Notre Dame (0-5) at #25 UCLA (4-1)

Last Week/This Year/Last Year
UCLA beat Oregon State 40-14 last weekend in Corvallis, scoring four 4th quarter TDs. The game was not quite the blow out the final score suggests, however, as OSU had five turnovers, overall, and two of UCLA’s late TDs were gifts courtesy of Beaver fumbles on KO returns. OSU led 14-0 at the half and 14-12 heading into the 4th but fell apart.

UCLA is 4-1 with home wins over BYU and Washington, road wins over Stanford and Oregon State, and one almost inexplicable road loss to Utah.

UCLA led #10 Notre Dame almost the entire game last year in South Bend until a 45-yard Quinn-to-Samardzja TD pass with 0:27 left enabled the Irish to pull out a 20-17 victory.

UCLA Offense
Ben Olsen, a big-armed, 6-5, 230 QB, missed a start vs. Washington two weeks ago (shoulder) but returned vs. Oregon State and will likely start vs. the Irish. Olsen is a 24-year old junior from Montana who was one of the most highly recruited HS players in the country way back in 2001 (yes, that’s right, 6 years ago – the same year Reggie Bush graduated from high school). He originally signed with BYU, redshirted, and then went on a two-year Mormon mission. It only seems like he’s older than Brett Favre. Olsen, who has completed only 52% of his 122 pass attempts this year for 922 yards (7-5 TD-INT), has fought Patrick Cowan for the starting QB nod at UCLA since his arrival and won the job last spring. Cowan played the bulk of 2006 (starting in four straight UCLA losses) and stared the Emerald Bowl vs. Florida State (likewise a loss), however, due to an Olsen injury vs. Arizona earlier in the year (+ Olsen’s ineffective play prior). Cowan, a likewise a junior, started and played the entire game vs. Washington two weeks ago. I’m frankly not sure if either one of these guys is that good, despite the hype.

Senior Chris Markey (5-11, 205) and junior Kahlil Bell (6-0, 205) have shared the 2007 RB load for the Bruins to date. Bell has 522 yards and 4 TDs (5.3 ypc), Markey has 404 yards and 3 TDs (5.1 ypc). Both have TD runs > 50 yards in the books this year and UCLA’s running game, in general, appears to be improved over last year (only 3.9 ypc overall in 2006). Markey led the Bruins in rushing and receiving last year, the first UCLA player to do that in 40+ years.

Brandon Breazell leads the team with 22 catches for 396 yards and 3 TDs (18.0 ypc). He is reportedly quick after the catch, but his size (6-0, 165) begs a physical approach from the Irish secondary. Senior Joe Cowan (6-4, 220) has ten catches for 181 yards and 2 TDs. My honest opinion is that UCLA was weak at WR last year (e.g. a RB leading the team in catches) and still is. I think ND should stack the box, concentrate on stopping Markey/Bell, and occasionally sell out and blitz Olsen from any/all sides as history suggests he might not be able to take a punch. We have faced better receiving corps than this bunch just about every week this year (Michigan, Penn State, and Purdue for sure). I like our CBs in this match-up.

Four starters return from a solid, but not great, UCLA offensive line from a year ago.

UCLA Defense
UCLA played kids along the D-Line in 2005, got gashed, but learned from that experience in 2006, yielding only 91 yards/game and 2.8 ypc on the ground and with DE Justin Hickman earning 1st team All Pac 10 honors last season. Hickman has moved on, but 7 of UCLA’s top 8 D-linemen return. Similar, solid, performance was expected entering this season and that has pretty much held true (88 yard rushing/game allowed, 2.8 ypc).

UCLA likewise enjoys the return the bulk of their starting LB corps and their entire secondary from 2006 with returning seniors in both CB and both safety slots. CB Trey Brown was named Pac-10 defensive player of the week for his work vs. Oregon State last week (2 INTs, 8 tackles).

UCLA Special Teams
Better than ours. Kai Forbath (a surfer dude/California-sounding name if I ever heard one!) is a perfect 18-18 on PATs and 10-13 on FGs including 4-6 from beyond 40 yards. Forbath, a redshirt frosh from Notre Dame HS in Sherman Oaks, CA, was a USA Today All American in 2005 and was rated the No. 1 high school kicker, nationally, by ESPN.com after his senior season.

