October 14, 1989 - #22 UCLA @ Arizona

1989 College Football - Pac 10 Conference

[@ShunyamNiketana]

David Eldridge was outstanding in this game -- cutting, slashing, sprinting, showing his strength, too.

[@Vonwra]

Ay that’s my high school’s conditioning coach #8 Reggie McGill

[@jordanmerchant8757]

In my opinion, this was when college-football was college-football, not an NFL feeder league. Love it

[@wespenn7243]

58:18 What an awesome Mom! She raised awesome men!

[@gmcneoplan84]

In 1989 UCLA's defense let them down a lot including in this game and in other key Pac-10 games. But that defense was chock full of very talented as well as some solid players that were better and more experienced down the line such as defensive backs Eric Turner (RIP; a First-round pick in the 1991 NFL Draft), Carlton Gray, Dion Lambert, and Matt Darby. Then at linebacker they had Roman Phifer, Rocen Keeton, Craig Davis, Marvcus Patton, and Stacy Argo. Then on the d-line they had Mike Lodish among others.

[@gmcneoplan84]

This game was the beginning of the end for QB Bret Johnson at UCLA.

[@gmcneoplan84]

The things that killed UCLA in 1989 were that Troy Aikman was gone. They lost a heck of a 1988 senior class (7 draft picks). They lost some seniors that didn't get drafted but were VERY helpful in P Harold Barkate, LB Chance Johnson (he had that key 4th quarter horse-collar sack on Rodney Peete in 1988), WR Brendan McCracken (marvelous TD catch vs. USC in '88), and linebackers Eric Smith and Billy Ray. Plus, the Bruins had a redshirt freshman QB in Bret Johnson who was young of course and more of a game manager in '89 than anything else. Continued.

[@gmcneoplan84]

*And lastly, UCLA did not have a star or a generational talent(s) at receiver or running back in 1989. Their best receiver was TE Charles Arbuckle,* an underused and underappreciated tight end for most of his time in Westwood. He got drafted in 1990, but that doesn't solve the fact that he was underused. *Scott Miller and Mike Farr were solid possession receivers and helpful here and there, but they weren't Flipper Anderson, Sean LaChappelle, Danny Farmer, or J.J. Stokes.* As for their running back core, it consisted of natural second string or second banana 🍌 running backs in Brian Brown and Shawn Wills and a young Kevin Williams who carried the Bruins running game in 1991.

[@theomegaman218]

What happened to UCLA in 1989? They almost had everyone back from last year. I know Johnson got the blame but this whole team looks terrible. 4 pro bowlers.

[@gmcneoplan84]

Bret Johnson was a game manager in 1989 and he wasn't ready to lead them for 11 straight games and he wasn't Troy Aikman (a lot of spoiled UCLA fans didn't understand that in 1989). He did his best as far as his experience and skill set for his redshirt freshman season was concerned though. *On the other hand, UCLA put a lot of pressure on him in '89 and then used him as a scapegoat (especially the Los Angeles media) for their 3-7-1 season like you said.* *Johnson didn't have superior talent around him on offense. They had a lot of second banana-type running backs carrying the ball for them in '89, solid possession receivers who weren't game changers, the offensive line had one really good player (Frank Cornish) with better and younger linemen waiting their turn for the 1990 through 1992 seasons.*

[@johe64]

2:15:50 LOLOLOLOL! UArizona....NEVER A ROSE BOWL.....EVER