Ten Years Too Late

In a little over a week, the UCLA Bruins will take on the Tennessee Volunteers in front of a nationally televised audience. In 1998, the Bruins were hoping for the same scenario. Back then, an undefeated UCLA squad had a clear shot at playing Tennessee in the first ever BCS championship game. Unfortunately, a hurricane and a phantom fumble call ended that date with destiny before it could even be penciled in. It's been a decade since these two teams were supposed to play each other, and it has been a bumpy ride for both schools, to say the least.

It was a sunny December morning at the Orange Bowl and the Bruins were in town to play a makeup game against the Miami Hurricanes. Earlier in the year, hurricane George caused the game to be canceled but UCLA opted to have the game replayed later in the season. Going into that weekend, there were three undefeated teams including UCLA, Tennessee, and Kansas State. If the Bruins could take care of business that day then they would have a legitimate claim to appear in the Fiesta Bowl and play for the national title. As fate would have it, the Wildcats would lose to an underdog Texas A&M team that Saturday, leaving the door open for a Tennessee and UCLA title showdown.

Of course, things wouldn't work out for the Bruins either. That team was all offense and no defense and the Hurricanes racked up a ridiculous 689 yards by the time it was over. Cade McNown and Brian Poli-Dixon feuled UCLA's top-rated offense to 43 points but a bogus fumble call in the fourth quarter, with UCLA rolling down the field for another score, would lead to the final Miami touchdown.

UCLA has practically vanished off the national stage since that fateful game against Miami ten years ago. After having a nation's best 20-game win streak, the Bruins haven't come close to matching their success from that season. No conference championships and more 6-6 recods than you can shake a stick at. UCLA hasn't been to a BCS bowl game in nine seasons and the rise of USC across town and the emergence of California and Arizona State as national players haven't helped the Bruins claw their way back either.

Things haven't been all the great for Tennessee as well. The Volunteers of the late 90's were a powerhouse program. They only lost five games from 1995 - 1998. Along the way they picked up some hardware including three bowl victories, two SEC championships, and that first ever BCS National Championship. It's been all downhill since then. They've won their division a few times, but no conference championship and not even a sniff at a national championship game. They even had a losing season in 2005.

The good news for both schools is that the future looks brighter than the past. The Bruins are on their second new coach since 1998, and Rick Neuhiesel has the charisma, passion, and coaching staff to return the Bruins to the top of the PAC-10. Tennessee, behind long time coach Phil Furmer, posted a 10-win mark last year and a return visit to the SEC championship game. Good things are expected in Knoxville this season and the Orange clad fans are eager to a return to their glory days as well.

Finally the Bruins and Volunteers will have their date with destiny. It comes ten years too late for the UCLA faithful, but maybe some football demons can be exorcised during this game. I think ten years in purgatory is payment enough for whatever offense we committed against the football gods so long ago. It may not be a victory for the Bruins, but it just might be the first step on the long road back up the mountain.

Other Fun Facts:

• UCLA and Tennessee have played 13 times in their history. The Bruins are 4-7-2 against the Volunteers.
• After San Diego State (21) and Pittsburgh (14,) UCLA has played Tennessee more times than any other active, non-conference foe.
  
• The last time these two teams played, in 1997,Tennesse won. The Bruins then went on a 20 game winning streak.
• The 11 year gap from the last time these two teams played is the longest break since the series began in 1965. Before then, the teams averaged a game every 3 years.
• Tennessee has a lifetime 14-11-3 record against the PAC-10.
  

(photo credit: Sports Illustrated)

Why Rick is Good for the PAC-10

For a while now, the PAC-10 has been a lopsided conference. There was USC at the top and the nine dwarfs trailing well behind. But times, as they say, are a changing. The rest of the conference is starting to get its act together and Rick Neuheisel could be another reason why the days of Trojan dominance are numbered. There is little doubt that Neuheisel will be good for UCLA but I believe he will also be good for the PAC-10 as well.

The Rise of Troy

Let's turn back the clocks a few decades. If you look at the winners of the PAC-10 (and it's prior incarnations) over the last five decades, you'll see three schools repeated over and over: UCLA, USC, and Washington. Since 1959, one of those three teams have won at least a share of the conference title in 43 of the 49 seasons. Occasionally, a Stanford or Arizona St or Oregon will rise to the top, but the three historical powers in the PAC-10 are the Bruins, Trojans, and Huskies.

