Welcome home, Rick Neuheisel! The sometimes controversial first-year coach at UCLA and former UCLA QB entered his first game as big underdogs against a nationally ranked team. But the Bruins defense was fantastic, keeping them in the game despite a jittery young third-string quarterback (the first two injured) who threw 4 interceptions in the first half, one late in the first half returned for a TD (at a time when the score was 7-7 and it would have been prudent to take a knee and go into the locker room tied). Somehow the coach got the kid to keep his self-confidence, and in the 4th quarter Kevin Craft played like a star, completing short passes everywhere. A major win for the Bruins, a warning to the cross-town Trojans that in a few years, if not before, they will be challenged for bragging rights in L.A.
I've always liked Neuheisel, though he has a flamboyant style that especially pissed off the female Director of Athletics who fired him at the University of Washington (for betting on sports in an office pool). Neuheisel sued and got a big settlement out of court. This is his return to coaching. He was a star at UCLA himself, a perfect fit, and he starts out with a major upset. I love it.
I have two alma maters, UCLA and the University of Oregon, but most often I favor the former since I grew up rooting for them, a longer history. (Also, I must admit, I am really turned off by Univ. of Oregon sports being a corporate subsidiary of Nike. And I cannot stand, I hate!, their designer uniforms! How can you root for a team that looks like that?) It's going to be an exciting season rooting for UCLA football.
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