Five Things: UCLA

Pessimism isn't a familiar feeling under the Wilcox regime, but it's begun to set in a bit after the first unacceptable loss under his watch, and it began, as expected, with:

1) QBs - Loss

Khalil Tate didn't play very well, but he also didn't turn the ball over four times, leading to 14 points for the other team. This was a loss by default. Playing well for most of the game and picking the high-risk, high-reward option seems antithetical to the team's ethos at the moment.

2) Evan Weaver - Win

Wasn't hurt, but turned in a quiet (for him) three tackle performance on Arizona's 59 total plays.

3) Laird and Hawkins - Loss

Laird was barely involved in the flow of the game, despite receiving 22 total touches, and Hawkins only got three targets.

4) Finish Strong - Loss

Cal was outscored after taking a 14-10 lead, and shutout after the half, despite moving the ball and having multiple shots inside the 40 yard line.

5) No Letdowns - Loss

'Nuff said.

Season Record 3-2

5 Things: 12-11-2 (they're 3-0 when they win things, fyi)

It feels, very much, that the season is on the line this week against winless UCLA. Lose here and there may not be a path to a bowl left that doesn't require beating multiple teams as an underdog...not to mention the embarrassment it would be to give the Bruins their first win.

1) Defend homefield

I don't expect the stadium to be totally packed, especially since some of the early momentum of the year has cooled some, but it'll definitely be filled with some substantial margin of UCLA fans. As you no doubt know by now, Cal plays much better at home than on the road, where they haven't beat a conference opponent in several seasons. Lucky us, then!

2) Play cleanly

Look, this cannot, cannot, cannot stand.

Any penalty, any poor decision, any lack of execution by this team, that prides itself on intelligence and preparation is a death wish. If we get even an average performance last week from Brandon McIlwain, we win easily. If we get an average performance against Oregon, we probably feel a whole lot better about the season forecast. As it stands, though, we did not, so this continues to be a point of emphasis. A negative turnover margin will make it tighter than we want it to be. Could even cost us the game again.

3) Bully DTR

The true freshman from Bishop Gorman might be more susceptible to confusion than either of Herbert or Tate, and against an OL that's already allowed 15 sacks on the year (almost 10% of dropbacks), the Bears have a valuable chance to get the pass rush back on track. Experimenting with more Malik Psalms was an decent choice for Zona at some points, but it still didn't result in much by way of actual sacks. The defense would prefer to be able to drop 7 most plays, but they don't have that luxury anymore with Goode out and Funches only mildly effective this year. What else they decide to do beyond Psalms in terms of mixing and matching bears watching, since we've struggled on pass downs the last few weeks period.

4) UCLA DBs vs Cal WRs

These are the very last of the familiar names who are anchoring the Bruin secondary -- Nate Meadors and Adarius Pickett are the senior statesmen in the back four, and while the Bruins aren't a particularly scary pass defense (105th in the country in opposing passer rating; 78th in S&P+ with no passing splits I could find available; both numbers are worse than Arizona), the Bears will still have to work hard to some guys open, because no one is having a ton of success one on one this year, occasional first down aside.

5) Run damn the ball, Beau

Whoever the QB is.