Yet in 2001, those three teams were in decline. USC had been struggling under Paul Hackett, Bob Toldeo was presiding over a fading UCLA squad, and Rick Neuheisel was about to have his job as the Huskie head coach yanked out from underneath him. Add to that the impending departures of Mike Price at WSU and Dennis Erickson at Oregon State and the PAC-10 was in the midst of a serious power vacuum.

Into this environment walked Pete Carroll. He wasn't USC's first choice to replace Hackett, nor was he the second. Hell, he wasn't even their third choice. Nobody knew it at the time, but this almost-passed-over coach was about to lead the Trojans to a record setting six straight conference titles. He inherited a gold mine of talent at USC. He also found a fertile recruiting bed that had been shipping it's best players outside of California for a number years. With UCLA in no position to challenge for those players, and the conference lacking a true powerhouse, Carroll woke the sleeping giant and quickly pushed the Trojans to the top of the conference.

Typically, in college football, you see cycles of success and failure that last a few years. But the Trojans found themselves in a perfect storm of conditions that have lead to their absolute dominance of the conference for the better part of this decade. Both UCLA and Washington, the other two historical powers, have spun their wheels during the seven years since Carroll took over. Washington went into the toilet after they unceremoniously and illegally (per the civil suite they settled) terminated Rick. They hired a string of coaches who have run that program into the ground. UCLA unwittingly put up the white flat when it hired Dorell. He sputtered and stalled and kept the Bruins far below their potential as a national football power.

The last two years, however, have seen a crack in the Trojan amor. They have lost two conference games in back-to-back seasons and they've had to share the conference crown as well. Dennis Erickson is back in the conference coaching at ASU and he has the Sun Devils firing on all cylinders. They were PAC-10 co-champs in his first season. Jeff Tedford has California's name being mentioned in national conversations. Mike Bellotti has turned Oregon into a dangerous team as well. Heck, even Stanford has some life under Jim Harbaugh.

The New Neuheisel Era

Yet still, the other traditional powers besides USC, have struggled. Until now. Rick Neuheisel has only been on the job for one week but he is already making a splash. He had the press eating out of his hand at his introductory press conference. He had a cameo at the Rose Bowl, went on national sports radio, and rumors are circulating that top-notch players are looking to transfer to UCLA. He's eying USC's coaches and he even won his first recruiting battle against Tyrone Willignham for the services of DeWayne Walker. There is a buzz around Westwood for the first time in a long time.

It will likely take Neuheisel and his staff a few years before he can get UCLA back into the national spotlight with their play of the football field. But, in the meantime, he is serving the rest of the college football world notice. UCLA is coming. The Bruins are going to start competing for championships. They're going to start competing with USC. We're going to bring back some balance to the rivalry and help topple the king off his throne atop the conference rankings.

If Neuheisel can start recruiting top talent to UCLA then the Bruins can knock a few paces off of USC's step. Not only by winning recruiting victories, but by fielding a team that competes with the Trojans, year in and year out, on the field. The 2008 recruiting class is shaping up nicely and the Bruins have a bright future if Rick can keep that ball rolling. With the aura of invincibility removed from the Trojans, top recruits will start considering UCLA and other schools in the conference as viable places to show case their talent.

When that happens, the PAC-10 will again become a conference of balanced, competitive play. Instead of just one super power winning the title every season, we'll go back to a time when eight different teams won a share of the conference crown in the course of a decade. The Bruins won't win them all under Neuheisel, but you can be sure that UCLA will finally be getting its fair share of grid iron glory. That will be to the detriment of USC and their fans, but it can't be anything but good news to the other programs living in the Trojan's shadow.

California Deamin'

Tough night for the California contingent of the PAC-10. All four teams from the Golden State lost. USC to Oregon in a thriller. Cal jumped out to a 13 point first-quarter lead in Tempe and then "pulled a Bruin" by getting outscored 30-7 the rest of the way. We lost to the Cougs... to nobody's surprise. Stanford got tossed by the Beavers. When was the last time all four California schools lost on the same night?

They almost did it back in 2002. USC, Cal, and UCLA all lost on 9/21/2002 but Stanford had a bye that week. No, you have to go all the way back to 10/19/1996 to find a Saturday where all four teams put a notch in the lose column. The Bruins got creamed by Washington up in Seattle 41-21. The Trojans lost to the Sun Devils 48-35 in Tempe. The Cougs squeeked past the Bears in Pullman 21-18 and the Cardinal lost 26-12 in Corvallis.

