August 14, 2025 • 22 mins
The LA Times UCLA beat writer on the Utah vs UCLA season opener, Will Iamaleava be ready to play at a high level when the season begins (?) + more
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You were listening to The Sean O'Connell Show from the
Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one af AM Sweets.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Candy pay sports fans, Welcome back. It is the Sean
O'Connell Show here on ESPN seven hundred ninety two one FM.
Proud to be a part of the Utah ESPN Radio Network.
I'm Scott Mitchell filling in for Sean O'Connell today and tomorrow.
We're right around the corner from the kickoff to college
football here. We're sixteen days away. Really excited about it.
(00:39):
If you've missed part of our show, don't worry. Technology
allows you to catch everything anytime, anywhere anyway. You want
to listen to it live stream, you want to listen
to it in the podcast form, you can do it.
Go to ESPN seven hundred, sports dot com or go
to the ESPN seven hundred app.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
The app is free, you just download it. It's totally fine.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
We're also on YouTube you can get at ESPN seven
or Sports Utah, so we're everywhere all the time anyway, just.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The way that you like it.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We're super excited about the start of this football season.
There's a lot of optimism here at the University of Utah,
as there is everywhere. I'm sure that's the same with
UCLA Bruins. Joining us on the program right now is
Ben Bolts. He's the UCLA beat writer for the La Times. Ben,
Welcome to the program and how are you doing today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I'm doing great. I'm driving down to beautiful Coasta, Mesa,
California as we speak for the second to last day
of UCLA's training hem.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh nice. So how has training camp been so far?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
What's some of the hot news going on with the
Bruins right now?
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Well, it's an interesting question because our access I've been
at an all time low. We haven't seen They've only
granted us about twenty minutes of viewing every day, and
we normally only see stretching one kind of goal line
team period that lasts like five or six plays, and
(02:04):
then they go into some individual drills. So if I
told you I had a good read on this team,
I would be lying to you. I will say in
a few snap shots of practice that I've seen, I've
been there every day. Everybody wants to know this. Quarterback
Nico Yama Liaba from Tennessee the real deal. My early
impression is that he is he looks really sharp. He
(02:26):
looks like he's got some talent that I haven't seen
at quarterback in UCLA and maybe at least a decade.
He can throw a dart, he can he can pull
the ball and run. He makes really quick and smart decisions.
And you can say that I'm impressed with what I've seen.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's good intel to know.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's fascinating to me to see how these players move
around and change and how much time it does take
for a player to actually get acclimated to a program.
Is it a real expectation to say, you know, he'll
be just on all cylinders as the season starts, or
do you see this as something that will kind of
evolve and change over season. Because Utah is in the
(03:08):
same situation Devin dan Pire transferred. Of course, he transferred
in spring, so he's had all of the spring in
the summer. But I still think there has to be
some kind of acclamation to a new system, a new program,
and that should take some game time.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
I would think, you know, I think from what I
can tell, I think that Nico is going to really
be able to hit the ground running. Now that that's
not to say that late October November he's not going
to be playing at a higher level than he and
he will be early in the season just because of
that kind of getting to know you period that you're
alluding to. But I think he's going to be playing
(03:44):
at a very high level early in the season. From
everything I've seen, he doesn't seem to have any sort
of like problem graspic plays or getting on the same
page as as teammates. You know, they did a lot
of player run practices before the start of Praying training
camp on campus, meant a couple of times a week
to get the timing and the routes down. So I
(04:05):
think that he's a smart guy. He's a quick learner.
Everybody's been impressed with them, and everything I've seen points
to him being ready to go full go in that
season over against Utah.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, I'm fascinated to hear kind of the transformation from
the Pac twelve to the Big ten.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
What what was your one like?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Because for me, when I heard this happened, immediately, the
first thing I thought is, boy, that travel is just
going to be brutal. What what what was the first
year like? In the big in the Big twelve or.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Big ten, it was a little brutal, to be honest
with you, and I mean USL. I made cross country
trips to Penn State and Rutgers, and they, you know,
they tacked that onto a non conference schedule that had
Hawaii and LSU. So I think that I traveled more
miles last season than anybody. But you know, they, to
their credit, they did a pretty i'd say a pretty
(04:56):
good job given the circumstances into Sean Foster's first season there.
Their their kind of trick was to go out an
extra day early, so it's there flying out on Friday.
They would go out Thursday, go to the stadium wherever
they're playing to kind of take pictures, walk around, soak
it in. And you know, they had some some pretty
big road winds late in the season. They won at
Rutgers and at Nebraska, so I think it worked out
(05:18):
pretty well for them. And you know, as far as
the transition to the new conference, I think pretty much
as expected. It was kind of like a you know,
a different brand of football. But I think as the
season went on, you say, they started to match up
better and better, so you know, we'll see how that
goes in the year two. One of the interesting things
about this team is I just did the calculations last night.
