UCLA Bruins Preview 2024
You’re here reading this hoping to learn a little something about UCLA football.
Maybe you’re looking for an insider's professional take on what life will be like now that the program - a program that should be FAR better at college football - is in the Big Ten. With that, the official CFN corporate stance on your 2024 UCLA Bruins is ...
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Ummmmmmmm.”
You have a first time head coach in DeShaun Foster - (side note: I instinctively type Watson after DeShaun EVERY time, so when I don’t catch it like I just did, please be kind) - and he’ll need time and room to grow into the gig …
And Eric Bieniemy is his offensive coordinator - a guy who could easily be the head man for some NFL team as we speak. The coaching will be fine.
The Bruins lost a ton of talent to the pros and the transfer portal …
And yet they have as many, if not more, returning starters than a slew of Big Ten teams, including the two that just played for the national title. There's still talent in place.
UCLA hasn’t had a ten-win season since 2014, hasn’t had an 11-win season ever, playing in the Rose Bowl is apparently a problem when it comes to attracting fans, and the school that’s become harder to get into than a Taylor Swift concert for less than the gross national product of Bolivia is just getting around to joining the modern era of college sports.
(Really? The school of Sam Gilbert isn’t totally crushing the NIL space?)
Oh, and the former head coach went from movies to TV, leaving a head coaching job at a major program to become an offensive coordinator. (Fine, so Chip Kelly being the OC at Ohio State this year is a big deal.)
Meanwhile, parts of the 2024 schedule would turn most programs into a quivering bowl of jelly, and yet at least six wins are there to be had in a what should be a true rebuilding year.
And even with all of that there seems to be something here. UCLA is the forgotten team in the mix of new Big Ten schools, and even if it isn't the best of the four, it might be the most interesting on a weekly basis.
So you want to know how good Ringo will be this season?
So do we.
UCLA Preview 2024: Offense
- Eric Bieniemy has plenty to work with. The first order of business for the new OC is to make the UCLA O far more consistent. The attack stalled and sputtered late, and overall it was feast or famine after the first few breather games.
Is Ethan Garbers really ready to take over as the full-time quarterback to lead the way? He did one very, very important thing better than super-prospect-turned-Oregon-Duck Dante Moore - he didn’t throw picks.
Turnovers were a massive problem for the Bruins, but Garbers threw just three interceptions. He’s accurate, good enough to win with, and …
- The Bruins have the receivers to do even more through the air. There might not be a killer No. 1, but this is a deep bunch that can stretch the field with J. Michael Sturdivant and TE Moliki Matavao able to make big things happen. Veteran volume-catcher Logan Loya is back after leading the team with 59 grabs.
- It’s DeShaun Foster and Eric Bieniemy coaching. They’re going to want to run the ball. The rushing attack led the Pac-12 last season, and it should be good again with TJ Harden and Keenan Jones in a rotation behind a good line that returns four starters.
UCLA Preview 2024: Defense
- Good luck trying to replicate the pass rush and playmaking of last year’s line. New Indianapolis Colt Laiatu Latu and Minnesota Viking Gabriel Murphy combined for 21 sacks and 37.5 tackles for loss form their edge rusher spots.
The Bruins are asking Navy transfer Jacob Busic and Devin Aupiu to try replicating the magic. That’s not happening, but they’ll hold up against the run around a great tackle combination of 300+ pounders Gary Smith and Jay Toia.
- The linebackers will be outstanding despite the loss of leading tackler Darius Muasau in the middle. Kan Medrano and Oluwafemi Oladejo are big hitters who were second and third in tackles, respectively.
- The transfer portal helped out the secondary in a big way. The corner combination of Devin Kirkwood and Jaylin Davies is set, but the safeties will be all about the transfers with Bryan Addison (Oregon), Ramon Henderson (Notre Dame), and KJ Wallace (Georgia Tech) instantly fixing the glitch.
UCLA Key To The Season
Score when there’s a chance.
The second-worst team in the nation in the red zone, UCLA scored a mere 63% of the time when getting inside the 20 and came up with touchdowns on just over half of the trips.
By comparison, the 2022 team scored 84% of the time and got a touchdown on 68% of the chances. So even though there might be several other important players who have to step up …
UCLA Key Player
PK Mateen Bhaghani, Soph.
UCLA kickers combined to hit just 8-of-17 field goals last season. There wasn’t any one big miss that cost the team a game, but the problems put the pressure on the O and the gameplan to close out drives. That’s where Bhaghani comes in. The Cal transfer hit 8-of-9 field goals and all 29 field goals last year.
UCLA Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: WR Rico Flores, Soph.
The UCLA receiving corps is in good shape, but it got more help for now and the next few years. The 6-2, 205-pound sophomore averaged 14.5 yards per catch on his 27 grabs last season for Notre Dame, and now he’ll be a part of the outside rotation as a deep threat.
Top Transfer Out: QB Dante Moore
Moore was supposed to be an Oregon Duck, then he became a big get for UCLA, led the team in passing, and now he’s an Oregon Duck again, likely sitting behind Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel. UCLA is fine with Ethan Garbers under center, but Moore was the high-ceiling prospect who could’ve made the program his.
UCLA Key Game
Minnesota, Oct. 12
There’s a strong chance that after starting with the Big Ten season against Indiana, UCLA will be on a three-game losing streak after going to LSU for a brutal non-conference date before returning to deal with Oregon before going back out to Happy Valley to deal with Penn State. This can flip fast, though.
Beat Minnesota, and with at Rutgers, Nebraska, and Iowa up next, there’s a shot at going on a run if the team can take care of home. That starts with beating the Gophers - the last meeting was a 17-3 Bruin win in 1978.
UCLA 10 Best Players
1. J. Michael Sturdivant, WR Jr.
2. Kain Medrano, LB Sr.
3. Ethan Garbers, QB Sr.
4. Logan Loya, WR Sr.
5. TJ Harden, RB Jr.
6. Moliki Matavao, TE Sr.
7. Jaylin Davies, CB Jr.
8. Jay Toia, DT Sr.
9. Oluwafemi Oladejo, LB Sr.
10. Devin Kirkwood, CB Sr.
UCLA 2023 Fun Stats
- Field Goals: Opponents 22-of-26, UCLA 8-of-17
- Rushing Yards: UCLA 2,573, Opponents 1,050
- Penalties: UCLA 92 for 755 yards, Opponents 72 for 621 yards
UCLA 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
The Bruins have a funky mix of must make three-foot putts and one massive gut punch of a three game run.
At LSU, Oregon, at Penn State. Good luck with that.
However, there’s no Michigan, Ohio State, or Wisconsin to deal with. Going across the country to face Rutgers is rough, but that’s the only trip outside of LA for five weeks and the last time outside of the Pacific Time Zone after October 5th.
They’ll get by Hawaii and Indiana early, Fresno State late, and sprinkle in just enough decent wins against okay-to-meh teams to give the new coaching staff a bowl trip.
Set The UCLA Win Total At … 6
Likely Wins: at Hawaii, Indiana
50/50 Games: Fresno State, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, at Rutgers, USC
Likely Losses: at LSU, at Penn State, at Washington
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