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UCLA's oft-repeated goal of 2011 has been to win the Pac-12 title. The coaching staff and players held firm to this even after losing two of their three nonconference games, attesting that it was only the "preseason" and the real season begins with conference play.
That meant a clash with Stanford, which has been ranked in the top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks and yet isn't even the favorite to win the conference, provided the Bruins a measuring stick for where their football program really is.
Coach Rick Neuheisel said during a Sunday night teleconference the differences between the two programs were obvious after UCLA's 45-19 loss.
"We've got to be a little bigger," Neuheisel said. "They were clearly bigger across their offensive line than we were. We have to continue to build in our strength, recruit bigger kids and develop them. Their quarterback is as advertised. Their tight end is terrific. I thought their defense across the front was playing very hard.
"In terms of wide receivers and linebackers and other places, I don't see much of a difference. I believe as we get more experience in some of those places, we'll be in great shape.
"I don't think we're far away."
MISTAKES STAND OUT
Neuheisel said UCLA made two deadly mistakes Saturday: Taylor Embree's muffed punt in the third quarter, and the offense getting stuffed at the goal line on the game's opening possession, this after a first-and-goal situation from the 4.
"I see improvement," Neuheisel said. "We played a good team, a top-10 team in the country and they played like it.
"We're going to have to keep working at it. I believe we have the talent to get it done."
That sentiment becomes only more polarizing as UCLA (2-3) continues to lose, especially in blowout fashion. If the Bruins have the talent they say they do, why are they still falling so short of their goals?
Neuheisel bristled when asked if that was on the coaches or the players: "I'm not going to point fingers."
Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com
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