By Mark Pszonak
This has already been an interesting and action-packed year for UCLA. And after their performance during a 42-13 home loss to Indiana in their first game as a member of the Big Ten, it will also be very painful to watch.
2024 began with Chip Kelly abruptly resigning on February 9th. While him leaving wasn’t a shocker, him leaving to take a coordinator position at Ohio State was a head scratcher for many.
On the bright side, the Bruins officially joined the Big Ten during the summer, but then that soured when new head coach DeShaun Foster gave one of the most awkward press conferences in media day history. You can check that out here:
For those wanting to learn more about UCLA as a program, HC Deshaun Foster breaks it down:
In LA ✅
Excited ✅
pic.twitter.com/WsLBp63S05— Barstool Big Ten (@BarstoolB1G) July 24, 2024
The hope was that the start of the season would wash away the bad taste from the press conference, but after an unnecessarily hard fought 16-13 victory at Hawaii and the loss to the Hoosiers, the season is quickly making things even worse. And the bigger problem is, looking at the schedule, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
More Sports News
Next is a non-conference trip to #16 LSU, then back home to play #9 Oregon, only to fly cross-country to #10 Penn State the following Saturday. Before their next bye they return home to play Minnesota, before once again flying across the country to play at Rutgers. UCLA will be flying approximately 12,700 miles during this next five-game stretch.
After their performance through two games, is there any possible way that the Bruins aren’t 1-6 or at the very best 2-5 after this stretch?
On the bright side, the travel schedule calms down after that, with their furthest trip being to Nebraska over the final five games. The problem is that the Bruins play USC and Iowa at home and also have a trip to Washington in November.
An argument can already be made that Coach Foster is in over his head, and while that may be true, the Bruins’ schedule would also be difficult for a successful veteran coach to navigate. It doesn’t help that the roster isn’t very good or have much depth, which can mostly be blamed on Coach Kelly.
Coach Foster needs to be given a bit of time to try and right the ship, but that will be easier said than done after the extremely rough voyage that lies ahead this season. Welcome to the Big Ten!
