Best for last

For those of us sick of the SEC dominating after less then one week of the 2008 season, UCLA's overtime victory over Tennessee was sweet relief.

I'm still trying to figure out how the Vols failed to extend more of a lead in the first half after four UCLA INT's. Even after what appeared to be an extremely demoralizing pick-six by UT late in the first half, Rocky Top was only up by a TD.

The real question of course is does Tennessee stink? Maybe. Volunteer fans can't deny the following, Phil Fulmer is really, really fat.

And I hate to make too many observations based on only one game. It's possible that this game will ultimately mark the day the power started to shift back to Westwood as far as college football in L.A. is concerned.

For those of you that have never been to UCLA, the campus is ridiculous. If you walk around that place on a sunny day and don't want to enroll immediately you're either dead or in need of a lobotomy.

The point being, yes Southern Cal has something going that has not been seen in some time. The Bruins have something to offer though too. If I'm Rick Neuheisel the plan is simple.

- Stick to southern CA as far recruiting is concerned. There is enough talent there to keep both the Trojans and the Bruins stocked for years.

- Convince recruits that they have a far easier road to a starting slot at UCLA then they will at Southern Cal

- Sell Westwood. Then tell them about how students still get regularly carjacked around the USC campus which is located in south central Los Angeles.

- Win.

Neuheisel has shown he can win at Colorado and Washington. My guess is after being exiled from college football for five years that he'll keep his nose clean going forward as far as the NCAA is concerned.

Last night you also saw a depleted UCLA team gut out a very nice win against a quality opponent. I'm guessing if you went man-for-man on those two rosters last night that UCLA would appear somewhat in terms of measurables. And yet there were the Bruins gutting out a win against the Tennessee Volunteers after an abysmal first half of offensive football.

I'm not going to take much away from Pete Carroll here. However, the few close games they've been in as of late, I seem to remember them losing. When Southern Cal wins, it seems to be by 30 more often then not. The Stanford game and Texas games stand out as recent examples of Southern Cal not being able to handle tight games. It's not surprising considering they crush almost everyone.

Last night Rick Neuheisel showed he can do just that, and here's to ya Ricky! Ultimately what I'm hoping is that UCLA can take some of the air out of the USC sails going forward. We'll see.