UCLA Coaches
Karl Dorrell, a former UCLA WR (2nd leading receiver in school history playing on three Rose Bowl winners), enters his 5th year as the UCLA head coach. Dorrell was an NFL assistant for 3 years and a 7-year college offensive coordinator prior to getting the UCLA job. He is now a Bob Toledo-like 33-22 overall as UCLA’s head coach with 4 bowl appearances in 4 years (3 losses). UCLA fell hard in 2006 after a promising 10-win 2005, plagued by inconsistent play throughout (Exhibit A: a home blowout loss to Wazzu and a shocking win over #2 USC within a 4 week span --- followed by a blowout loss to FSU in the E-Bowl wrap up a 7-6 season). The locals have started grumbling, loudly, about the up-one-week, down-the-next performance of recent Dorrell offerings and the Utah loss three weeks ago didn’t help matters. Neither has the fact that UCLA has apparently been relegated to a second class standing in the Pac 10, given all the national love that Cal, Oregon, and USC are pulling in. Dorrell might have a tough time explaining another 5 or 6 loss season, despite his early success. UCLA did manage to crack (re-crack, I should say) the USA Today Top 25 this week.

2nd year UCA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker is given a lot of credit for a recent Bruin defensive resurgence. Walker was a defensive backs coach with Washington Redskins prior. Jay Norvell, the OC/QB coach at Nebraska last year, joined the UCLA staff last winter. He is the 3rd UCLA offensive coordinator in the past 5 years.

Vegas
UCLA (-20.5). These lines are really starting to depress me.

Worth Noting
UCLA has won 17 of their last 19 non-conference home games and are developing somewhat of a strong at home, soft on the road reputation. The Bruins are off next week (at home vs. Cal on October 20).

Summary/Prediction
UCLA looks, to me, like a good defensive team with an average offense compared to their Pac 10 brethren anyway. The questions this week will be whether or not we can keep an aggressive Bruin defense off Sharpley/Clausen’s back long enough to establish some form of passing game (get the ball to Tate – he looks like a playmaker!!!) and whether or not our defense can get UCLA’s offense off the field or continue their trend of allowing long, clock killing drives (particularly in the 2nd Half). I could see an upset, frankly, if this one was in South Bend as I don’t think UCLA is as good as Purdue from top to bottom. They do, however, have 20 starters returning from 2006 (just like Purdue) and are pretty good at home. Good enough, anyway. UCLA 31 - Notre Dame 17

Notre Dame Opponents Schedule – October 6, 2007
Georgia Tech at Maryland
Another year, another good 5-loss Georgia Tech team?

Penn State vs. Iowa
PSU = 2007’s most overrated? If not the entire team, then Anthony Morelli for sure (my view anyway).

Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan
Eagles to pay for App State glory? EMU is 0-29 vs. Big Ten and 7 of those 29 losses are to Michigan. Eastern actually scored in one of their games vs. UM; other six all shutouts. Ugly early.

Michigan State vs. Northwestern
Cats hung with Michigan. Spartacus still smarting from Bucky’s late bite?

Purdue vs. Ohio State
Painter throws 3 picks, minimum.

#25 UCLA vs. NOTRE DAME

Boston College vs. Bowling Green
UMass last week, BG this week? I though Boston College was in the ACC?

#2 USC vs. Stanford
Pete Carroll to see if there are three digits available on the Coliseum scoreboard, given Harbaugh’s early season commentary? Don’t look for the Men of Troy to take their foot off the gas in this one. USC scores 50, minimum.

Navy off

Duke vs. Wake Forest
Always a good hoops match-up. Devils will actually hang around in this one assuming they stay out of foul trouble.

Other Games of Interest – October 6, 2007
#1 LSU vs. #9 Florida
#5 Wisconsin at Illinois
#8 Kentucky at #11 South Carolina (Thursday night)
Indiana vs. Minnesota
Ball State vs. Central Michigan
Butler at Drake
Rose-Hulman at Defiance

National Perspective - Miscellaneous Chatter
Wisconsin and Michigan State combine for > 1000 yards of total offense in the Badgers WAC-like 37-34 win in Madison? Nothing like a good, old-fashioned, grind-it-out, Big Ten battle in the trenches.

More signs of the impending Apocalypse: a commuter school in Tampa is ranked #6 in the country, Hawaii has a real shot at a BCS birth, and Kentucky’s quarterback (Andre Woodson) has made a better Heisman case than anyone to date.

Speaking of last year’s ND-UCLA game, Jeff Samardzija finished the year 3-3 for the Double-A Tennessee Smokies with a 3.41 ERA. Smardzija, a 5th round draft choice of the Cubs, spent the majority of the year in Single-A (Daytona Beach) prior to a late-season call up to the Southern League. He signed a 5-year, $10MM contract in February.

References
Sporting News College Football 2007
Street & Smith’s College Football 2007
Phil Steele’s 2007 College Football Preview
2007 Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook
www.espn.com
www.uclabruins.cstv.com
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/

Go Cubs Go.