The Best Defense is a Good Offense

Final: UCLA 21 Cal 45

plays big brother today, Cal Berkeley. Cboy said that my boys in powder blue are going get whooped. While I hate to admit it, he may be right. The Bruins have been winning, but they've also played against inferior teams. A 4-1 record is pretty good, given the low expectations of the all the pundits. But still, none of the teams are close to Cal's caliber. Man coach Tedford at Cal must be some freakin' genius. He has turned around that program in three years. Cal was pretty much the doormat of the Pac 10 for years, but now the Golden Bears are roaring prety furiously...

Cal has perhaps the best offense in the Pac 10 if not the best in the country--even thought they lost to SC last week. Cal leads the Pac-10 in rushing at 247.8 yards per game and is second in the nation in total offense at 510.3 yards per. Great. And the Bruin defense? What defense? UCLA is 115th of 117 Division I-A teams against the run, allowing 250 yards a game. The Bruins also rank last in the conference and 91st in the nation in total defense, giving up 415.4 yards a game. This is not a good match up.

But that doesn't mean that I've thrown in the towel before the first punch is thrown. I have hope, slim as it may be. What else can a fan do? And it has nothing to do with the New York Times football ranking which has UCLA ranked higher than Cal.

Say what?

Yes that's right. The NYT ranks UCLA at 18 and Cal at 25. I always thought the Times was one of the most respected papers in the nation. I may have to readjust my opinion. They either have a UCLA partisan manipulating the computer ranking formula, or they have a monkey doing it.

The reason for my optimism is the Bruins improved offense. Last year, the Bruins sucked major in offense, it was--if you will pardon the pun, offensive. Last year, in 13 games, they ran for 1,195 yards for a 92 yards per game average with 11 touchdowns, Thins year in only 5 games, my boys in blue have rushed for more yards (1,207) for an average 2 and a half times greater (241.4) and the same number of touchdowns (11). And Olson, the QB, is no superstar but he is adequate and is beginning to master the system they have implemented--the West Coast Offense.

So, as I see it, the best way to approach this game is to keep Cal's offense off the flield by keeping our offense on. That would be the best defense for a team that has none.

Go Bruins!