UCLA Football: A Look Ahead to the Bruins' 2011 Schedule
Our long national nightmare is over: Rick Neuheisel has hired a defensive coordinator, which means fans of UCLA football (however many that are left) can now turn their attention to the 2011 season.
After shuffling through everyone from Randy Shannon to Rocky Seto—and shifting around the rest of the coaching staff in between (Mike Johnson replacing Norm Chow, Jim Mastro in as the "Pistol point man")—Neuheisel finally settled on former South Florida and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Joe Tresey to assume the duties most recently "performed" by Chuck Bullough.
Whether Tresey is a good fit, in terms of his defensive philosophy, coaching ability and recruiting prowess, remains to be seen. In his press release announcing the hire, Neuheisel lauded Tresey for his "aggressive style that forces turnovers and negative-yardage plays," which bodes well for a unit that ranked 94th in the nation in total defense and 112th in turnover margin this past season.
As much as Bruins nation is rooting for Tresey to turn the team's defense around, Neuheisel will undoubtedly be Tresey's biggest supporter, as the future of "Slick Rick" at his alma mater depends, in large part, on whether or not the defense will improve enough in 2011 to net UCLA a few more wins.
That being said, there's still a solid six-and-a-half months until the fall campaign gets underway, meaning that there's more than enough time for things to turn, for better or worse, between now and then.
With an eye to the future, let's have a look at the Bruins' upcoming slate of opponents in the inaugural season of the Pac-12 Conference.
Saturday, September 3rd: at Houston
1 of 12
The Bruins will kick off the 2011 season with a road date against the Houston Cougars of Conference USA.
Off the field, this game presents Rick Neuheisel and his staff with an excellent opportunity to talk up the UCLA football program to recruits in East Texas, which is a well-regarded hotbed of gridiron talent.
On the field, the Bruins will have to prepare themselves for a bit of revenge, which may still be served cold, even on a hot Saturday in September.
After all, it was in these teams' previous meeting, on September 18th of last year at the Rose Bowl, that Houston's season took a turn for the worst. The Bruins defense knocked out Cougars star quarterback Case Keenum for the season before "taking care" of backup Cotton Turner, forcing head coach Kevin Sumlin to burn freshman Terrance Broadway's redshirt.
With the Cougars' stash of signal-callers depleted, what began as a year of high hopes for a top-25 ranking and a Conference USA title degenerated into a disappointing 5-7 campaign.
The trip to Houston may be tough for the Bruins in this game, as will the task of containing the gunslinging Keenum, but if UCLA's performance against Texas in Austin last season is any indication, the Blue and Gold should be able to take care of business on enemy turf, especially if the Cougars struggle to restock their depleted offensive line and replace graduating senior wide receivers James Cleveland and Kierrie Johnson.
Saturday, September 10th: vs. San Jose State
2 of 12
Whatever the outcome of the Houston game, the Bruins will return home the following week for what should be a cake walk against lowly San Jose State.
Pity the sad Spartans of the WAC, whose lone win of 2010 came in a 16-11 nail-biter against FCS "powerhouse" Southern Utah.
Second-year coach Mike MacIntyre can only hope his team will show something semblance of improvement in 2011, though it'll have to do so without starting quarterback Jordan La Secla, whose departure to graduation leaves a void in Sparty's backfield.
In short, even if UCLA doesn't prove to be any better in 2011 than it was in 2010, the team should still be able to take care of business against SJSU at the Rose Bowl.
Saturday, September 17th: vs. Texas
3 of 12
The Bruins will have little time to rest on their laurels before Texas comes to town.
Mack Brown will lead his Longhorns back to the Rose Bowl in the second game of a home-and-home series between two of the biggest schools in the country.
And, after last season's 34-12 embarrassment in Austin, you can bet the 'Horns will be fired up to hook the Bruins on the team's home turf for a swift and satisfying payback.
UCLA's big victory over then-No. 7 Texas set the stage for a tough season for those in Burnt Orange, as the Longhorns finished the season 5-7 after struggling to a 2-6 record in the Big 12, thereby marking 2010 as by far the worst year of Mack Brown's tenure.
That being said, UT should be better in 2011, assuming quarterback Garrett Gilbert steps up his game as a junior and the team's ever-replenishing stock of top high school talent develops into the standout group of collegians that everyone expects.
If not, it could potentially be another long afternoon for the 'Horns, with an even longer trek back to Texas afterward.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Saturday, September 24th: at Oregon State
4 of 12
UCLA will open Pac-12 play against yet another team that went 5-7 in 2010: Oregon State.
The Beavers were stricken with the wrong kind of fever last season, as Mike Riley's squad struggled with consistency on the way to losing four out of its last five contests, including a surprising 17-14 loss to the Bruins at the Rose Bowl.
The folks in Corvallis should be pumped for this one, assuming quarterback Ryan Katz is able to perform at a more consistently high level for the Beavs. That may be a tough task for the junior-to-be from Santa Monica without the backfield company of star running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who is off to the NFL after a strong junior season.
This game should be an interesting one to watch, especially considering the magic that seems to have taken up residence at Reser Stadium in recent years.
Saturday, October 1st: at Stanford
5 of 12
Without a date against Pac-12 favorite Oregon on the schedule, the Week 5 game at Stanford may prove to be UCLA's toughest test of the season.
Much has been written about the Cardinal football program in recent months, from the team's 40-12 shellacking of Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl to Jim Harbaugh's departure to the San Francisco 49ers to star quarterback Andrew Luck's decision to return to Palo Alto for another season.
