After an extremely shaky start to the season, I remain bullish on UCLA's prospects for the 2014 season, but it's time for the Bruins to start looking the part of a team many, including me, picked in the preseason to win the Pac-12 and make the College Football Playoff.
If they don't get it figured out this week against Texas, then when will it all come together? Well, it potentially could happen too late for them to realize their goals this season.
The issue with UCLA obviously isn't in the standings -- the team is 2-0 -- but the concern comes from how they looked in those two games. Jim Mora's club really struggled on offense in the season opener against Virginia. The offense scored only one touchdown, gave up five sacks, had penalty issues and looked out of rhythm, but QB Brett Hundley made plays when he needed to in the second half. A week later against Memphis, the script was flipped -- the defense was gashed but the offense started to crank in a 42-35 win.
Now, gritting out some early-season wins against lesser competition isn't necessarily the worst thing for a team. If a highly rated squad goes out and stomps some weaker teams, maybe it eventually gets stung because it didn't learn lessons about what it takes to grind out a tough win.
No doubt, that's the approach the Bruins are trying to take coming out of those games, but the truth is they need to put together a cleaner, 60-minute performance.
Sometimes teams have trouble dealing with high expectations and it weighs them down. Perhaps that's what we're seeing in UCLA's case. The team had a whole summer of preseason hype, and this is not a program used to expectations of contending for not just a conference title, but a national championship, too.
The Bruins are a highly talented bunch -- that's why there was such hype about them -- but they can't just turn it on when it's time to go. They'll face Texas in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, and then will have a week off before a Thursday-night game at Arizona State on Sept. 25, and that's why UCLA needs to start looking the part this week. Going into the desert on a Thursday night to face a tough division opponent in the Sun Devils -- the defending Pac-12 South champs -- is no easy task. ASU believes in itself, has a potent offense led by QB Taylor Kelly and the defense is stronger than you might think despite a lot of turnover in the offseason. The Bruins don't want to have the same questions dogging them heading into that one.
So, first things first -- UCLA can't afford to look past the Longhorns, even though they're coming off a 41-7 loss to BYU. I'll be on the call for the UCLA-Texas game, and I'm excited to see it. I expect Texas to play extremely hard on Saturday. It's a capable team, and it has a chance to make a big statement against the Bruins. If the Longhorns can pull off the upset, it could give the program a launching point under first-year head coach Charlie Strong.
I want to see how UCLA responds under those circumstances. It'll be interesting to see the Bruins try to get settled on the offensive line -- getting starting center Jake Brendel back from injury last week helped a lot -- and whether the defense will look closer to the version we saw in Week 1, when it scored three touchdowns, against an offense led by Texas QB Tyrone Swoopes, who will be making his second career start.
We've seen inconsistency and some flaws in UCLA's game early this season. As for whether it's something the team can overcome or a sign of trouble ahead, I'm inclined to go with the former.
Follow Charles Davis on Twitter @CFD22.
