• I followed up a
3-0 start, including a high-profile out-of-conference win, with a
five-game conference losing streak.
• I was
1-6 against teams that finished with a winning record, but 4-0 against opponents that ended below .500.
• Despite ranking
first in my conference and eighth nationally in tackles for loss, I managed to hold only two conference opponents under 20 points.
• One of my defensive backs
led the nation in interceptions, but he doesn't get a lot of help-- I'm only No. 32 in scoring defense.
• I'm not known for being a hotbed of stable quarterbacking, and this season was no different -- thanks to injuries and general boneheadedness, I finished the regular season ranked
102nd in team pass efficiency, behind such offensive luminaries as Akron, San Jose State, UNLV and Syracuse.
• Even with my main rival's better-publicized struggles at quarterback and on defense, I still managed to lose by three touchdowns, finishing
0-3 against BCS schools in my state.
So ...
am I a bowl team?
If you said UCLA was going to a bowl game, you are absolutely correct ... provisionally. The Bruins had to wait an extra week on pins and needles for the outcome of the Army-Navy game to know for sure, but the Midshipmen's win last Saturday officially punched L.A.'s cross-country ticket to face Temple in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec. 29. No wonder Rick Neuheisel's losing his hair in such unbecoming fashion.
