It has been a tumultuous season for UCLA football in year one of the DeShaun Foster era, but the Bruins have steadily improved as the season has gone on. Heading into Week 13, UCLA finds itself at 4-6 with a chance to end the season with two wins and become bowl eligible.
While head coach DeShaun Foster and company prepare for a big rivalry game against USC on Saturday, the Bruins are also stockpiling talent for next season’s squad. Former Arkansas wide receiver Jaedon Wilson is expected to transfer to UCLA , according to Pete Nakos of On3 Sports.
Wilson was able to enter the transfer portal before the end of the season because he is a graduate transfer. Making this decision at this juncture means that he will be able to be with the Bruins in the spring and get ahead of the curve when it comes to learning the playbook and getting ingratiated within the offense.
Wilson caught 15 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in seven games for Arkansas this season before deciding to step away from the team and enter the transfer portal. The Texas native will look to make a big impact on the West Coast in 2025.
UCLA fighting for bowl eligibility at 4-6
UCLA looked like a complete disaster at the beginning of its first season with DeShaun Foster as the head coach. However, the Bruins have consistently gotten better each and every week and are playing their best football at the right time.
Before a Week 12 loss to Washington, UCLA had won three games in a row in Big Ten play after a gauntlet of an opening schedule put them in a pretty big hole in conference play. After a season-opening win against Hawai’i, UCLA played four consecutive games against Indiana, LSU, Oregon and Penn State. However, it was able to pick up wins over Rutgers, Nebraska and Iowa to get right back in the chase for bowl eligibility.
Now, UCLA is in a must-win situation on Saturday against its biggest rival USC in Los Angeles. If the Bruins can get a win in that one, they will have a chance to get to the six-win threshold in the season finale against Fresno State on Nov. 30.
Experienced starting quarterback Ethan Garbers is starting to find his groove this season after a brutal start to the season. Even in the loss to Washington, Garbers completed 27-of-44 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns in a fairly efficient night.
The running game severely hurt UCLA in that one, as running back TJ Harden and company weren’t able to get anything going all night in Seattle. Harden ran for just 33 yards on 13 carries as Garbers was forced to bail the Bruins out in long down-and-distances all night long. As a team, UCLA ran for just 52 yards on 33 attempts.
If they can fix some of those problems on the ground, the Bruins have a real chance to win out and reach a bowl game. That seemed impossible just a month ago, but Foster has turned things around in year one.
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