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Yeap.. he is sticking around for another year

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Don't blame Nate Longshore pass. Cal was in field goal range under 2 minutes to go. 3rd and 2 why pass?? The ofeensive coordinator or the coaches should be blamed-not the quaterback. Stupid decision on a gamble take the field goal and win and stay ranked-knuckleheads.

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I think they won despite him rather than because of him. Down by one point, his decision not to go for the first down, but rather to punt on 4th and 1 at Cal's 37 yard line, was questionable at best.

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A few notes on the game, having been at the Rose Bowl:

1) The crowd was great, on both sides. The Cal fans who showed were loud and energetic for the whole game, while the normally quiet UCLA crowd was pretty noisy (at least by Bruin standards) and involved for all 4 quarters.

2) Brian, the score was 23-21, not 23-20, which makes a big difference. A Cal field goal there likely wins the game. The Bruins would have gotten the ball back with about 2 minutes or so left on the clock, but their offense was very hot-and-cold, and could easily have been stuffed for a Cal victory. That having been said, though...

3) don jesu, it was 3rd and 6 from the 30 - running the ball likely still leaves you with a 45-ish yard field goal, and Cal's kicker isn't very good, only 5/9 for the season. Throwing a pass there isn't a terrible decision - it was just a perfect defensive call and a great play by Al Verner to jump Jackson's route for the INT. Verner was the player of the game, with a couple TFLs from the CB spot, and two interceptions. And his first pick might have actually been a better pure play than his second (if less game-changing), when he literally dragged the football out of the hands of LaVelle Hawkins in mid-air at around the UCLA 20.

4) UCLA is tied atop the Pac-10 with Arizona State, but still has probably its 3 remaining toughest games left to play (with the caveat that in the Cal-UCLA series, the home team has won the last 9 games straight, so home-field advantage in this game obviously means a lot). The Bruins still have to get by Arizona and Washington State on the road, where the Bruins play much worse than at home. They then play host to ASU and Oregon before traveling to the Coliseum for their annual rivalry game with USC. They'll need to play pretty well to simply finish at 8-4 (7-2) in the Pac.

5) The same is true for ASU, really (with regards to finishing 7-2 in the Pac) - they have yet to play/beat UCLA, Cal, Oregon, or 'SC. Oregon, despite having one loss, still looks like the Pac-10 frontrunner, with only one loss and both ASU and USC at home in the next two weeks. As their loss, Cal, is reeling at 2-2 in the Pac with games vs. USC and @ ASU yet to come, Oregon should be set up nicely for a big stretch run at the Rose Bowl (and, hey, with a college season as crazy as this, the Ducks can't be counted out of the national title picture).

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Get out your wetsuits and scuba gear for next Saturday--UCLA usually goes in the tank the week after a big win (e.g. noesdiving against Florida State last season in the Emerald Bowl after beating SC). The Bruins did not win because of Dorrell, they won in spite of him---they overcame predictable play-calling, atrocious time-management and, most importantly, predictable play-calling. Karl is a great guy and would make a fabulous assistant coach--somewhere else. The cream rise to the top...mediocrity never does.

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I agree that the Bruins won in spite of Karl Dorrell. What's strange if he had any motivational skills and was not such a conservative idiot and the Bruins beat hapless Utah and Notre Dame, this team is ranked #1. But he thinks he is coaching in the NFL where a few losses are ok and expected and NFL players are professionals. College kids play with their hearts and passion and you need to let them play. Not even giving your offense a chance to move the ball less than a yard is a slap in their faces. They were controling the line of scrimmage all day. This due mostly to the spirited play of Pat Cowen at quarterback. He really gets offense fired up. Dorell's little baby Benny Olsen is such a dud and should sit out the rest of his Ucla days. Also can't Dorrell find someone on the squad or on campus who can kick the ball off into the end zone. Karl, have try outs of all the team players and then open it up to the soccer team or whoever and get someone who can kick it off deep.
I say this Karl Dorrell is toast. Please fire him.

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You anti Dorrell people, you can't have it both ways. If you blame him for the losses, then give him credit for the wins. If he is responsible for the losses to Utah and Notre Dame, then he is responsible for them being a top the pac 10.

If the Bruins can win inspite of Dorrell, then why could the Bruins team not beat two weaklings inspite of Dorrell? May want to enroll in a logic course at USC.

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I love Karl Dorrell, my son went to UCLA football camp there this summer and got a picture with him. He is a great human being. But the decision not to go for it on 4th and 1 inside the 40 of Cal was unfortunately so bad that it may be held up one day as an example of why he was (will be) fired. But I keep going back to the early Terry Donahue years, when he would call a running play on 3rd and 12, down five, in the fourth quarter, and later say "they weren't expecting a run." He later learned not to do that. I hope Karl learns not to do what he did on Saturday, when it took a near miracle interception to take the game back. If he learns the most obvious lessons he could be at UCLA ten more years. I hope he learns, and I hope it is many more years and several Rose Bowls for Karl and UCLA.

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