ESPN College Football

Jim L. Mora, a two-time NFL head coach with almost no college experience, is UCLA's new football coach, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com.

And UCLA made the official announcement a short time later.

Mora, 50, is currently an analyst for the NFL Network. He was fired from his last coaching job -- a single season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009 -- after going 5-11. His only college coaching experience? He was a graduate assistant in 1984 at Washington, where he played from 1980-83.

Are Bruins fans going to immediately embrace this hire with buzzing enthusiasm? Probably not, particularly after Arizona and Washington State made splashier hires with Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach.

I like how ESPN LA's Peter Yoon describes things here:

True, Mora isn’t exactly the splashy, big-name hire many UCLA fans were hoping to land, but there are reasons to believe his hire makes a lot of sense.

First, he has no UCLA ties in his past. Second, he is a defensive-minded coach. Third, he has no noteworthy experience as a college coach.

That bucks the trend of the past three UCLA coaches who are seen as the holy triumvirate of mediocrity. Bob Toledo, Karl Dorrell and Neuheisel were all Bruins assistants at some point before they became head coach; Dorrell and Neuheisel were UCLA players.

Before joining Seattle, Mora served as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2004-2006. In his first season with Atlanta, the Falcons went 11-5 and made it to the NFC championship game. His teams went 8-8 and 7-9 the next two seasons and he was fired. But keep in mind, he was dealing with QB Michael Vick -- a stellar talent with a terrible work ethic and attitude at that time, something Vick has owned up to after he got out of jail.

A former Washington Husky reserve who played for Don James, Mora is a defensive guy with a strong resume working with secondaries.

That last part should be encouraging for Bruins fans. His area of specialization is stopping the pass. There, you might have heard, is a lot of throwing in these parts.

Mora also has the potential to be a charismatic recruiter. The parallel UCLA folks are surely thinking of -- whether they want to or not -- is USC's hire of Pete Carroll in 2001. Carroll had little college experience and was generally thought of as a mediocre-to-bad NFL head coach. Just about everyone panned his hire and mocked then-athletic director Mike Garrett's bumbling coaching search (which was a true comedy of errors and sloppiness).

Trojans fans eventually changed their feelings. There's a possibility that Mora will do the same.

"As someone who has been around the game of football my entire life, I have always held the UCLA job in the highest esteem," Mora said in a statement. "Given its location and its tradition, UCLA is truly a sleeping giant and I realize that an opportunity of this magnitude doesn't present itself more than once in a career, so I jumped at the chance to be a Bruin."

It's fair to say Mora was the Bruins' third choice. Boise State's Chris Petersen and Miami coach Al Golden both rejected previous entreaties.

I know UCLA fans don't always appreciate using USC as a measuring stick, but, again, Carroll was the Trojans fourth choice after an 18-day search. He was widely seen as a lightweight.

So this is an outside-of-the-box hire. At the very least, skeptical Bruins fans can grab hold of that.

Further, it's worth noting that a massively negative reaction would serve no useful purpose for the program. In fact, 11 other Pac-12 programs are likely poised to print out such reactions and use them against the Bruins in recruiting.

Meanwhile, the Bruins will play Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 31 with interim coach Mike Johnson, who took over after Rick Neuheisel was fired two weeks ago.

Here's the LA Times on the Mora hiring.

The LA Daily News.

And the Orange County Register.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Few folks outside the Marshall locker room actually think Ohio State is in danger of losing tonight's season opener.

The Buckeyes are one of the nation's most complete teams, and their debut at The Shoe is viewed as the first step toward a potential national championship push.

So why should you pay attention to the game? Terrelle Pryor, of course.

Regardless of the final score, Pryor's performance against the Thundering Herd will be heavily scrutinized. Can he build off of his masterful performance in Pasadena against Oregon? How are his decision-making skills? Has he fully earned coach Jim Tressel's trust to operate in an expanded offensive system? Is he a legit Heisman Trophy candidate or just a byproduct of the college football hype machine?

Pryor is always the story at Ohio State, good or bad. He doesn't particularly like it, but he accepts it. He's used to being the center of attention.

"Everyone just praises you and holds you on a pedestal all the time," Pryor recently told ESPN.com. "Sometimes, it’s hard when you're getting more recognition than some of your teammates. I don't like that individually because I feel like everyone really should get the same recognition. But at the same time, that's the life we live in, the game that we play, and people love the quarterbacks and they put some people on different pedestals.

"You have to humble yourself."

Pryor sounds more humble these days, admitting that Ohio State's dominant defense has "bailed me out in a lot of games." The Buckeyes junior certainly has his share of critics, who harp on his passing mechanics and decision-making.

Many view him as overhyped and scoff at his 19-3 record as Ohio State's starting quarterback. Most agree that he has a lot more to prove this season.

"It comes with it," Pryor said of the criticism. "I watch a lot of Vince Young and Michael Vick and guys like that, they’re scrutinized guys and [critics] try to jump on people. I'm in the learning process, and whatever people have to say about me, that's what they've got to say.

"It's not going to bother me, it's not going to stop me from doing what my goals are and what I want to accomplish."

His short-term goals are simple: don't turn the ball over, make his throws in the right place and take checkdowns when necessary. Time will tell if Pryor is a better quarterback, but he sounds like a smarter one after two full years in the program.

"He's made light years [improvement] in his accuracy," wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell told reporters this week. "Understanding coverages, he's light years [ahead]. He'll be fun to watch this year."

Asked about the Heisman race, Pryor delivers the first of many stiff-arms this season.

