Once scheduled for a Saturday, UCLA’s final nonconference game was quietly pushed up a day last spring to provide a bigger spotlight for the Bruins.
It revealed perhaps the biggest embarrassment of the early college football season.
There’s no other way to spin it for UCLA after a third consecutive loss during what was supposed to be the soft part of the schedule raised a frightening prospect: Will the Bruins win a game this season?
They didn’t look capable of beating a quality high school team after dropping a second consecutive game to a Mountain West Conference opponent.
UCLA’s 35-10 loss to New Mexico on Friday night at the Rose Bowl represented new depths after the Bruins once again looked lost on both sides of the ball.
“It’s pretty low right now,” UCLA coach DeShaun Foster acknowledged after stoically walking off the field and later remaining expressionless when he met with reporters. “I’ve been around this program for a long time and it’s just unfortunate, what’s going on right this moment. Just not executing.”
It appears to be a lot more than that for a team that has been outscored by a combined 108-43 margin this season, a figure that would be even worse had two Lobos drives not ended inside UCLA’s five-yard line on a fumble and a turnover on downs.
UCLA coach Deshaun Foster walks off the field after a 35-10 loss to New Mexico at the Rose Bowl on Friday night.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Fans started streaming out of the stands midway through the fourth quarter after New Mexico’s Damon Bankston turned a short pass into a 43-yard touchdown, breaking a couple of tackles along the way.
UCLA is not only 0-3 for the first time since 2019, the Bruins have not held a lead this season after falling into another big hole on a night they were 15.5-point favorites. Their defense gave up 6.5 yards per carry and 298 rushing yards against the Lobos (2-1). They were outgained, 450-326, in total yardage. They committed 13 penalties for 116 yards after Foster said reducing penalties would be a priority.
“It blows my mind, you know?” Foster said when asked about his discipline message not getting through to his players. “It blows my mind. It’s something I’ve never been around and we’re going to figure it out.”
A bye week before opening Big Ten play on the road against Northwestern will certainly lead to a long list of questions for Foster after his record fell to 5-10 early in his second season.
Among the possible queries: How does he account for a team that appears as bad on offense as defense after adding star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the biggest name in the transfer portal? Can he rally his team for one victory during a season in which it might not be favored the rest of the way?
Foster insisted he was still the right coach to lead this team. What makes him feel that way?
“Because I can get these boys to play,” he said.
Does Foster agree with those who have remarked that it appears as if he’s overmatched?
“Nope,” he said. “Not at all.”
Foster said a lack of talent was not the issue after a roster overhaul that required 57 players, including 37 transfers in their first season.
“We have enough,” Foster said. “We just have to execute. It’s coming down to execution.”
What makes him think that after back-to-back losses to opponents from a lesser conference?
“There’s people wide open,” Foster said, “they’re not getting the ball, there’s people not catching the ball, there’s people missing blocks, there’s people not making tackles, people not staying in their gaps.”
The Bruins were staring into the abyss after Bankston (154 yards in 15 carries) ran for a two-yard touchdown that put the Lobos up 21-10 with 10:42 left in the game.
It only got worse from there, after things had tilted in the Bruins’ direction in the third quarter when UCLA forced its first turnover of the season.
With New Mexico facing a fourth and one at the Bruins’ five-yard line, Deshaun Buchanan ran for two yards before having the ball stripped by UCLA safety Key Lawrence. Bruins defensive end Devin Aupiu recovered the fumble to thwart the drive.
The Bruins soon benefited from another Lobos mistake after Will Karoll’s punt was muffed and recovered by Kyle Miller at the UCLA 41.
UCLA wide receiver Mikey Matthews is upended by New Mexico cornerback Jon Johnson (12) and safety Caleb Coleman in the first half Friday at the Rose Bowl.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
UCLA eventually drove for Mateen Bhaghani’s 51-yard field goal that shaved the Bruins’ deficit to 14-10 late in the third quarter, but only after left tackle Garrett DiGiorgio was called for false starts on back-to-back plays.
“We gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot, man,” Iamaleava said, “and it’s costing us points.”
It was a third consecutive ho-hum performance for Iamaleava, who has now lost as many games as a Bruin as he did in his final season at Tennessee. The quarterback completed 22 of 34 passes for 217 yards to go with one touchdown and one interception on a tipped pass.
In keeping with an early season tradition, UCLA found itself down by multiple scores before posting its first points. After trailing 20-0 against Utah and 23-0 against Nevada Las Vegas, the Bruins fell behind 14-0 against the Lobos after displaying more leaky defense and sputtering offense.
New Mexico hurt UCLA with both the run and the pass, following Scottre Humphrey’s one-yard run with Jack Layne’s eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Simon Mapa on fourth and two early in the second quarter.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava runs with the ball during the first half of the Bruins’ loss to New Mexico on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Boos could be heard inside the stadium. More embarrassingly, the Big Sky Conference’s official Twitter site responded to a post jokingly saying that UCLA was reportedly exploring a move to its conference by responding, “No thank you.”
Finally mustering a counter thanks in part to a roughing the passer penalty on the Lobos, UCLA finally got on the board when Iamaleava zipped a 12-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala midway through the second quarter.
The Bruins then mismanaged a final drive before halftime with questionable playcalling and timeout usage. But there was no second-guessing of Foster from his quarterback after the game.
“I totally believe in coach Foster, man,” Iamaleava said. “You know, he gives me self-belief every day I come in the building to go and work. [He] just gives you that want to go out there and practice and practice hard. So, you know, we’re doing him a disservice, not performing for him ‘cause he’s telling us everything we need to hear, he’s telling us everything we need to do, and we’re not executing as players. So it all falls back on the players.”
Ultimately, reminded of his team’s deficiencies across the board, Foster took some responsibility.
“Everything that happens can fall on me,” Foster said. “I’m the head coach, so it can fall on me. We don’t have to try to word things differently or whatnot. I’m the head coach. But what I do know is that eventually this team’s gonna play with discipline. It’s gonna happen. It’s eventually gonna happen.”
The big question facing UCLA and its coach during what figures to be a frustrating fortnight: When?
