As I watch the World Series on the eve of the eve of the eve of this Saturday’s Homecoming match-up, I can’t help but feel grateful and giddy. The Fall Classic, UCLA for Homecoming this weekend, and Craig Robinson’s improved basketball squad right around the corner. This is the best time of year, and it’s too short, so savor it.

A lot of Beaver fans were predicting an easy win this weekend after OSU’s offensive output versus USC. Hold tight, Beavers. Expect a dog fight; a one score game that’s decided on the final play. Listen, the defense was as inept as the offense proficient. How can you ignore that? Making matters worse, Richard Brehaut is going to quarterback for UCLA. If you remember, in my mid-season report I said that UCLA’s season hinges on how much Brehaut plays. I believe he’s the missing piece for that team and should have started their last two games. The Bruins already boast the best defense in the conference, and now they put a 4-star gunslinger behind center. This is going to be similar to the Nick Foles situation with Arizona. For those of you who haven’t seen Brehaut, I’ll tell you this: he’s the best pure passer in the conference. The guy can flat out sling the ball around. Perusing the forums, most Beaver fans are expecting the Bruins “pathetic” offense of weeks past, but with Franklin in the backfield and now the new QB I can tell you with certainty that is not going to be the case. Expect the Bruins to put up close to 30 in this game.You have to keep in mind we have no pass rush, and that’s a great advantage for UCLA’s new QB. In fact, Slick Rick is likely playing him in this game for that exact reason.

Now, on the offensive side of the ball–things look great for the Beavers. They’re firing on all cylinders. But UCLA has a fantastic defense. I’ll say this: I feel more confident saying the Bruins will get stops than saying the Beavers will get stops. The Beavers need to go fulltime with this lineup on the defensive line: Miller, Paea, Oldander, LaGrone (and Taylor Henry on 3rd downs as a specialist). Mark my words: until they do, they will continue to be futile. The linebackers should be Kristick, Bubba, and Roberson. The secondard Collins, Mitchell, Hardin and Dockery. This is the best combination.

So, how do I see this game going? I have a good hunch it will go like this:

Beavers kick off, Craft makes a bone-headed play and the Beavers score a TD off it. Brehaut enters the game, the Beavs can’t stop him, and the fans are forced to ride the “massive coronary express” for the rest of the contest. UCLA jumps ahead by a score, the Beavers counter at halftime by returning to the run game. Quiz has a great 3rd quarter, scores. The teams exchange punches. Brehaut answers, makes a name for himself, entrenches himself as the starter. I see this ending being hectic, coming down to the last seconds, with the defense having to make a play to save a slim lead. While my gut tells me they just aren’t good enough to make such a stand, I’m hoping the crowd can act as the desperately needed 12th defender and push the good guys over the hump.

31-27, Beavers

Welp, if you were to draft a blueprint of how to blow an upset bid it would look like this:

1. Turn the ball over in the 1st quarter and gift-wrap the opponent 7 off said turnover.

2. (a) Settle for FGs (b) Miss a chip shot FG that you settle for.

3. Rough the passer on an INT inside the opponent’s 20, only to follow that up by yielding an 80 yard TD drive. Can you say 14 point swing?

4. Devise an offensive game plan around not using your best player.

5. Luck out and have the Pac-10’s crew of clowns referee your game.

That’s how you blow an upset bid. Congrats on following the blueprint to a tee, Beavs.

Some other notes: why did Riley call a timeout with 9 seconds left in the first half? A FG doesn’t take 9 seconds…which means you have to kick off. Just stupid clock management and playing with fire.  The DL is getting a better push than I thought they would, but that’s been negated by Kristick and his bonehead play. The OL is playing average to well, at least in the passing game; they aren’t able to open any wholes for a back not named Quiz. Mike Patrick, the telecaster, should retire–the dude is practically senile…mispronounce names, imperceptive, blind. Reminds me of Keith Jackson at the end of his career. Barkley is ordinary and unimpressive…kind of dread having to hear about this guy for the next 3 years. Hopefully he bolts after his freshman year–the way Pete talks all homo about him you’d think he could.

Halftime. Haven’t had a drink yet, but it’s time to hit the gin, boys.

Final analysis: great effort by the Beavs…showed heart coming back. Frustrating game for we fans because the Beavers outplayed USC and simply made a couple critical mistakes and had every call go against them. The good guys would have won in spite of themselves were it not for that refereeing crew. Clear block in the back on the USC punt return TD wasn’t called, yet they called Adeniji for the phantom block in the back. The telecasters had dropped jaws watching that crew, and keep in mind they’re paid to hype U$C.

As far as on the field play, we’re going to be good next year. Dockery is approaching shut-down corner status. Our TE is a monster. I need to learn how to spell his name because I’m going to be writing about him often. He does need to tuck that ball away, though. Quiz should be in the Heisman discussion after putting up a buck twenty and 2tds on that defense. The fact the Beavs didn’t win might curb such talk…he’ll have another chance versus Oregon. Our coverage team had their first slip up of the year and it was the difference. Kristick is an overrated player. He’s a complimentary player but not a star or game changing player as we like to portray him. As the defensive captain you can’t hit the QB late and high–the refs actually had that call correct. Adeniji is hard to root against. The guy has very good hands and he was out there throwing some great blocks for his teammates. I was impressed. We all watched the game so it’s academic and redundant to note that the defense killed us in this game. Not just Kristick but the front four. I don’t want to hear any talk about Paea–he didn’t clog the middle at all. Every big U$S run went straight up the middle. We really need to recruit better at certain positions. I’ll accept we can’t land a bunch of 4-star skill players if we simply land them where it matters–OL and DT.

Anyway, this game went much as I thought it would…had a feeling we’d be playing catchup the entire time. What is really positive is that our offense didn’t turn it over while doing so–that’s what I expected. What is negative, and this is a big one, is our inability to make clutch stops on D. The D did have some nice turnovers, but there were a handful of times the game was on the line and they didn’t win one of those battles. If they did, perhaps we win. Overall, I am really impressed with our effort and heart. The Trojans, and specifically Pete Caroll, respect this team, and it’s not one of our better vintages. We’ll win 7 games this year. This game was a crossroads…a win would propel a Rose Bowl run, but the loss gives us little to play for, as 2 conference losses is a death sentence, and hence it’ll be hard for the team to know what they’re playing for in games versus Cal and Oregon. Pride only goes so far.