Well, that was rough. With the exception of me, who welcomed a new baby girl into the world this week and got to witness my diehard UCLA Bruins fan dad watching Saturday night’s contest with his new-born granddaughter by his side in the living room for her first football game, a memory I’ll have forever, it was a traumatic experience for the rest of Bruin Nation. Believe it or not, Oregon dropped a touchdown pass, overthrew a wide-open receiver for an additional touchdown, had a pass catcher slip at the goal line resulting in a turnover, and generally looked bored in the second half…otherwise, this 38-13 drubbing could have been much, much worse.
The same themes reared their ugly heads over the past two weeks – severely unsatisfactory play in both trenches making the Bruins’ ability to sustain even a competitive level in BIG-10 for 2024 highly doubtful. For the third straight game, the defensive line didn’t record a sack and allowed an opponent to be 60%+ on third down conversions with the Ducks going 9/15.
On the flip side, the offensive line allowed four sacks, seven tackles for loss, and conceded relentless ambushes on Ethan Garbers before he was finally knocked out of the game in the 4th quarter with an ankle injury. Outside of a 96-yard interception return by Bryan Addison, a former Duck exacting sweet revenge, and two TJ Harden 15+ yard runs, bright spots were few and far between.
It begs the question, where do the Bruins go from here? Here are three recommendations.
Tight Ends & Fullbacks
We’ve talked repeatedly on The Bruin Bible podcast about Eric Bieniemy’s offense being overly complex for his players to absorb given it lacks a framework emphasizing core principles. There’s enough data after four games to suggest Bieniemy has two choices moving forward: a.) either eliminate all five and seven-step drops from the playbook and exclusively have Garbers utilize two-read throws or b.) start playing exclusively in two tight end personnel or permanently bringing in a fullback. The former limits the playbook while the latter can expand it.
The Bruins need to utilize 12 or 22 personnel as their base offense moving forward. Having Moliki Matavao and Bryce Pierre as a dual tight-end combination would add an additional blocker at the line of scrimmage while enabling unique route combinations at the short to intermediate levels of the field. Furthermore, Army transfer Anthony Adkins’s role as an exclusive fullback would allow TJ Harden to have a lead blocker and make running lanes even more obvious, while also having him serve as a chipper on edge rushes while providing supplementary blitz protection.
UCLA Bruins Defensive Line Rotation
Outside of Jay Toia and now with an injured Keanu Williams, the Bruins have a systemic challenge of defensive line talent, depth, and physicality. If you can’t beat them with quality, you have to hit them with quantity. It is time for defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe to create the John Calipari “platoon” concept he instantiated with Kentucky basketball – the equivalent of a hockey line change. Asking where Collins Acheampong and Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi are in this rotation is the equivalent of asking “Where’s Waldo” at this point. These are two very credible talents who need to see the field more and ensure the relative freshness of all the linemen over four quarters.
Sitting Garbers for Happy Valley
The numbers don’t show it, and his consistency hasn’t been ideal, but Ethan Garbers has fought valiantly this season amidst a near-impossible circumstance with the offensive line. He’s been dealt with trench play so porous that his leading rusher has 125 yards over four games and the rushing attack is ranked 132nd out of 133 FBS teams. Having Garbers out there with nearly nine minutes left down 21 and clearly compromised physically was questionable at best and reckless at worst. It once again brings into question the judgment of head coach DeShaun Foster.
The rookie head coach has an opportunity to exhibit strong critical thinking this week in how he actively calibrates the Garbers’ ankle. If Garbers is less than 80% health-wise, Foster should sit the senior signal caller because the Bruins season truly begins after the upcoming contest against Penn State. Assuming the Bruins go to 1-4 after Saturday, the opportunity to refresh with a 5-2 finish down the stretch. At this point, becoming bowl-eligible needs to be the focus. Having Garbers healthy for that stretch run while simultaneously giving Justyn Martin an incredible first-career start experience going into next year’s quarterback competition would be doubly prudent.
The criticality of DeShaun Foster’s first year ending with a bowl game cannot be overstated. The domino effect for recruiting, retention, and investment in 2025 and beyond hangs in the balance. Let’s see if these adjustments come to life next week.