UCLA Football: Interim Defensive Coach Explains Goals For LA Bowl

UCLA Bruins interim defensive coordinator reveals how the team will win the LA Bowl.

Despite the UCLA Bruins ending the season with a 7-5 record, they have one more chance to end their season with a win. The Bruins are set to take on Boise State in the LA Bowl, which is set for Saturday. 

Most of the drama surrounding the season had to do with the retention of head coach Chip Kelly, as the consensus was he was going to be let go at the end of the 2023 season. Kelly was retained, but the Bruins had to deal with defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn leaving for the USC Trojans. 

With Lynn's exit, it left the team a bit exposed in terms of finding a replacement in time for the LA Bowl. Kelly announced that the search would take place after the game, and defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe would step in. Malloe has now revealed his plans to secure a win as the new defensive playcaller. 

“We started with goal-setting of what we wanted to accomplish, so this will just be the culmination of what we’ve done throughout the season,” said defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe, who will take over play-calling duties. “For us, as a defense, we just want to finish the way we started and focus on this particular class, the senior class.”

Via

Ikaika Malloe, LA Times

Lynn had propelled the Bruins defense from #89 to #11 in the NCAA in just one short year. It will be hard to mimic that without Lynn's playcalling, but it sounds like Malloe is up to the task. 

UCLA will have to tackle the LA Bowl without star defensive standout Laiatu Latu, who is set to enter the NFL Draft. 

Despite what appears to be a less-than-stellar situation for the Bruins, everyone will be playing their hearts out to secure one final win in the Pac-12 Conference. 

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