Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N
As my first fan post I thought I'd dissect CRN's decision to go for it after that first TD last night. Everyone has their own opinion on the subject. Not going for it sure looks good right now. What I really want to look at is why decisions like this get me so excited for what the future of UCLA football looks like.
CRN showed us again last night that he's playing to win. He will take the calculated risks. This is his coaching style and I love it. It was a gamble that he took last night with the onside kick. It most likely wasn't in the gameplan, but his tenacious coaching instinct prompted him to do it.
So lets look at the decision a little deeper. We have an offense that is extremely rhythmic. Our QB, bless is heart, is hot or cold. We just drove down the field and ate up a big chunk of time and our offense is just starting to click. We needed to get them back on the field before we got out of sync. We have their fans out of the game. Our defense has shown, for the time being we can stop the spread; so,if we don't recover they can get a stop. I stand behind this decision one hundred percent.
But heres the cold hard truth, this defense, when put up against the wall, crumbles. Im too lazy to pull out the stat book, but when they get put in a bad position due to turnovers or special teams the result, more often than not, is a touchdown. We are terrible at changing the momentum back in our favor. Why? I'd argue a few reasons, no pass rush, not a great secondary, and no defensive leader.
So knowing this, why was this still the best decision? The only way to for our defense to get better at changes in momentum, is for them to be put in the situation and grow from it. We have a young team that is just going to learn and soak up each and every experience. CRN also showed that he still has trust in them and that means a lot to a player because they in turn buy into him. By making these kind of calls, hes a players coach and not only does our team love that, but RECRUITS love that.
Most importantly, this kind of decision is a split second call. I doubt he thought about all of this before they ran it. It was a gut feeling he ultimately had. Just wait until that killer instinct has the skills behind him to make the play. Or better yet, if we don't recover it, to have the defense that will cover his rear end.
