Until Saturday’s game against Penn State, UCLA appeared to be about the worst Division One team in the nation. Then they pulled off a stunner.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
A team in need of a savior found one in the unlikeliest of places and most familiar of faces.
Jerry Neuheisel, the UCLA tight ends coach who was elevated to playcaller only four days before his winless team faced a top-10 opponent, dialed up an offensive plan that produced points on each of the Bruins’ first five drives.
The fun let up only momentarily on the way to UCLA’s stunning 42-37 victory over No. 7 Penn State on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, fans providing their giddy verdict with a chant they unleashed from the opening drive through the fourth quarter.
“Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”
After UCLA made a final defensive stop to secure its first victory over a top-10 team since beating Oregon in 2007, Neuheisel was hoisted into the air by his grateful players, winless no more.
“He puts that belief in us that we can go out there and execute,” Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava said after accounting for five touchdowns on what might have been the finest day of his college career, “and he put together a great game plan for us.”
During the broadcast, Jerry’s dad, Rick Neuheisel was a studio commentator for CBS. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to share his joy at the stunning success of his son.
A few years ago, Jerry Neuheisel was a backup quarterback for the Bruins. One Saturday he came off the bench to play quarterback and led UCLA to a big win over the #7 team in the nation at the time, Texas.
Rich Neuheisel was the coach of the Washington Huskies football team that finished #3 in the nation in 2000. A terrific 2010 book on the team was called, Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity. In short, most of the starters on the team were thugs who got away with their crimes.
Amazon notes: “Expanding upon a groundbreaking series they wrote for the Seattle Times in January 2008, reporters Armstrong and Perry tell a riveting but sordid tale of the University of Washington’s 2000 football squad, which included at least 24 players arrested or charged with crimes during their years at the university, crimes for which they did little or no time. Complicit were university officials, team coaches, local police and prosecutors, members of the media, even victims, all in the name of sustaining a winning program. Some of the crimes were egregious: a tight end under investigation for suspicion of rape; a safety who, according to police, broke his wife’s nose and arm; and a linebacker under investigation for robbing and shooting a drug dealer. While the focus is specifically on the University of Washington program, this story carries importance and relevance to fans far beyond Seattle.”
The easiest way to win in college football is to have the lowest standards on who you allow to play for you.
A successful society directs its members inclined towards violence in useful ways such as service in the military.