(05:40):
The projected offensive line on this team this year is
going to be average six feet five and about three
hundred and twenty pounds. So that'll be one of the
biggest lines in school history, if not the biggest. And
you know that sounds like some Big Ten beef there.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, that was what was going to ask you.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
What. You know, it's kind of like Utah went to
the to the Big twelve and they were predicted to
actually win the conference and had a horrible year, and
I think they were shocked at the physicality of the league.
You know, that was one of the things Scotch Twittingam
talked about, was like much physical, much more physical league
than we really anticipated, from top to bottom. You know,
every week you show up and they have these physical teams.
(06:22):
What's been the difference You mentioned the offensive line being bigger,
but what what what differences are there between the teams
in the Pac twelve where UCLA was and now having
to compete in the Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Well, I would say, you know, maybe a slightly more
round oriented, not as many spread offenses, but they like
to sling it. You know, there's a lot of really
prolific offenses in the Big Ten. I mean obviously Oregon,
you know, coming home from the from the Pac twelve,
very familiar with them, and you know, a lot of
State and Michigan can match up with just about anybody
(06:57):
and do a variety of things. So it's not like
the old Ron day, you know, round and pound you
every every down. Like you know a lot of people
think the Big Ten still is. There's a lot there's
a lot of throwing it around as well, So I
would say it's pretty balanced, but it is physical. And
I did sense that, you know, UCLA is kind of
beating up and getting some of those bigger linemen are
(07:18):
being competed since kind of match up.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
U c l A has a great tradition, a great
brand recognition. Do you get a sense that the program
did Sean Foster going into a second year, you get
a sense that the program wants to compete and wants
to to you know, be a factor in championships, be
able to go and play in the in the college
football playoffs. Where where are the people with their long
(07:45):
term vision of U c l A. Brewin football.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, I mean it was interesting. On signing day last year,
Deshaun Foster alluded to, you know, what Colorado did in
year two with with Dean Sanders and what Indiana did
in the first year with Kurt Signetti said, you know,
you can basically turn over a whole roster and win immediately.
So in my eyes, he was kind of putting himself
(08:12):
on the clock there saying there's really no excuse to
not be playing at a high level. I do know that.
You know, yesterday we talked to Quanda Gilmour, who's very
promising softball wide receiver, and he didn't hold anything back.
He said, we want to win the national championship. He
wants to win the Blittanikoff Award as a nation's top receiver.
So they're they're putting this out there publicly that they
(08:33):
expect to do great and you know, pretty much unprecedent
things at UCLA because you know, obviously the Bruins had
never won They've won a split national title in nineteen
fifty four, but nobody's wont the blittan Coff and this
is a team that does not want a conference championships.
It's nineteen ninety eight, So they're thirsting for that kind
of success, but they're they're not shying away from from
(08:55):
putting high expectations on themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, it's clearly with the landscape, you know, the ability
to really turn things around. You get high profile quarterback,
you're pretty high on it. Certainly moves things in the
right direction. Of course, money dictates a lot of the
success you can have. But also you know, Deshaun Foster
has a name. Does he have the kind of cachet?
(09:20):
Does he have cachet that can really move the needle
and draw attention to the UCLA program?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I think so. From what I've seen in recruiting and
then their efforts in the transfer portal, I would say
they've done very well. You know, this is the class
twenty twenty six has a chance to finish. It's the
top twenty class. And he expects that tom just to
only get better every year. You know, he when he played,
they had you know, classes in the top five pretty routinely.
(09:48):
So he wants to get it back to that level.
From what I with the recruits I talked to and
the players have arrived, they really connect with coach Foster.
You know, he sells them on having kind of walk
the walk of playing at u c l A and
getting to the NFL and playing in Super Bowl, and
you know his messages if I can do it, you
can do it, and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna
(10:10):
be in this together to get there. So that that
really resonates with with the players I've talked to. And
I do think that U c l A recruiting is
on thep swing.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Uh you mentioned and of course uh Nico the quarterback
and a massive offensive offensive line and a wide receiver.
What what type of offense will U c l A
run this year?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Then?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Is it going to be play action? Is going to
be spread out? Is it going to be pound and ground,
on the on the on the ground, what what? What
do you what do you anticipate from them?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be a little bit of
that sprinkled together. I think they're gonna be a pretty
dynamic attack. It's going to feature a lot of different looks.
