UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Makes It Clear on Who Calls Plays For Bruins

Sam Garcia | Sep 5, 2024

Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

UCLA football barely left Honolulu unscathed in their season opener against Hawaii. The Bruins fell behind 10-0 going into the second half, but a last-minute field goal helped push UCLA over the edge to defeat Hawaii with a final score of 16-13. 

The Bruins’ coaching staff underwent a makeover in the offseason. Former UCLA All-American and running back coach DeShaun Foster took the reins of the program from Chip Kelly, Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator. Additionally, the Bruins named two-time Super Bowl champion Eric Bieniemy as UCLA’s offensive coordinator. 

Although Bieniemy created the Bruins’ offensive plays, Foster told the Los Angeles Times’ Ben Bolch that he was the sole play caller during the game.

“Every decision that we did was me,” Foster said to Bolch Wednesday during his first meeting with reporters since the Bruins’ comeback 16-3 victory over Hawaii on Saturday. “ … I’m telling everybody what to do. There’s no decisions being made by any other coaches, so anything that’s happening is coming directly from me.”

Therefore, the decision to go for the last-minute field goal came directly from Foster. Whether it fails or succeeds, the choice is Foster’s. 

The Bruins are heading into their inaugural season in the Big Ten. This is a conference stacked with five NCAA top-25 teams, including reigning national champions Michigan. UCLA is not included in the five. 

With a renovated coaching staff and a starting quarterback who started in just over half of last season’s games, it would have been ideal for the Bruins to dominate the Rainbow Warriors in the season opener to boost the reconstructed team’s confidence going into a new conference. However, UCLA quickly realized that there were some kinks that needed to be worked out as soon as possible. 

UCLA’s starting quarterback Ethan Garbers started in six of the Bruins’ 11 games last season. This season, the LA Bowl Offensive MVP is expected to be UCLA’s main quarterback. But, his performance in the season opener was not promising.

The redshirt senior threw 19-for-38 for 272 yards and threw two interceptions in the first half. Garbers and the Bruins went scoreless in the first half but were able to tally 16 points in the second. 

Additionally, UCLA led the Pac-12 in rushing yards last season but logged uncharacteristically low rushing yards on Saturday. Garbers individually ran 47 yards in seven attempts. The running backs collectively ran 24 yards in 13 attempts. 

The struggling offense needs to be resolved before the Bruins’ next game on Sept. 14 against Indiana, their first Big Ten opponent of the season.