Defensive Line Shines As UCLA Bruins Senior Mauls Hawai’i Offensive Line

The UCLA Bruins were pushed to the brink by the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors on Saturday afternoon, but that wasn’t because of the Bruins’ defensive line. The front was able to rack up 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. There were only a couple of reasons they escaped with a win. That’s most of them.

The pressure was coming from all over the place. Eight players were credited with at least half a sack and 13 players logged at least half a tackle for loss.

UCLA Bruins Defensive Gamewrecker, Jay Toia Unlocks D-Line

But it was the play of one player that allowed the others to eat. While it won’t reflect on the stat sheet, senior Jay Toia was the defensive line game wrecker. Officially he earned half a sack, but he was a double and triple team magnate who allowed the likes of Jacob Busic, Kain Medrano, and Keanu Williams to look so good.

There was a time this spring when Toia’s place on the team came into question when he decided to enter the transfer portal on April 18th. By the 22nd of the same month, he decided to stay with the UCLA Bruins for what will be his last season.

The 6-foot-3, 325-pound Toia, who began his career at USC, has started 24 games over the past two seasons for UCLA. He had 28 tackles, including four for loss and a sack, last fall as the Bruins finished No. 2 nationally against the run and No. 14 in points allowed. He had 30 tackles, including three for loss, and a forced fumble in 2022.

The UCLA Bruins will face its first Big 10 conference game against the Indiana Hoosiers. In their first game, the Hoosiers offensive line allowed three tackles for loss including two sacks against the Florida International Panthers.

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