• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Though many critics have low expectations for the Bruins, coach Karl Dorrell remains optimistic a

Everywhere you turn, expectations seem to be low for this UCLA football team.

The media picked the Bruins to finish eighth in the Pac-10, while expectations around campus are considerably lower than they have been in the past.

As Bruin fans glance at the schedule, they see five wins. Probably no more, hopefully no less.

In the midst of such overwhelming success for USC, hopes for the other football program in Los Angeles are down.

Unless, of course, you talk to people who are actually in the program.

“Other people don’t believe in us because they’re not out here and they haven’t done the stuff we’ve done,” junior safety Jarrad Page said. “I think we just need to create the feeling out here on the (practice) field and then just take that onto the field on Saturdays. We’ll be fine.”

Talk to player after player, and you’ll get the same assurances.

Despite the question marks on defense, the fact that the supposedly improved offense is unproven, and the underdog status attached to the Bruins, there’s the distinct feeling in the UCLA football program that this year will be very different from last year.

“It just helps motivate us that we’re the underdog and that people don’t really have any faith,” junior quarterback Drew Olson said. “All that matters to us is that everybody on this field believes in us. That’s what’s going to carry us.”

But there’s still the fact that last year was not a good year for UCLA. It wasn’t good by any stretch of the imagination.

Though the Bruins were 6-2 at one point, situated comfortably atop the Pac-10 standings, things quickly turned sour. UCLA lost five in a row to end the season, a streak capped by an uninspired loss to Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Classic.

According to coach Karl Dorrell, last year’s unimpressive finish explains the predictions for his team this season.

“It’s all about what have you done lately,” Dorrell said. “And we ended things about as bad as you can end things (last year). So you’re probably going to begin that way the next year. So I was not shocked.

“Remember, we still haven’t done anything. While we think we’re going to be this type of team, we still have to go out and prove it. We have to prove we’re as good as we claim we’re going to be.”

While everyone claims they will be better than last year, they’re also careful not to make predictions about what the team’s record may be. Instead, many Bruins continue to focus on the same themes – team, family, commitment, hard work.

“This year is more of a team feeling,” sophomore tailback Maurice Drew said. “This year we’re all coming together, and everyone’s starting to fight for each other and protect one another. If we do that, we’ll go a long way.”

But no matter what players and coaches say about improvement and growth, UCLA will likely be the underdog in six of its 11 games. But that’s just fine with them.

“I like being the underdog,” senior receiver Tab Perry said. “It just adds more fuel to the fire. When everyone says you don’t have a shot, you really have nothing to lose. Teams like that are the teams you have to watch out for.”

Then again, what are outside expectations anyway?

“I’ll leave all the predictions up to the newspapers and the magazine writers,” junior tackle Ed Blanton said. “They seem to know everything.

“The only people that don’t expect anything out of this team aren’t on the team.”

It’s the same theme over and over again. The squad has been working hard; players that were detracting from the team last year have moved on; everyone is getting along, and they are eager to prove that UCLA is capable of a resurgence, sooner rather than later.

“This team – if it will really learn to trust each other, really learn to talk to each other on a daily basis, and respect each other all the time – this team can go wherever it wants to go,” first-year offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Tom Cable said.

“But they have to keep doing that. If for one day we stop doing that, we take big steps backward. We’re not there. We’re not even close to there. But we’re headed in the right direction.”