Iggy reports from the Stanford flop at the Rose Bowl with a Bruin perspective.
I just got back to my Westwood apartment from the Rose Bowl, where I got to sit in the press box like a big boy and watch my UCLA Bruins come from behind and beat a better Stanford Cardinal team 23-20. From that vantage point, a number things stood out to me, mostly on the prospects of sports journalism as a profession, but I’ll start with my thoughts on the game.
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh blew it with that ridiculous defense he put up in the last 2 1/2 minutes. No question about it.
The Cardinal are clearly more talented. I’d heard good things about running back Toby Gerhart, but getting to watch him play in person was impressive. He was the best player on the field today, and he was consistently effective despite the fact that Stanford can’t throw. He looked like an NFL back to me, but that could be a huge overstatement. I’ve been watching Kahlil Bell run the ball for the last three years, and it’s refreshing to watch someone capable rush the football in the Rose Bowl for a change.
I thought Rick Neuheisel made a mistake when he chose not to go for two after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 14-12 Stanford. At the time, I remarked to Adam Rose, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, that that decision would cost UCLA the game. I asked Neuheisel about it at his post game press conference, and this is what he said:
“Still too early, still too many possessions in the game. If you don’t get it, it’s 14-12, and a touchdown right now and an extra point, and now it’s a two possession game. You’re down one, even if they score a touchdown its a one possession game, you want to keep that thing in the balance-I thought it was the right call. It turned out okay.”
Hard to quibble with that. But it only turned out okay because Kevin Craft, a highly limited quarterback, decided to play like Joe Montana for the second time this season when he led the offense down the field for a game-winning touchdown. If he hadn’t been able to rise to the Montana level (which he should consider doing more often), UCLA would have lost because the Bruins were down four. Then the decision to go for one instead of two wouldn’t have worked out.
One more observation. Kevin Craft seems to slip into Joe Montana mode when he runs the no-huddle offense. So why doesn’t UCLA just run the no huddle all the time time? Here’s what Neuheisel said:
“Your left hand has to know what your right hand’s doing. Defensively, we can’t keep putting our guys out there-you have to give those guys a chance to catch their breath on the side lines. You’ve gotta really avoid three-and-outs, and when you’re going high-tempo, it even compounds the problem, so, you just have to be careful.”
Fair enough, but that conservative mentality won’t lead to many wins, and it shouldn’t have produced one today – Stanford handed them the game. And despite that response, I’d expect Norm Chow to use the no-huddle more in the coming weeks. Why not? They can’t run the ball. Craft seems to work well when he’s in a rhythm. He gets the ball out quickly and is accurate over the middle. It seems he could dink and dunk his way down the field regularly. I would line him up in the shotgun every play, establish his 11 yard pass as an effective weapon, then keep the defense honest with draw plays and designed quarterback keepers. But that’s just me.
This loss really hurt Stanford’s chances in the Pac-10 and it’s Harbaugh’s fault and the teams’ fault. The Cardinal never should have lost this one to a weak Bruin team.
That’s it for me tonight. I’ll write a follow-up tomorrow on what it’s like to be a journalist-in-training on my first real assignment. Here’s a teaser: you get a lot of free things.
— Iggy
