*** UCLA Game Day Thread ***

runningblind said:
We have have the better team. What concerns me is the team seems to have a hard time bringing their own energy. They did against CU due to an entire offseason of talk and the perfect home atmosphere.  They did it against a top 5 opponent last weekend.  But when the game is less exciting, they don't show up ready to kick a$$. Purdue, Rutgers, Indiana, all egg laying and slow starts.  The Illinois atmosphere helped in the first half, then they lost the mojo and folded.

We will never take the next step until the guys can get juiced for a game without it being a perfect circumstances or an exciting/topic opponent. They need to bring it every week, on their own, and they simply haven't to date.  Whether that is culture, or should fall on Rhule, is the question.  I wonder if that was half of what all the hype videos have been about, for the team and not the fans.
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Dabo Swinney coined this phrase about "bring your own guts" saying "I  can't give you guts and I can't give you heart.' And tonight, it was BYOG: bring your own guts.  That mantra has led to a 176-44, 9 ACC championships and 2 NC's....That culture got established and stuck. 

I agree with your post.  Team has to be able to hype themselves up and "bring it" every game and every play.  Need to be their own "hype man".  Every team in our final 4 have the ability to beat us.  And I am sure nothing would feel better to them than knowing they were helping NU to not go bowling in 9 years.....UCLA's record was tough.  NU will need to bring the D from the OSU game and the 1st half O from CU.......MUST WIN GAME.

 
The scary thing is, we're in exactly the same position as we were last year. 5-3, with four games to get bowl eligible. Michigan State was our best chance to win of those four, and we ganked it, going AWOL on offense most of the second half, and lost by three.

Next up was Maryland at home, another winnable game, but we had a rerun of our opening loss to Minnesota - tied 10-10 with the ball late in the 4th quarter, only needed a FG to win, but ope! There's a turnover, and our defense, who had played well all game, turned into a sieve and we lost on a FG as time expired.

We kept Wisconsin & Iowa close, but both games you could just feel that "uh-oh" feeling. Never felt like we were going to win.

This year feels a bit different. While we lost to Illinois, we looked solid until overtime. Rutgers could easily have turned into a 2023 Minnesota/Maryland style loss, but we gutted that one out. We played a very good Ohio State team very well at the Horseshoe last week. Those were games we would have been blown out in each of the last several years.

This is a game we could lose, but instead of on the road in East Lansing like last year, we get our most-winnable game at home.

 
Redux said:
Idk, I feel very zen about this game.  I just expect a complete 4 quarter game out of all 3 units.  Not trying to jinx it but this game feels like the one where we put it together and get that bowl eligibility in a comfortable fashion.

Then the next 3 weeks might suck....
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If we win today I think the floodgates open.  This group will play free without the weight of that 6th elusive win hanging over there heads 

 
knapplc said:
The scary thing is, we're in exactly the same position as we were last year. 5-3, with four games to get bowl eligible. Michigan State was our best chance to win of those four, and we ganked it, going AWOL on offense most of the second half, and lost by three.

Next up was Maryland at home, another winnable game, but we had a rerun of our opening loss to Minnesota - tied 10-10 with the ball late in the 4th quarter, only needed a FG to win, but ope! There's a turnover, and our defense, who had played well all game, turned into a sieve and we lost on a FG as time expired.

We kept Wisconsin & Iowa close, but both games you could just feel that "uh-oh" feeling. Never felt like we were going to win.

This year feels a bit different. While we lost to Illinois, we looked solid until overtime. Rutgers could easily have turned into a 2023 Minnesota/Maryland style loss, but we gutted that one out. We played a very good Ohio State team very well at the Horseshoe last week. Those were games we would have been blown out in each of the last several years.

This is a game we could lose, but instead of on the road in East Lansing like last year, we get our most-winnable game at home.
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It never fails that our defense can play like the 85 Bears for parts of a game, but time and time again fail to make the important stop at the end.  I also can't remember the last time our offense drove the length of the field for a score to win in the final minute.  Huskers really should beat UCLA by multiple scores, but I'd guess the Huskers will make it a struggle win or lose.

 
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If I’m Penn State I start “should we fire our OC” after the most egregious 4 plays on the goal line EVER 

so bad. 

 
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