They're they're not gonna, you know, be a true traditional spread,
but I think they'll have some elements of that. I
think they're going to try to run the football a lot.
They the one player that uh maybe outside of u c.
L A is not getting enough buzz. I think is
(11:02):
Javian Thomas, the transfer running back from count really really
dynamic running rusher who can you know, break one on
any given play. All the reports are that he looked
good in camp, and I think he's gonna be a
real difference maker for this team. So you you know,
you had a high level running back with a five
star transfer quarterback I mentioned Quasi Gilmer. I think he
(11:26):
is going to have a breakthrough season. My big question
is can the offensive line that I talked to out
a little bit and hold up? They've got some new
They're gonna have four new starters there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
These are you know, guys who transfer from other places
with a lot of potential but haven't really lived up
to it yet. So that's gonna be the question for me.
If this offensive line is good to very good, I
think that you still it's gonna kind of have the
season at once.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You mentioned we've talked a lot about the offense here.
Uh how many players actually transferred into UCLA this year
as Has that been part of how they've grown it or.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Is it No, it's been mainly through the poral, you know,
it's starting something I forgot. I lost track of how
many exactly. I mean, they actually added two new transfers
over the last week or so, so they're still getting
guys tickling in, and you know that's gonna be the
core of this team is gonna be these newly arrived transfers.
(12:23):
And on defense, they don't have any full time starters returning,
so that's you know, I talked about the offensive line
being a question mark. It's there's questions all across this defense.
You know, they don't have a Carson Swetzinger or a
olad Ajo who was excellent last year as an edge rusher,
so they're gonna need new guys to step up into
(12:43):
those roles and really make plays. I do have a
lot of faith in the ability of their defensive coordinator
or kai Ka Maloy to kind of really make the
best out of what he has. He's done that a
couple of years in a row now, so I don't
see any reason why, you know, they can't find it,
identify new guys to kind of fill those roles.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
First game of the season, of course, is with an
old familiar opponent. We're I know up here in Utah
excited to come to the Rose Bowl. I just think
it's one of the great events to go to. Whether
it's the actual Rose Bowl or if it's just a
game against UCLA, it's a special place. What's the sense
from the Brewin side of it about this first game
(13:25):
of the season with Utah.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, it's I think there is some excitement about it.
I'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd we're
looking at. I know that the youths travel really well,
probably ten thousand plus in red in the stadium, which
I think lends to a great atmosphere. I haven't gotten
any definitive ticket counts or estimates yet, you know, I
(13:48):
hope that it's really a rocking place. I'm a little
bit bombed's an eight pm start. I do prefer kind
of the earlier evening sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains.
I don't think there's anything better than that at But
you know, with this game, we're going to be getting
out of there around midnight, which is not ideal. But
I am grateful for the fact that it is too. Uh.
(14:09):
You know, power teams going head to head right off
the bat kind of give you a sense of where
you are. I know, that you shall ask a tremendous
amount of respect for Utah and coach Witningham and and
and just the way they run things. So there there's
no way they're going to be going to this game
over conference or taking them lightly. I can tell you that.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
How much do you think a game like this matters
for a season? Like is it? Uh?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
You know, it's it's obviously as fans were excited because
it's a great opponent, it's a great matchup, it's a
great game. But from from the perspective of the program,
you know, just Sean Foster's like, it's so important that
we get off to the right's foot we win this game,
or or is there is there? Is it more about, Hey,
we just got to take care of our business in
the conference.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
You know, I think there's two ways to look at
I mean, definitely a good a good game. You can
look at an opening game as a is an definite
tone center and maybe points back to it later in
the season. But it's not gonna I don't think it's
gonna make or break either of these team seasons. It's
just you know, kind of like an early measuring stick.
And I can't tell you how many times, people overreact
to what happens in Week one and the team ends
(15:14):
up looking completely different one way or the other. So,
you know, I don't think we're gonna be able to
write the book on either of these team seasons after
that first game, but it will answer some questions and,
as I said, possibly set a talent for what we
see the rest of the way.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, these seasons are funny and they never seem to
tune in to or turn out the way you expect
them to be. So it's what it's why we like
to tune in. It's like why why we want to watch?
Uh kind of in the big picture for U c
l A. This season, where do you where do you
see them finishing? What what would you consider to be
a successful season for the Bruins.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Yeah, you know, I already wrote that, Uh to the
baseline for success is a bowl game, which would require
six and six and uh, you know, getting to a
ball game. I think that they should aim higher than that.
