UCLA Football: Have Bruins Solved Kicking Issues After Week 1?

The Bruins hit three of four field goals against Hawaii.

Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports

During Saturday's 16-13 win over Hawaii, UCLA football relied on three successfully made field goals to earn a comeback win. The Bruins hit three of their four field goal attempts and also nailed their lone extra point attempt to get the win.

The successful field goals stood out as a key difference from last season's Bruins, who had one of the most inconsistent kicking games during the 2023 season.

In 2023 the Bruins employed two kickers, RJ Lopez and Blake Glessner. Both kickers were solid on extra points — Lopez went 31 of 32 on extra points and Glessner was a perfect 13 of 13 — but could not reliably make a field goal.

Lopez made just six of his 11 field goal attempts, or 54.5 percent, with a long of a 47-yarder. He was best at a distance of 30-39 yards, successfully kicking four of those five attempts. He did not kick well in field goals of 40 yards or longer, making just one of his four attempts from that range.

Glessner hit just two of his six (33.3 percent) field goal attempts, with a long of 35 yards. Glessner kicked one of his two attempts from 20-29 yards, one of his two from 30-39 yards, and neither of his two attempts from 40-49 yards.

As a duo, Lopez and Glessner combined to make only 47.1 percent of their field goal attempts, and just one of their six attempts from 40 yards or longer.

The Bruins saw a much more encouraging start to their kicking on Saturday as Mateen Bhaghani made all three of his field goal attempts to seal a Bruin victory. This included two successful kicks between 30-39 yards, with a long of 37 yards.

Glessner attempted one field goal as one from over 50 yards out, but was unable to get his kick between the uprights.

Bhaghani transferred to UCLA from Cal, where he kicked during the 2023 season. Bhaghani attempted nine field goals for the Bears last season, making eight of his kicks. Bhaghani was perfect on kicks between 20-29 yards out and 40-49 yards, as well as three of four on kicks from 30-39 yards. His long was a 43-yard kick. Bhaghani additionally went 27-27 on extra point attempts.

Saturday's performance from Bhaghani was certainly a positive start, but more needs to be seen. The Bruins have yet to hit a field goal of 40 yards or longer, which will better determine if they have found a solution to their kicking woes from a season ago.