If I had to blame a player for the loss this weekend, I couldn’t. I have too many questions about coaching decisions. But, if I had to blame someone I have to say this: the game was blown by everyone on the coaching staff, from Mike Riley all the way down to the ball boys.
The Beavers came into this game seemingly unprepared for what they were facing. I looked at the stats and found something alarming: the Beavers averaged under six-yards per pass and under four-yards per rush. That’s God awful. I wanted to find the last time the Beavers struggled like that, but I was almost certain it didn’t exist in the Mike Riley era.
The coaching staff put this team in no position to be successful. The play-calling for this game was the most befuddling and atrocious thing I have seen since the losses against California and Washington State.
UCLA is a team with a defensive backfield that only has 10 interceptions on the year, gives up about 11 yards per completion, and is ranked 79th nationally against the pass. The Beavers have two banged up running backs and a vertical attack that has been burning people like a Texas A&M bonfire on the surface of the sun. Throw the football.
I feel like a broken record. Matt Moore has been playing with poise, confidence and tact. He hasn’t thrown an interception in weeks; let him air the ball out. On top of that, Sammie Straughter is looking like a Hiesman candidate for next season. Use the weapons that are given to you, Riley. Don’t try to force someone to become something they can’t. Yvenson Bernard and Clinton Polk are not 100 percent, so stop feeding them the ball.
Give the ball to the play-makers who can actually make plays.
Oregon State had produced more than 260 yards passing in three of the last four games. The Beavers dropped 308 yards against Washington (100th in the nation), 262 yards against USC (63rd in the nation) and 282 yards against ASU (45th in the nation). And the coaching staff could only devise a game plan that gave the Beavers 176 yards against a team that is 79th in the nation in pass defense.
Where was the coaching staff? What happened to the aggressive play-calling? What happened to going for the throat?
UCLA didn’t have any problems being aggressive after turnovers. After a turnover on downs by the Beaver, UCLA threw the ball deep on a 45-yard score. The Bruins weren’t afraid of a pass defense that is ranked higher than Michigan, USC, Florida, West Virginia and Louisville.
The one time the Beavers were aggressive in the game it came at the wrong time on the wrong play. I didn’t understand the call to go for it on fourth and two. The offense had one sustained drive over 45 yards in the first half and six plays into the second half the Beavers are willing to gamble. It blew up and they turned the ball over.
What were you doing running the ball on fourth down after the previous run on third down gained zero yards? It’s the start of the third quarter, you’re leading in the game and you’re on hostile ground … play the battle of field position. Give the defense a chance to make a stop and force the Bruins to punt.
Physics taught me that energy cannot be created or destroyed, and football is no exception. If the game calls for an aggressive move take it, but don’t try to create it. Big plays can’t be created, they are brought about by exploiting the opposite team’s weakness. UCLA’s weakness was its pass defense, so making aggressive moves in the running game makes no sense.
This is when people ask “what’s the solution?”
The solution is returning to what got the Beavers to where they are. The four weeks prior to this game the Beavers played out of their minds because they took what teams gave them and found ways to attack weaknesses. Now they need to continue that by getting back in the film room and studying Stanford.
After the Cardinal’s surprise win at Washington, I wouldn’t be looking past them. Even the 118th nationally ranked offense can win a game, so find what made them successful and shut it down. Conversely, find a spot in their defense that is struggling and exploit it. The Cardinal is ranked 25th against the pass and 117th against the run, so use that to your advantage.
If this coaching staff can get this team to turn back the clock and play like the last four weeks, this season can still end on a high note. But if the Beavers finish the season looking like a deer in the headlights on the field, they will not be going anywhere in late December.
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