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Tuesday, October 26 Updated: November 4, 11:07 AM ET Another tough loss |
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(Editor's note: UCLA wide receiver Danny Farmer will file a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more information on the Bruins, visit the official UCLA site.) Oct. 26, 1999 The Oregon State game (a 55-7 loss) was a difficult thing to swallow. We didn't play very well. We went up there and I think everyone was ready to play, but then we just made a lot of mistakes and didn't do the right things on offense to score any points.
We only had seven points and it's difficult because this offense shouldn't be scoring seven points in the last two games (Cal beat UCLA 17-0 two weeks ago). It just shouldn't happen that way. I think a lot of people are frustrated, but we have to stay positive. Coach Bob Toledo sat us down on Monday and said that we all have to play together. If you look at the film of the game, people were playing good football except on certain plays. Certain individuals weren't in the right places at the right times. There is no pointing fingers because everyone made certain mistakes that need to get corrected in order for us to play 11-man football, and that's what you need to be really successful. This week against Arizona is going to be another challenge because Arizona is a great team. The Wildcats came into the season looking for a national title and lost a few games early, but I think they are a tough team. Their loss last week against Oregon is in the back of our minds because we beat Oregon and I think we will use that as motivation. Knowing that will give us a little boost of confidence. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game. We've played them tough the last few years, so I think this is going to be an exciting game. My most memorable game against Arizona was probably last year. It was tough going out to Arizona and playing in front of a hostile crowd with a bunch of screaming fans against us. What was great about that game was that it was close throughout halftime and once the fourth quarter started, we really put the pressure on and made some big plays that helped us win that game. I think we scored three touchdowns on three straight drives. We really fought hard for four quarters and came through with a victory in the end.
As far as my health is concerned, it has been a very frustrating year for me. I hurt my ankle and missed two of the first three games and have only been able to play in two games where I really felt strong. After pulling my groin against Cal, it was difficult to be up at Oregon State and not participate as much as I would've liked to. I only played three plays and kind of injured my groin again, so I think it's difficult watching from the sidelines. It has taught me that I have to remain positive and stay motivated and I think that's what is going to happen. I'll be motivated for the last three games because I hope to be able to participate and hopefully contribute to this team to qualify for a bowl. A lot of people are starting to discuss the BCS ranking system since it came out for the first time this week. We were ranked No. 1 for a little while last year and I think it's an OK system. It's a good way to solve just who is No. 1, even though a playoff system would probably be the best way to do it. Right now, you never really know who is the best team at the end of the year. You have teams with one loss, even two losses, that could possibly be the best team at the end of the season. A playoff system is something that definitely needs to happen within the next few years to really decide who the best college football team is. That would really stress who is persistent enough to win a national championship. In regards to being a student-athlete at UCLA, it's not very easy. What a lot of people don't understand is that UCLA is in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world, so obviously whatever a student athlete does is under a microscope. Being a student-athlete here is not an easy task, to say the least. There is a lot of TV exposure, a lot of media coverage and just a lot of things that go on here in L.A. that really concentrate on athletics. With the city not having a pro football team, college football gets looked at a lot more here in the area which adds a lot of pressure. For me, though, I think it's been easy because I've always kind of not really worried about what the media says or what's going on with all the hype and all the exposure. Those things aren't important unless you win games. That's something that I've learned here at UCLA. That none of that stuff matters if you're not winning. |
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