Is the Grass Greener?

Good summary ripped from a UCLA forum:

To build a successful college football team a lot of things need to go right. But, if only a few things go wrong, then the whole team suffers from it. I believe that a lot of things have gone right with this Bruin team: QB play and recruiting (freshmen), RB recruiting, defensive coaching, and general team physicality and preparedness.

However, with hindsight, the team’s year was doomed to be a major disappointment due to several problems:

1. A chain of events that reduced the offensive line to below the level required to win:
– Redmond and Benenoch file for the NFL draft foresaking their 4th year of eligibility
– Ulu-Perry leaves the team because he is homesick for Hawaii
– Halillo re-injures his ankle in spring practices
– Raulerson is denied admission to the Anderson school
– Miller is rolled up on by Soso and gets a high ankle sprain

Any one of these events puts a dent in the offensive line, but combined it has had a devastating effect. If none of these things had happened, we are likely looking an an OL of McDermott, Redmond, Ulu-Perry, Benenoch, and Miller. That is an OL that could get gthe job done. Remember, four of these players started last year for at least some of the games and Ulu-Perry played well in his limited action. This would have left Halillo, Raulerson, Quessenberry, James, and Lacy as backups competing for a start and making all of OL more competitive in practices. Last year, the OL protected Rosen.

2. Mora and Polamalu over-reacted to the shortcomings of the offense last year, and anxious to take advantage of Rosen’s NFL talents, moved aggressively to the new offense and emphasized power running without the power to run it. Rosen also has had problems adjusting to seeing the field, especially under center. The new offense looks like a good approach going forward, but the team apparently was not ready to execute if well this year. Keep in mind the limited number of hours that college teams have for coaching players. Players used to the spread had to adjust to different blocking, running, and receiving techniques. A team without tight ends needed players to learn the position fast, especially the blocking. Virtually none of the players who see playing time were recruited for this new offense. It appears that the transition was pushed too hard too fast.

3. The place kicker and the punter are freshmen unproven at the collegiate level. The placekicker has only made 9 of 14 attempts, and most misses would have been made by last year’s kicker. The punter averaged only 40 yards per kick prior to last night where he had 5 punts for only 27 yards average. UCLA has been giving opponents short fields as a result, which improves opponents’ probability of scoring. It really hurt the team last night.

4. Wide Receiver recruiting in 2015 consists of Stephen Johnson. Period. So when the experienced receivers drop passes there are no underclassmen to turn to other than pure freshmen from the 2016 class. It also would have made a huge difference have Duarte return for his 4th year of eligibility. his decision to file for the NFL draft was a real head scratcher for me – he’s a smart kid but made a bonehead decision.

5. Bad upperclassmen leadership. Teams need a strong locker room led by respected players who have been in the system for several years. Something was brewing for the worse which led to bringing in the psychologist. But still a large number of players apparently failed the mandatory drug test which has led to rolling suspensions and missing key players for whole games. It appears that Mora felt he had to make a very strong statement through the suspensions in order to regain team discipline. But it’s troubling that it could happen at all. Most (all?) of the suspensions were offensive players, which contributed to problems there. If these sorts of problems linger, it will hurt future years and recruiting as well. It may requiring taking away a few scholarships. Time will tell.

The offensive line problems by themselves could cause major issues for the team this year. Combined with the other problems, the team has found several ways to lose winnable games. The rest of the season will be an important window into the effectiveness of coaching and player commitment.