UCLA fired defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough Saturday, for fairly obvious reasons: The Bruin D declined from third in the Pac-10 in total and scoring defense in Bullough's first year to ninth and eighth, respectively, yielding 30 points on 420 yards per game. Eight of nine Pac-10 opponents scored at least 24 points, seven racked up more than 200 yards rushing and only two were forced into multiple turnovers – and those two, Arizona and USC, only gave it away twice en route to comfortable wins in the Rose Bowl.By no standard was Bullough's defense good, or even competent, despite the presence of a dozen players in the regular rotation who were rated four stars or better out of high school, six of whom have been on campus all three years under head coach Rick Neuheisel. If not for surprising flashes in upsets over Houston, Texas and Oregon State – three of the Bruins' four wins – it might have limped in as one of the most hopeless outfits in the country.
And still, the elephant in Bullough's office as he packs up his things is that Norm Chow's offense was even worse. Significantly worse, and eminently worthy of the title of "hopeless." The Bruins finished dead last in the Pac-10 in total offense, and very nearly last in the entire country in pass efficiency, beating out Vanderbilt and Buffalo; only the triple-option attacks from the service academies and Georgia Tech passed for fewer yards. Between them, quarterbacks Richard Brehaut and Kevin Prince served up 12 interceptions to just nine touchdowns and failed to lead a single victory when the running game was held below 200 yards on the ground. The Thursday-night loss at Washington on Nov. 18 was a nationally televised catastrophe.
All that in a year that was supposed to yield at least another modest step toward breaking out of a decade of mediocrity in USC's shadow. For the first time under Neuheisel/Chow, the offense returned a starting quarterback (Prince), along with the top two rushers from 2009, the top two receivers and an all-upperclass line with a Pac-10-high 92 career starts between them. Part of their undoing, undoubtedly, was another round of bad luck – Prince missed the last six games with a knee injury, one of his backups was knocked out for the year and the Bruins played all season with two starting offensive linemen on the shelf as academic casualties. Another was sidelined with a bum ankle. Still, after three years, at no point in Neuheisel's tenure has the offense not resembled a MASH unit.
But the regression overhwelms the excuses. The Bruins end yet another season with no reliable quarterback, no playmakers in the backfield or at receiver, no consistency on the offensive line and no remaining shred of the sense of slow-but-steady progress Neuheisel sustained through most of his first two seasons. After three years of oversight by the home-grown hero and the most respected passing architect in the game, the offense remains a shambling wreck in all directions.
The contract extension Chow agreed to over the summer was formally approved last month; in the meantime, Neuheisel promised Saturday to continue "to evaluate the entire staff," with the suggestion more heads could be rolling soon. The odds that he'll be spared a decision on Chow by his departure to another school are dwindling. If Chow's still holding the offensive cards in 2011, it's an all-in bet on a hand that hasn't come close to paying off so far, and it may be the last one Neuheisel gets.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Brandon Dubinsky Matt Duchene Gabriel Dumont Philippe Dupuis
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