2011-2012 Football Previews – Pac 12 Conference – UCLA Bruins
After losing its first two contests of the season, UCLA appeared to have turned a corner winning three straight., but then tragedy struck as the Bruins finished out the 2010 season winning just one of its final seven, a 17-13 win over Oregon State.
2011 PAC-12 | UCLA Bruins Football Preview
Coach: Rick Neuheisel
2010-11 Record: 4-8 (2-7)
UCLA Bruins Gambling Odds from Bodog.com to win BCS: 150-1
UCLA Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –>
The Bruins are coming off their second 4-8 season in the last three years, but with 17 returning starters heading into 2011, there is hope that head coach Rick Neuheisel can get things turned around for his second-year pistol offense that helped them to back-to-back wins over #23 Houston and #7 Texas in 2010.
If Neuheisel doesn’t get this team to improve, it could very well be his last with the Bruins.
Let’s take a gander at where the Bruins might be heading in the upcoming season , checking out who they will be sending to the field on both sides of the ball, along with my prediction on where I see them finishing the year in the PAC-12.
Offense:
In all fairness to UCLA, they were never really able to find out what their offense was capable of after starting quarterback Kevin Prince who suffered a back injury in the fall, went down in week four with a season ending knee injury.
That left the door wide open for back up Richard Brehaut, who came in and did a decent job, leading the Bruins to a 42-28 win over Washington State in his first start of the season.
But things spiraled downward from there and by the conclusion of the 2010 season, both quarterbacks combined for a paltry 1,680 yards with just nine touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
Now Neuheisel will be faced with a choice, as Prince returns to the lineup. Providing he can stay healthy, I expect him to be under center when the Bruins travel to Houston to open the season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
While there was a lot of inconsistency at the pivot position, on consistent threat was the Bruins much improved running game led by sophomore tailback Johnathan Franklin, who rushed for 1,127 yards and nine touchdowns. Franklin will return to the huddle this season and he alone should provide the Bruins with one of the best rushing attacks in the conference.
Up front the Bruins should be solid on the offensive line with three of the five starters back from last year.
An important ingredient to UCLA’s pistol formation.
Defense:
Defensively the Bruins really struggled in 2010, and sue in large part to inexperience, finished the season allowing 30.3 PPG.
Their woes will continue into 2011 as of the eight starters back for this year, only two are seniors.
At linebacker the Bruins lost big time playmaker Akeem Ayers, but have a couple of very talented players coming back in senior Sean Westgate and junior Patrick Larimore. Westgate is one of the best at his positions in the conference, with four sacks and 90 tackles last season, and should be even better with the expected improvement on a defensive line that puts a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and overall should be one of the most improved defensive lines in the country.
In the secondary the Bruins lose another key player in free safety Rahim Moore, but should have enough talent coming back to keep this unit from decline.
2011 UCLA Bruins Prediction: 3rd PAC-12 South
The Bruins should improve this season, and while I expect them to struggle against Stanford, USC, and Arizona State, I see them winning at least five of their other six conference games.
2011 UCLA Bruins Schedule
9/3/11 3:30 PM ET @HOU
9/10/11 12:00 PM ET SJST
9/17/11 3:30 PM ET TEXAS
9/24/11 12:00 PM ET @OREST
10/1/11 12:00 PM ET @STAN
10/8/11 12:00 PM ET WSHST
10/20/11 9:00 PM ET @ARZ
10/29/11 12:00 PM ET CAL
11/5/11 12:00 PM ET ARZST
11/12/11 12:00 PM ET @UTAH
11/19/11 12:00 PM ET COL
11/26/11 10:00 PM ET @USC