Given all of that, the Bruins may find themselves hard-pressed to overcome the 'Furd, even with first-year coach David Shaw at the helm and with a number of important players on both sides of the ball gone after graduation. However, it wouldn't seem all that unreasonable to expect UCLA to put up a better fight than it did in last season's shameful 35-0 shutout in Pasadena.
Saturday, October 8th: vs. Washington State
6 of 12
In a strange twist of Pac-12 scheduling fate, UCLA will play host to Washington State for the second year in a row.
Despite the final score of 42-28, the Bruins narrowly escaped a letdown against the cellar-dwelling Cougars.
As bad as Wazzu's season record of 2-10 may have been, it marked something of an improvement for Paul Wulff and company, as the Cougars managed to snap a 16-game conference losing streak later in the season with a 31-14 victory over Oregon State.
The Cougars should be somewhat improved in 2011, as the team boasts an offense, led by quarterback Jeff Tuel and wide receivers Marquess Wilson and Jared Karstetter, that could be among the most explosive the conference has to offer.
As such, the Bruins will have to be on upset alert when Wazzu rolls into town in October.
Thursday, October 20th: at Arizona
7 of 12
Rick Neuheisel and company will have an open date before they head east to Tucson to take on Pac-12 South foe Arizona in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN.
UCLA has a long history of poor performances at Arizona Stadium and against the Wildcats in general, though the Bruins did manage to hang tough with U of A at the Rose Bowl in a 29-21 defeat.
Of course, that effort came against a 'Cats team without star quarterback Nick Foles, who, along with running back Keola Antolin and top target Juron Criner, will be back for his senior season in the Desert.
Despite five straight losses to close out last season, Arizona should be in good shape to challenge for at least a spot in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game, which doesn't necessarily bode well for a Bruins squad just looking to get back on its feet after a rough 4-8 season in 2010.
Saturday, October 29th: vs. Cal
8 of 12
The Bruins will have another long week, this time to prepare for a Rose Bowl date with Cal.
The Golden Bears will likely be a bit down from the squad that trounced UCLA, 35-7, at Memorial Stadium in 2010, as Jeff Tedford will have to replace a number of key players on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Kevin Riley and 1,000-yard 'back Shane Vereen.
Not to mention the fact that the Bears weren't exactly world-beaters last season, finishing out of the bowl hunt with a 5-7 record after dropping the last three games on their slate.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this intrastate, intra-school system rivalry will be affected by the fact that the teams involved now play in opposite divisions within the Pac-12.
Saturday, November 5th: vs. Arizona State
9 of 12
If things play out as many who follow the Pac-12 expect them to, UCLA could very well be facing the best team in the conference when it welcomes Arizona State to the Rose Bowl in early November.
Dennis Erickson has something of a quarterback conundrum on his hands going into the season, with a battle between former Georgia Tech and Michigan signal-caller Steven Threet and the hoopster Brock Osweiler ready for center stage during spring and fall camps.
Assuming a quality quarterback emerges, the Sun Devils should be among the favorites to come away with the South division crown thanks to the return of 19 starters from last season.
And, if those improvements come to fruition, Rick Neuheisel's boys may be looking at a decision that is considerably more painful in the end than the 55-34 final handed down to the Bruins in Tempe in 2010.
Saturday, November 12th: at Utah
10 of 12
UCLA will have to wait until mid-November for a shot at welcoming the Pac-12's newest members into the conference.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they'll have to do so in Salt Lake City against a Utah team that finished 2010 with a 10-3 record.
But, then again, the Utes didn't exactly set the world on fire against Boise State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, losing 26-3 to close out their season.
But, then again, Kyle Whittingham will have quarterback Jordan Wynn back and healthy for Utah's first campaign as a BCS conference team.
Ah, heck! Either way, this one should be rather interesting to watch. Can the Utes hang with the big boys? Or will UCLA prove to be the team in need of "cred"?
Saturday, November 19th: vs. Colorado
11 of 12
A home date with Colorado should be a little bit easier for UCLA to handle.
Though the Buffalos are well-acquainted with BCS competition, having just switched over from the Big 12, they don't appear to be primed to run wild through the Pac-12.
Not yet at least. Head coach Jon Embree, a former assistant under Karl Dorrell at UCLA, may have a tough time guiding the 5-7 Buffs back to respectability in his first year.
That being the case, this game still presents some interesting storylines to follow, particularly as Embree's son Taylor plays wide receiver for the Bruins.
Interesting, indeed.
Saturday, November 26th: at USC
12 of 12
No season of Bruins football would be complete without another edition of The Gauntlet against USC.
UCLA will take its three-game losing streak with it to the Coliseum to take on the Trojans in Lane Kiffin's second season in charge.
As is seemingly always the case these days, 'SC will have no shortage of talent all over the field, especially on offense, with the likes of quarterback Matt Barkley, wide receiver Robert Woods and running backs Dillon Baxter and Marc Tyler looking to hail in a few more victories while trapped under NCAA sanctions.
Of course, that didn't stop Kiffin and his staff from pulling in yet another top-notch recruiting class while practically shutting out Neuheisel and company from nabbing any elite SoCal talent.
That being said, the Trojans will have plenty of work to do on their end to make sure they have a successful season leading up to their return to postseason eligibility, as the losses of prominent players like Ronald Johnson, Stanley Havili, Tyron Smith and Jurrell Casey are sure to hurt.
Enough to give the Bruins a shot at something better than another 28-14 defeat? Only time will tell.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
