UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Believes Bruins Are Improving Despite Poor Results

Jeremy Hanna | Oct 2, 2024

Sep 14, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster reacts after the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins are licking their wounds once again after a massive 34-13 loss to the Oregon Ducks.

This comes after two other lopsided defeats against the Indiana Hoosiers (42-13) and the LSU Tigers (34-17).

Despite this, head coach DeShaun Foster can see the improvements that UCLA Football has been making this season.

“I know y’all see it — some of you choose not to,” Foster said, per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times, “but they’re improving and we’re just going to continue to improve and keep working hard and eventually it’s going to turn around.”

In the end, Foster was proud that the Bruins kept fighting even though everything seemed hopeless against Oregon.

“It’s our actions,” Foster said. “Actions speak louder than words. We’ve got to change our actions out there on the field and hopefully that will fix some stuff.”

However, Foster can still see areas where the team can improve. Mostly, in protecting quarterback Ethan Garbers.

“You know, it’s hard to play quarterback when you’re not upright,” Foster said, “so he’s a tough kid and he’s trying to find ways to make plays and it’s just unfortunate, what’s happened, but I’m riding with Ethan no matter what.”

Center Josh Carlin agreed with Foster, saying it was the offensive line's job to protect him and they failed.

“I was talking to him, and I told him that as the leader of the offensive line, we need to figure this out," Carlin said. "We need to keep him up. We failed at that miserably. We got to start taking pride and not let him get hurt and not let him get touched so he can operate this offense.”

Another spot where UCLA can improve is on defense. This was the third game in a row where the Bruins didn't secure a sack, allowing Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to complete 31 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns.

The only glimmer of life from the UCLA defense was when safety Bryan Addison recorded an interception that turned into a 96-yard touchdown.

Still, Foster acknowledged that there was an overall lack of pressure, largely due to the loss of star edge rusher Laiatu Latu, who now plays in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.

“It’s a tough thing to replace a player of his caliber,” Foster said, “but as long as we can continue to make efforts to do so, eventually you’re going to see a change.”

Hopefully, some change will be seen quickly as the Bruins' schedule only gets more difficult with games against Penn State and Minnesota in the next two weeks.

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