Survivor
Give Karl Dorrell some credit. Just one week after the most humiliating loss of his coaching career, UCLA bounced back to defeat Pac-10 up-and-comer Washington 44-31. Guided by their 2nd and 3rd string QBs, the Bruins ran all over the Huskies, and made golden-boy QB Jake Locker look like the freshman that he is.
Still, all is not well in Bruin-land. No matter how you slice it, losing 44-6 to an injury-riddled Utah team is unacceptable for any UCLA team. In the fifth year of the Dorrell-era, the Bruins have little margin for error to save a coach who has already suffered embarrassing losses to Wyoming, Fresno State, Arizona, Florida State, and others while somehow beating USC last year. UCLA clearly has the talent to be an upper-tier Pac-10 team, but they don't always play like it. In the meantime, the Bruins have serious questions at quarterback, as both Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan are questionable heading into next weekend's game at Oregon State.
And by the way... who says Los Angeles doesn't love football? USC's 5 PM game against Washington State drew over 86,000 fans to the Coliseum, while UCLA's 7 PM game against Washington saw over 72,000 people in attendance at the Rose Bowl. Over 150,000 people attended a football game in LA yesterday evening.