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On a college football Saturday that could best be described as the calm before the storm scheduling-wise or the calm after the storm weather-wise a game that perhaps looked better on paper in August than it did being played in November commanded a great deal of attention from folks who would otherwise be indifferent. THE SPORTING TRIBUNE’s Thomas Murray set the grim scene tightly and respectfully:
With the world rumbling about whether Saturday night would be the last time UCLA will play a home football game at the Rose Bowl and move to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, it was a night that was filled with the Bruins taking one step forward and two steps back.
The stars did not line in UCLA’s favor as mental mistakes, turnovers, penalties, and questionable play calls led to their demise in a 48-14 loss to Washington…UCLA committed 6 penalties and 3 turnovers…Fumbles by Mikey Matthews and Nico Iamaleava in the first and second quarters led to two different field goals made by Washington…After sitting out last week’s 48-10 loss to Ohio State due to a concussion, Iamaleava was unable to finish tonight’s game after taking a sack in the third quarter…”We couldn’t stop the bleeding,” UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “We just couldn’t really move it. They kept making plays, turnovers are always going to kill you, so we have to find a way to fix that as we get into next week.”
For a season that began with guarded optimism under the guidance of ex-Bruin star running back DeShaun Foster as coach and the opportunistically recruited Iamaleava, who last year as Tennessee’s starting quarterback took the Vols to the 12-team College Football Playoffs, the fact that the home portion finished under Skipper and a backup under center that dropped UCLA to 3-8 and a moribund 12th in the overbloated and misnamed Big Ten could easily explain why the Rose Bowl was more than half-empty and those that were there to endure yet another chilly night game under anything but California-like conditions weren’t exactly rollicking.
Which makes the rant that LOS ANGELES TIMES columnist Bill Plaschke went on that lambasted UCLA for having wanderlust to listen to the siren’s song beckoning them to a venue that has already hosted a Super Bowl in this century versus one I saw one in the previous equal parts spot on and tone-deaf all at once. And it sparked a flurry of letters to the editor (yes, some people still read and write) in yesterday’s edition that provoked a lot more passion than this year’s Bruins did. Both sides make impassioned points. In this corner, Jeff Heister, Chatsworth:
UCLA moving to SoFi Stadium is about as smart as a typical UCLA coaching hire. This month I was able to attend the Steelers-Chargers game at SoFi on a Sunday, followed the next Saturday by the USC-Iowa game at the Coliseum. Everything about those two places is different and only one of them feels like the college experience.
And in this corner, Art Peck, View Park:
Who can blame UCLA for wanting to play at SoFi Stadium, the ultra-modern sports palace, not to mention great recruiting tool, a mere 15 minutes from campus? As Bill Plaschke waxes nostalgic, the rest of us slog down the 10 Freeway from Westwood, through downtown, up into the far northeast corner of L.A., to the antiquated monument that is the Rose Bowl.
And the debate raged on among those with even deeper ties to the program, which Plaschke’s underling Ben Bolch devoted most of his piece that dropped yesterday to:
“The concern is, are you gonna lose part of your identity, which has been in peril lately already?” said Kris Farris, a former All-America offensive tackle with the Bruins who was among the more than half-dozen former greats and current recruits who spoke with The Times about the situation. “So it’s like you’re taking away another special part of UCLA, but of course everyone understands the upside financially and what the program needs to do in the arms race of college football right now.”
And on the other side of the generational divide:
Kenneth Moore III, a wide receiver from St. Mary’s High in Stockton who has verbally committed to the Bruins, said he’d prefer to play at SoFi Stadium. As far as he’s concerned, the stadium that opened in 2020 is closer to campus and would create a better environment than the team has experienced at the Rose Bowl, where it’s averaging only 37,099 fans this season. “I feel it’ll be more involvement from the fans after going to SoFi,” Moore said, “to have more packed-out stands.”
As someone who has been fortunate enough to have attended actual games of consequence in the Arroyo Seco venue and who arguably should fall more in line with the nostalgic visions that Plaschke dredged up, allow me to remind what the actual experience is for those of us who don’t have press privileges and preferred parking. The Rose Bowl lies at the bottom of a hill only accessible by century-old two-lane streets that snake through a residential section of Pasadena detached from the far wider and freeway-adjacent Colorado Boulevard where the New Year’s Day Parade takes place. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones who own a home on that route, you’re essentially forced to avoid any travel on game days lest you try and navigate the slow-moving caravans to and from the venue. If you’re looking to exit after the game, it practically makes the Dodger Stadium parking lot desirable; at least you’re not necessarily wasting $5-a-gallon gas and wearing out your brakes in the process.
