BERKELEY — Looked at in a certain very particular way -- granted, with glasses tinted rosy and perhaps a bit of willful naivete -- the 2008 football Bruins are the most exciting team in the Pac-10.
One week, it's a monumental comeback and a surprising win. The next week it's a drubbing.
One week, the defense is pretty much water-tight. The next week it's springing more leaks than the the Titanic.
One week, the quarterback looks like a mini-Montana at game's end. Next time out, he has four ugly interceptions (sometimes the four interceptions come in a single half -- e.g., the Tennessee game.)
Maybe, just maybe, there's a certain beauty in not knowing what the heck you're gonna get week in and week out.
Think of the Stanford game. When the Bruins made a key defensive stop and followed with a magical last-ditch drive that brought victory, some said this young team was on its way. There was even talk that UCLA might qualify for a bowl game.
And so, here we were in Berkeley this weekend, thinking that maybe the Bruins would unleash some of that Stanford game magic on the Golden Bears.
Then it happened: a 41-20 loss on a warm Saturday in Strawberry Canyon. A rout, really. Back to square one. Again.
Here's a snapshot encapsulating UCLA's day: It's the first play of the game and Kevin Craft goes back to pass. He throws a ball that wobbles toward its target. The ball clangs off a Bruins receiver. The ball falls softly into the hands of a Golden Bears defender.
UCLA was artless most of the way, an aesthetic largely matched by the Golden Bears until they put the hammer down at the end.
UCLA's first two offensive series brought the following: seven plays, two sacks, no yards gained, two passes stoned off the hands, the interception. At the end of the first quarter the Bruins had minus-three rushing yards and no passing yards. They scored only because they blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown.
Sadly for them, the next time they got the ball after that blocked punt, quarterback Craft was intercepted again and it was returned 69 yards for a touchdown -- one of two returns for touchdowns off of Craft passes.
Speaking of Craft, when it was over, almost all of the talk from the UCLA side was of the ugly offense in general and the junior quarterback in particular.
Coach Rick Neuheisel on Craft: "To me, it looked like he had just made up his mind and was throwing the ball where he thought it should go."
