A couple of my observations on the game
 

You guys have made some very good points about the game already, most of which I agree with.

In addition:

Numbers for our TEs: 9 recs for 148 yards. Pitta is a stud. He's got hands like Harline, but has better speed and a knack for getting open. I love the guy. George and So'oto are studs as well.

I agree that Santiago looked terrible, but his numbers aren't all that bad really. 8 punts, avg 42.4 yards. "Only" 48 punt return yards. I think we have to remember that the offense was pathetic in the first half, making him look even worse when he "boots" the ball to the UCLA 45. He was, after all, kicking from his own goalline most of the time. Punt coverage was much better today as well, compared to last week.

Fui just don't look right. The emergence of Unga has made it less noticeable, but both he and Tonga have been complete non-factors so far this year.

Did anyone get a good look at that play in the second quarter where I think it was Kehl looked like he tipped the ball off the ground to Doman for the interception that was called back? First glance it sure looked good to me. Kehls reaction to the play was very convincing, if it did in fact hit the ground.

Along the same lines, I disagree with non-sequitor about the fumble call on Pitta. I thought it was clear both live and on the replay that his knee was down before the ball came loose. Terribly camera work cost us in both cases, imo.

Finally, why is Austin Collie returning kicks? That just scares me. There's too much that can go wrong on a kick return to lose arguably your best player.

It sounds like you guys could use Sakota. He is a kick-ass punter. Pinned the Falcons inside the 5 twice today.

Yikes! Did I just say that out loud?

Why did we seemingly see so little of Unga in the first half? Is there some method to Bronco/Anae's madness on this? Fui doesn't look right, but he plays and has little impact. I would argue that Tonga's impact is less obvious, but is there and integral (great pick on blitz' etc.). As for Unga, it seems that everytime he touches the ball something good happens. I don't get why he doesn't get 60%-70% of the reps right now.

In the end though, it probably wasn't Fui's lack of production that lost the game for us. Gotta do something about those turnovers and couldn't we have at least had one of those reviews go our way?

Hall was The Man.

In Bronco I trust.

I hated losing a game we should have won, but for Hall's fumble.

UCLA will lose a game or two this season. They are not that good. Olson is a very mediocre QB. Hall may end up being very good.

I think you should call it "Reynolds fumble" and not "Hall's fumble". Reynolds got worked by that All-American end of UCLA's. The speed rush from the outside killed us.

Amen to that. I felt bad for Reynolds.

Is Reynolds LT or RT?

LT. So it exposed Hall's blind side. On at least two occasions he completely wiffed the DE, both leading to sacks. The second one was disastrous as we were on about the UCLA 12 yard line driving for the winning score midway through the fourth quarter and Hall fumbled the ball as he was hit. We lost our momentum at this point.

Ouch.

Boone was the LT for the Utes before his injury during camp. It sounds like this Reynolds guy is going to be in for another good day next week.

Not that it matters, but wasn't Reden the culprit on one of those sacks? One of the unmentioned themes and IMO one of the keys of the game was a somewhat disappointing performance by the oline. We certainly didn't control the line of scrimmage for much of the game, though there were some flashes of brilliance. Aulai hurt us a few times with penalties as well.

I also think this may end up being like Arizona/ BC last year, the one that got away. I'm interested to see how we respond next week. I think we'll win, and I'm not sure it will even be close. I am more interested if the offense can produce clean, mistake free drives.
________
S Thunder Composite Pistol Launcher Agl Sb01