I’ll go one step further. Does even the Rose Bowl itself need to be played there any more?
When the game was rooted in history with the Big Ten champion squaring off with the winner of the Pac-whatever the fans who traveled from the frigid Midwest for the game would mostly stay in hotels closer to the beach and, hence, SoFi Stadium. We’d see them at celebratory bonfires in Venice, immediately discernable both by their swag and their pasty white skin that basked in 60 degree, partly cloudy conditions like it was a tropical paradise, who would be dumbfounded to learn that they were going to be hauled off on party buses that demanded a 6 am departure for a 2 pm kickoff. Those tribal loyalties are history; the game now it merely a quarterfinal step that can feature any team from anywhere that advances in the CFP. With a week’s notice, where do you think those fans are staying?
And for those who would consider such thoughts blasphemy, riddle me this? Where is the Orange Bowl being played in this century? The home of the Miami Dolphins. The Cotton Bowl? The home of the Dallas Cowboys. The Gator Bowl? The heavily renovated home of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Yes, the sunset over the Santa Monica Mountains that inevitably becomes the money shot around the end of the third quarter on New Year’s Day that acts as a de facto commercial for people seeking to relocate is stunning (Lord knows it worked its magic on me for years). You know what else is pretty awesome? That same sunset over the Santa Monica Pier.
And for those like Plaschke who compare the setting favorably to other college football stadia around the country let me remind: they are primarily located on campus or immediately adjacent in college towns. Even the Coliseum is within walking distance of USC and has a host of school-themed options for post-game celebrations or laments. Pasadena has more ties to Cal Tech than it does UCLA.
Sure, a better team would give fans a reason to show up. UCLA has seen far better days, but with its fate now inexorably tied to being part of a conference where they now battle Rutgers and Maryland as often and more competitively than they do Washington and Oregon those days are a lot further off both past and present. We can all lament of what used to be. But that’s not college football as we dive head-first into the second quarter of the 21st century.
Incidentally, thanks to the upcoming Olympics, a massive Metro station is now in the latter stages of construction a couple of blocks from the UCLA campus that will not only allow direct connection to SoFi Stadium, it will also do same with the line that passes right in front of the USC campus and, for that matter, equally close to the Coliseum. Even the crosstown rivalry could become a Subway Series. I’ve done it. Most students these days have no choice but to join me. You really wanna tailgate? Do it in your own driveway. Hooked up to your EV charger. With the ability to watch other games that are far more meaningful on a bigger screen.
Speaking of which, at least that other Southern California school played one that actually meant something yesterday, but they didn’t exactly come up roses, either. OREGON LIVE’s James Crepea broke that news:
No. 7 Oregon inched closer to a College Football Playoff berth Saturday afternoon when the Ducks pulled away for a 42-27 win over No. 15 USC at Autzen Stadium.
Quarterback Dante Moore threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten). USC kept touch for a while, as the Trojans passed for 330 yards and four touchdowns.
As for the rest of the country, with the rest of the Big 10 and pretty much the entire SEC playing out a schedule that was either cupcake or chalk, what focus merited attention was fixed on the ACC. And let’s just say they didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, either. At least that’s what CBS SPORTS’ Brad Crawford contends:
The ACC’s College Football Playoff doomsday scenario is taking shape following Pittsburgh’s 42-28 win at No. 16 Georgia Tech on Saturday night, which eliminated the Yellow Jackets from title contention.
Despite No. 13 Miami’s victory at Virginia Tech, SMU’s 32-point blowout of Louisville and Duke’s win at North Carolina ended the Hurricanes’ shot at a conference championship. That leaves just three teams vying for two spots in the Dec. 6 ACC Championship in Charlotte: No. 19 Virginia, Pittsburgh and SMU.
The problem in the playoff discussion? Only Virginia is ranked, while red-hot Group of Five squads Tulane (9-2) and James Madison (10-1) continue climbing in the committee’s eyes. Both conference frontrunners won on Saturday and control their own destinies.
A word to the wise for anyone who might somehow wind up needing some ideas for a possible Rose Bowl visit from those faraway campuses: Make sure your devices are charged and you have backup batteries for your interminable bus ride. You’re gonna need it.
Courage…