"To tell you the truth, I just go out and ball, that's it," he said. "Lead the offense, put points on the board. It doesn't matter who we're playing. We do our thing, and we'll go into every game and execute, execute, execute.

"We do that, we'll be fine."

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Terrelle Pryor's right arm and legs will go a long way toward determining Ohio State's success or failure against USC on Saturday (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), but the space under the quarterback's left eye continues to draw more attention.

Pryor displayed his support for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick by wearing "Vick" on one of his eyeblack stickers during the season opener against Navy. The sophomore explained later that he has always looked up to Vick and looks past Vick's shortcomings off the field.

"Not everybody is the perfect person in the world," Pryor said of Vick. "Everyone does -- kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me. I just feel that people need to give him a chance."

The tribute and Pryor's comments have drawn some mixed reviews. Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel, who said he wasn't aware of the Vick sticker until told about it after the game, doesn't have a strict policy on eyeblack displays.

"It's a little bit tough in this country to have too much of a policy on personal expression, but it's unfortunate when that distracts from situations that were so extraordinary as the weekend we had," Tressel said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "And I guess you'd have to know Terrelle like I know Terrelle. There's probably not a more compassionate human being in the world than Terrelle."

Tressel recalled how Pryor sent him a text message Monday night saying the team needed to provide a boost for junior wide receiver Taurian Washington, who dropped two passes against Navy. Pryor also sent Tressel a text after Ohio State's loss to LSU in the BCS title game, which read, "Don't worry about it, Coach. We're going to get it done in the future."

Though Pryor's tribute to Vick caused a stir, Tressel is confident the quarterback didn't intend to cause any harm.

"He's one of those guys that he feels terrible about anything that's not just right," Tressel said. "And I know he doesn't feel good that [the tribute] disappointed someone. And his intention would never be to make anyone disappointed about something.

"We all sometimes miss the mark, but as I say, teachable, learnable moment."

A few other notes from Buckeye land:

• Tressel said wide receiver/punt returner Ray Small looked better after a nasty bout with illness kept him off the field against Navy. An update on Small's status for the USC game will be provided Thursday. Wide receiver DeVier Posey is expected to return to practice in the next day or two after missing the second half of the Navy game with an ankle injury.
• USC safety Taylor Mays last month referred to Pryor as "the little deuce" and himself as "the big deuce." Both players wear No. 2. Tressel's response? "They're both big deuces if you ask me, man."
• Tressel called USC's return men "frightening."

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Not one time this past spring or this summer has Miami coach Randy Shannon heard any of his players utter a word about last year's 5-7 finish that included just two wins in the ACC.

"It's a great sign because they don't look back to what happened," said Shannon, who is entering his second season as head coach. "When you build on, you just keep looking forward. There's a saying -- when you failed at something you're trying to do, get rid of it quick and don't let nobody else know."

Unfortunately for Shannon, it's hard to hide in Coral Gables.

While both Miami and Florida State are trying to forget their recent struggles -- which are reflected in a combined 26-25 record over the past two seasons -- they are at the same time clinging onto their storied reputations of the past. Fair or not, both programs bear the burden of reverting back to their status as national title contenders in order for the ACC to improve its reputation and overall strength in comparison to the BCS heavyweights.

"Sooner or later we'll get there," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "One of us. There are too many good teams in it now. There are going to be years where we do better, there are going to be years where (the SEC does) better, there will be years the Big 10 does better ... that all varies from year to year. You know the amazing thing -- Florida State right now is 7-6, 7-6 -- all it takes is one good year to year to erase it. All of a sudden you're back. Nothing lasts forever. Being down ain't gonna last forever."

Meanwhile, it's not like other schools in the conference haven't been pulling their weight. Wake Forest is winning. North Carolina is rising. Clemson is regarded as one of the top 10 teams in the country this season. But none of those programs can boast Miami's five national championships, or Florida State's two national titles and 12 ACC championships.

The ACC's 1-9 record in BCS games is one of the most referenced statistics when measuring how the league stacks up against the other conferences. Still, its weaknesses can't entirely be pinned on expansion. Boston College won the 2007 Atlantic Division title and finished in the Top 10 rankings for the first time since 1984. Virginia Tech has won two of the past four ACC titles and -- for the most part -- done its part.

"It hurt us losing in the Orange Bowl for reputation purposes," Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon said. "I think it's a common misperception that since Miami and Florida State are the class of the conference that it's a down year for the conference. ... Look at the NFL draft. I don't think it's a lack of talent, but I will say the SEC seems to be the strongest conference."

The NFL draft is evidence the league is loaded with talent, but the players who are being drafted are often usually offensive and defensive tackles, and defensive ends. With the exception of Matt Ryan, who was chosen in the third round, the last highest ACC quarterback drafted was Virginia Tech's Michael Vick in 2001. Beyond that it would have been Vinny Testaverde in 1987.

Still, the ACC leads all conferences in the last three years in overall players drafted with 115, including 25 first round picks. The SEC, which has had 21 first-round draft selections and 112 players selected overall, is second, but is 6-1 in its BCS bowls over the past five seasons.

"Right now the SEC is on top of the pendulum," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. "Back when Miami and Florida State were running college football and Florida State was the team in the decade of the 90s, where was the SEC? Those two teams owned college football for what, 10 years? The SEC was answering the same questions, but they responded pretty good. I would say the ACC will bounce back at some point."

When that happens depends mostly on Florida State and Miami.

Instead of forgetting the past, now is the time for both programs to embrace it.