USC would figure out a way to contain scrambling QBs, even relatively slow ones like Cowan.
-Seeing Ken Norton Jr wearing cardinal and gold and coaching our defense....FUCK....THAT!! What kinda crap is that?? A Lifer Bruin, coaching OUR guys? We got Trojan Horsed with that one, I'm tellin' ya'!
:-)
-USC once again made way too many unforced errors. UCLA didn't. USC faced so many second and long and third and long situations that were completely their own doing because of the incessant penalties.
-Meanwhile, UCLA played with great poise and a steady focus. Even when Rey Maualuga nearly killed Cowan with that one incredible blast UCLA just picked themselves up off the mat and went back and hunkered down on defense. When it looked like USC was going to rip UCLA's hearts out again on that final drive UCLA didn't cave into the pressure. One of their guys kept playing and made the tip and another of their guys made a great diving catch for the pick. Had UCLA quit on themselves they don't make either of those plays and yeah, USC probably does go on in and win the game.
-Kept shaking my head the whole game over USC's decision not to go for two after scoring that TD, while down 7-2. What good is a 9-7 lead? How is it significantly different than an 8-7 lead? Go for two. Make it a three point lead or, no big deal, take the one point lead if you fail. Instead, UCLA ended up getting that go ahead FG and then when they tacked on their last FG to make it a four point spread USC was forced to score a TD on their final drive rather than having the FG option as a fall back. They certainly would've gone for the TD anyway and that pick might've happened anyway but it sure felt tenuous sitting there with a four point deficit when it should've been at best 3 and at worst 5. 5 is no different than 4 so wtf?
SoCal (Seer too, as a matter of fact), you've been pure class during this whole ugly stretch of years for UCLA and you've taken everything USC Fan's thrown at you. You've offered sig bets every year, even as a near three TD dog, and you've never complained about any of it. Today, your guys paid you back at least a little of what they owe you. Today, UCLA took on what was supposed to be the far more talented, motivated and downright better team. Today, UCLA finally stood their ground and played a tough, gritty game. They made the big plays and they were the better team.
UCLA got it done, and they fully earned it. They deserved to win and there's no excuses. All USC Fan can do is shake your hand and say good game. Again, congrats.
SoCal, it's now 50 posts carrying a new sig, I believe that's our deal, right? Now that the shoe is finally on the other foot I look forward to seeing you do your worst. Do NOT let the ghost of R.C. Collins down!
Now, here I am...
Gah.
First off, let me add my congratulations to OU and to Louisville, especially to OU. Very cool to see, after they persevered through so much bad luck and bullshit these past couple of seasons. They seemed so snake bitten and it was almost painful watching B-t-H going through so much agony as OU would suffer one horror after another these past two seasons. Now they're Big XII champs again and they'll probably roll right through Boise St so OU is coming back to being OU again.
Congrats, B-t-H, RF and ou_skull. Gutty season, gutty effort. Good shit.
Anyway, we'll doubtless be all over OU this coming month and this one's about UCLA-USC...
SoCal, good deal, dude. We've been going at each other for so freaking long now and finally you got one. A sincere congrats to you. I hated to see us lose by having it once again come down to a final drive, only to come up barely short. (Different scenarios but still it felt like the Oregon St and Texas losses....so close, but no cigar.) Still, as I was watching this game there were a few things that were very apparent to me that made me feel, hey, win or lose UCLA was the more deserving team today...
-UCLA played with so much more fire than USC did today. I'd predicted that coming off this three game stretch and then having to follow ND with UCLA on the road USC would come out and play a flat, uninspired game today. I was right on that one. I didn't think it would be bad enough though to lead to a loss; I thought they'd again slog through an ugly win. Watching UCLA's defense though, as well as their RBs and especially Cowan, yeah, they wanted it more. They fought to take it. USC just kept waiting for the inevitable comfortable lead to open up and they never went out and made the plays to get there.
That was huge of UCLA to play so big in a game that meant nothing to them but pride. USC had everything to lose here and everything to gain here. UCLA had nothing to lose and really not much to gain either and still they somehow came out with more passion than USC.
GREAT effort, UCLA. (Hope you enjoyed it, Seer, since it undoubtedly saved Duhrell's job for the immediate future.)
-UCLA's defensive line was fantastic. They dominated USC in the trenches. They held USC to fuckall in the rushing game and they never let Booty get comfortable. They disrupted USC's timing so badly that even USC's receivers looked out of synch. Too many times Booty's passes were arriving seemingly too soon for the USC receivers and they were dropping balls and catching balls in spots where they didn't want the ball just yet. That was entirely down to UCLA's defensive pressure. (How in the fuck did you guys blow that ND game again??)
Watching UCLA completely stuff C.J. Gable time and time again, and then watching your defense come pouring through to hurry Booty, it looked like a mirror image of most recent USC-UCLA games. Physically, your defense dominated. That's fuggen had to accept for us but hey, that's what happened.
-Cowan played great, all things considering. Sure, UCLA only managed 235 total yards and 13 points but for the most part they played smart and they made the few big plays necessary to stay in the game. Cowan avoided the big mistakes that could've given USC the spark they needed. Cowan's runs were a total pain in the ass. Man, I wish USC would figure out a way to contain scrambling QBs, even relatively slow ones like Cowan.
-Seeing Ken Norton Jr wearing cardinal and gold and coaching our defense....FUCK....THAT!! What kinda crap is that?? A Lifer Bruin, coaching OUR guys? We got Trojan Horsed with that one, I'm tellin' ya'!
:-)
-USC once again made way too many unforced errors. UCLA didn't. USC faced so many second and long and third and long situations that were completely their own doing because of the incessant penalties.
-Meanwhile, UCLA played with great poise and a steady focus. Even when Rey Maualuga nearly killed Cowan with that one incredible blast UCLA just picked themselves up off the mat and went back and hunkered down on defense. When it looked like USC was going to rip UCLA's hearts out again on that final drive UCLA didn't cave into the pressure. One of their guys kept playing and made the tip and another of their guys made a great diving catch for the pick. Had UCLA quit on themselves they don't make either of those plays and yeah, USC probably does go on in and win the game.
-Kept shaking my head the whole game over USC's decision not to go for two after scoring that TD, while down 7-2. What good is a 9-7 lead? How is it significantly different than an 8-7 lead? Go for two. Make it a three point lead or, no big deal, take the one point lead if you fail. Instead, UCLA ended up getting that go ahead FG and then when they tacked on their last FG to make it a four point spread USC was forced to score a TD on their final drive rather than having the FG option as a fall back. They certainly would've gone for the TD anyway and that pick might've happened anyway but it sure felt tenuous sitting there with a four point deficit when it should've been at best 3 and at worst 5. 5 is no different than 4 so wtf?
SoCal (Seer too, as a matter of fact), you've been pure class during this whole ugly stretch of years for UCLA and you've taken everything USC Fan's thrown at you. You've offered sig bets every year, even as a near three TD dog, and you've never complained about any of it. Today, your guys paid you back at least a little of what they owe you. Today, UCLA took on what was supposed to be the far more talented, motivated and downright better team. Today, UCLA finally stood their ground and played a tough, gritty game. They made the big plays and they were the better team.
UCLA got it done, and they fully earned it. They deserved to win and there's no excuses. All USC Fan can do is shake your hand and say good game. Again, congrats.
SoCal, it's now 50 posts carrying a new sig, I believe that's our deal, right? Now that the shoe is finally on the other foot I look forward to seeing you do your worst. Do NOT let the ghost of R.C. Collins down!
