I am not going to get upset. I am proud of my team!
Yes, I am disappointed. We did not play well today. This does not hurt as much as the Texas game but it is a disappointment. This isn't about one game it is about a program. A win today would have been great and the thought of third straight BCS Title game appearance would have been euphoric. The UCLA defense played a fantastic game and the deserve all the credit. This has been a great year with a lot of nervous moments and a couple of heart-breakers. We can second guess this game all we want. UCLA won more than USC lost. They just played great. Congrats to them. This is what this rivalry should be.
With all the youth on this team we have watched them mature and find a way to win games. With the amount of talent that we lost there were a lot of pundits saying that it was too much to over come. Instead Pete Carroll has put together a great team that will only get better in the years to come. I am not worried about one game even to a rival. We are still in the midst of a great run and things will only get better.
I will not bother to try to breakdown the X's and O's of this game. There is no need. Critics will say that SC looked past UCLA, untrue. Others will say that they were in for a big letdown after their big wins of the previous three weeks, maybe, maybe not but regardless SC did not play the game that they were hoping to play. I still think this team is a young team and has some growing to do. The defense needs to settle down and stop over playing the ball. There were many chances for them to get Cowan in the backfield and it just seemed that they were over playing their position.
A couple of things as they are on my mind.
1-Pete Carroll has shown why he is a great coach. He knew this would be a tough one and he did not take this game lightly. Obviously you can't win them all and he has done almost that; win them all. As bad as this loss is I cannot be disappointed with where we have been, where we are and where we are going.
2-The running game is still a big issue for us and we need to see some real improvement. Gable has done a great job but it is not enough. We need a fullback and one of the young tail backs to step up and take charge of the backfield.
3-Booty has matured and I am confident that he will continue to do great things in the coming seasons.
4-Recruiting priorities should be as follows:
Offensive line
Defensive line
Everything else is just gravy
So we look ahead to the Rose Bowl. I would like to see us play Michigan as it would be a classic Pac 10 Big 10 match-up, as it should be. I don't know who we will play as there will be some questions on who end up where after all of tonight's game. Hats off to the Bruins they played great.