Ranked in the top 25 and undefeated heading into their first Pac-12 conference game of the season, the UCLA Bruins were unable to wrangle the Oregon State Beavers, dropping a tough 27-20 game and forcing many to revaluate the Bruins' position in the Pac-12 moving forward.
The guys over at Bruins Nation were most concerned about the performance of Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion, and what his strong showing proved about the Bruins secondary.
A question many of us had today was "what the hell was going on with the secondary" and that question popped up as Mannion found receiver after receiver, even when he is pressured. There was no help, Sheldon Price being burned all day, and eventually yanked later in the game after allowing another touchdown.
Looking for the coaching staff to make adjustments — as they had in the Bruins' first three victories of 2012 — Bruins Nation was disappointed to see little change come the second half.
The last three games, we saw second half adjustments that led to our victories. This time... not so much. What did we see in the second half? Well we saw the defense pick it up a bit in the second half, with two straight turnovers, forcing a fumble (hell yes, Anthony Barr with the sack and strip) and an interception (hell yes, Stan McKay) but we fail to take advantage...
For more Bruins coverage, check out all the posts over at Bruins Nation.