MacBruin
Joined: 8/27/06 Posts: 4,654
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Posted Mon, Sep 05 12:08 pm
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I just re-watched the Bowling Green game and paid special attention to UCLA's road graders. As a former not-so-big ugly who played college football long ago, I take exception to (IMHO) the unjustified criticism leveled at UCLA's offensive line on another fan site. Here's what I observed:
1. Zach Charbonnet's rushing total (111) included lots of yards after contact, but he often reached the line of scrimmage untouched before using his power, agility and toughness to stretch a four-yard gain into six or seven yards. The line frequently allowed him to build up momentum before being hit by BG defenders. Did the big Bruins make some mistakes? Yes. Did they embarrass themselves and force Zach to gain 100+ yards on his own? Absolutely not. They gave Jones and Harden similar support.
2. The "expert moderators" on the other site also claimed that DTR spent much of the game running for his life whenever he dropped back to pass. With their anti-Chip bias on full display, the mods made it sound like the Bruins simply couldn't protect Dorian, forcing him to scramble to extend plays and complete passes. While the pressure did reach him at times, I saw few jail breaks from the Bowling Green rushers. Consider DTR's ONE glaring error, the disappointing interception he threw that made me cringe and recall similar miscues from his freshman and sophomore seasons. When he released the ball, he was standing in a perfect pocket; no BG player came close to threatening him. Yes, there were some breakdowns by the O-line, especially when blitzes weren't picked up, but the pass protection overall was NOT atrocious.
3. Finally, on the "lighter" side, I think Antonio Mafi could be the Bruins' Refrigerator when UCLA has first and goal inside the five yard line. Like Eddie Vanderdoes, Mafi would have physics on his side.  |
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