Racing back to the present, it doesn't look good for these teams in conference play. Somehow UCLA is leading this motley group with a 4-1 record. The Trojans are 3-2 in the PAC-10 and likely kissed a 7th straight conference title goodbye. The Bears, who were 2nd in the country just a few weeks ago have lost 3 straight. Stanford is just Stanford. In the end it might be a non-California team that takes the title this year. That hasn't happened since 2001 when Oregon took the crown. With the way they've been playing lately, it might be the Ducks in 2007 as well.

Cal and Stanford Statistics

I've loaded up new statistics for the California Gold Bears and the Stanford Cardinal for 2006. For Bear and Cardinal fans who are new to this blog, you can check out stats for the other teams along the right hand side of the website under "Bruin Roar Statistics". I'm hoping to finish loading data for the rest of the PAC-10 teams, Notre Dame, Utah, and BYU before the end of the month.

On a side note, since we are talking about Cal and Stanford, this year is the 25th anniversary of "The Play". It is, hands down, the greatest and most exciting finish to a college football game ever.

I love this video, from an ESPN classic broadcast, because it shows the Stanford field goal before the kickoff and the aftermath on the field after the amazing kick-off return. I had forgotten that John Elway put together an amazing drive, starting deep in Cardinal territory with less than a minute left, to get into field goal position. They kick the field goal, with 4 seconds left on the clock, to take the lead and presumably win the game. That's when all the fun begins.

There are so many cool things about the video. Joe Starkey, the famous broadcaster, is awesome in his description of the events as they unfold. After Stanford scores, he gives a prediction that Cal "pretty much has to run it back to save the game". After a bunch of laterals, including a miraculous over-the-shoulder pass by Mariet Ford, Kevin Moen runs the ball into the touchdown to win the game. The play is immortalized forever with a picture of Moen crashing into a Stanford band member in the end zone after he scored.

I can't describe the play any better than Starkey did in his original broadcast: "Oh my God, the most amazing, sensational, traumatic, heart rending... exciting thrilling finish in the history of college football! California has won... the Big Game...over Stanford."

Blast From the Past

I came across a link to these digital images while reading Scott Wolf's Trojan blog of all things. The UCLA library has made available a ton of images from the 1920's - 1990's. There are some great pictures in there of UCLA football games. Here are some of the best. If you click the image you'll see it in it's full size.

Stanford vs UCLA football game, 1986

UCLA quarterback John Sciarra during Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum, 1975

Eric Ball during Iowa Hawkeyes football game, 1986

Eight in a Row

Ahhh... the 90's. Interns were still working in the White House, rock was grungy, and Al Gore was busy inventing the internet. The Bruins were also compiling a series-record eight consecutive victories over their cross-town rivals. Thanks to the awesomeness that is YouTube, you can re-live those glorious years in nice little 10 minute intervals.

1992. One of the great stories in the rivalry was that of walk-on quarterback John Barnes. He spent the beginning of his career bouncing around between colleges and finally ended up at UCSB, only to have the football program canceled after one season. For his senior year, he transfered to Westwood and walked onto the football team. He was buried deep in the depth chart but through injury and opportunity, he was named the starting quarterback for the SC game. He lead the Bruins to a thrilling 38-37 victory that started the streak.

1993. Sorry, there I can't seem to find a video for this one.

1994. The Bruin's swarming defense was all over Johnson sacking him 6 times as they hold the Trojans to only 19 points. JJ Stokes makes some spectacular catches in this one and the Bruins roll 31 - 19.

1995. Cade McNown makes his freshman debut at the Coliseum. The Bruins take an early lead but the Trojan make it a close finish.

1996. Probably one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the series. The Trojans jump out to a quick 17-point lead. McNown and the Bruins trail the entire game and face a 17-point deficit when they get the ball in the 4th quarter. After two drives resulting in 10 points, the Bruin defense gets a fortunate fumble with a few minutes left. They charge down the field and tie the game with only 40 seconds left. Two overtimes later, the Bruins pull out the come-from-behind victory much to the delight of the Rose Bowl crowd.

1997. The Bruins find themselves in the middle of another streak in '97. After losing the first two games of the season, the Bruin were riding an 8 game winning streak when they paid a visit to the Coliseum. They take out the Trojans 31 to 24.

1998. DeShaun Foster joins in on the fun as Cade and Company took the nation's longest winning streak and a #3 ranking into the game. Foster knocked off two TD runs and the Bruins cap off the 8th consecutive win in the series.

The next 7 games would go Troy's way, but they couldn't match the 8 game streak the Bruins compiled in the 90's. It was truly a great time to be a UCLA fan.