I mean, like, if I was really gonna be critical,
I would say eight wins before the bowl game. I
think that that's doable. I think that that should be
the expectation year two. But I think that if you
(16:11):
get to six wins, and you know, maybe when your
Bowl game you can point to upward trajectory, which has
been athetic director Martin Jarmond's big kind of measuring point
of for for for heading in the right direction. But
like I said, you know, they don't play Oregon, they
don't play Michigan as part of their Big Ten schedules,
(16:34):
So I think things set up for them relatively well,
you know, they got Penn State at home. I know
that it's still going to be tough regardless, but you know,
when you miss out on two of those premier programs
as part of your schedule, I feel like it's set
up for you to have a good season. So I
really think, you know, as we talk more about it
and I think more about it, I think eight wins.
(16:55):
If you get to eight wins, I don't think there's
any question that it was a successful season.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
One last question for I let you go here and
really appreciate times fascinating stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
I love all this, but.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
What has been good about the Big Ten and and
actually getting there? Have you seen what's the benefit for
U c l A over being like in the in
the PAC twelve.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Well, I think it's two big things. I think it's
prestige slash excitement, and then I think it's the money, right.
I mean, we were talking about a department that has has,
you know, run up some huge deficits here over the
last five or six years and really need needed a
financial lifeline to kind of get out of that and
sustain itself going forward. And we're gonna see some answers starting, uh,
(17:44):
you know soon, because the Big Ten money just started
kind of trickling in, rolling in, so we'll see how
that impacts them. But I think that you know, bottom line,
they were worried about having to cut some of their
Olympic sports if they didn't make this move, and you know,
how are they going to sustain themselves long term? So
this was a big deal on that front. And then
you know, I mentioned the prestige excitement factor. I just said,
(18:05):
it's a you know, a buzz and and everybody most
people think that, you know, the SEC and the Big
Ten are the premier college football conferences, so you want
to be a part of that. And I think that
was a huge motivation for this move, is that, you know,
if you get to the top of the Big Ten,
now you're one of the best teams in the country,
and everybody's talking about you maybe in a way that
(18:27):
they weren't as much in the Pac twelve. So I
think those are the you know, motivating factors. Obviously, UCLA
has not gotten to the near the top of the
Big ten in football yet it's only one year in.
But you know, if they ever can do that, I
think that that's going to be something that's really going
to kind of galvanize the fan base and and really
(18:48):
ticket to a new level.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
All right, who wins this game?
Speaker 4 (18:53):
You know what I do think this is, you know,
the proverbial coin flip game. I and see scenarios easily
going either way. But you know, not to be a Hober,
but I do think that UCLA has a lot of
momentum right now. With Nico. I think he's going to
be very driven to have an excellent start to his
(19:13):
UCLA career. And for that factor alone, I'm gonna kill
things slightly in the favor of UCLA and say that
they emerge victorious in a very very tight game.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I wouldn't expect you to say anything different, so I'm
not offended.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I appreciate your time. Ben, have a great day. And
enjoy practice.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
All right, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yep, there you have it, Ben Bolt.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
She's the beat writer for the UCLA Bruins for the
La Times. Fascinating stuff, you know, it's so interesting, the whole.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Pac twelve, Big twelve, Big ten.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
All the moving around and kind of what impact to me,
it feels like. And there's some positive things about UCLA.
It does have a lot of cash, a lot of
name recognition, kind of flying under the radar. I don't
think there's a lot of people that have a lot
of expectation for UCLA.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Don't you almost go, oh, yeah, they're in the Big ten.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, that's that's I mean, I hate to say that,
but it's kind of you know, when you think of
the Big ten right now, you do think of Oregon.
I think of all of all the teams that came
over from the pack, the pack, Oregon's the one you
talk about. You're not talking about USC so shockingly. I mean,
Lincoln Riley could be on the hot seat that USC,
which I just don't understand at all, unless USC just
(20:33):
doesn't really care about football, doesn't want to put I
don't know. It's just weird It's like USC could just
be so dominant and all the time and they're just not.
But the only team they're really talking about is Oregon.
I mean, you talk about the the Big Ten, it's
it's it's Michigan, It's Ohio State, it's a little bit
of Penn State now and from time to time you
(20:55):
throw in a Wisconsin, but it's it's Michigan, Ohio State,
Penn State, Oregon. That's that's who everyone talks about. End
of discussion. And and so it'd be fascinating, you know,
just just to see this quarterback Nico Imala Avea see
if he you know, pans out, I mean, who knows
(21:17):
you just you have no you know, It's it's a
crapshoot right now. And and which makes which makes his
game I think so fascinating because what I what I
got out of this conversation with Ben, there's a lot
of question marks. I mean, he threw out a lot
of quicks, I mean, no returning starters on the defense
for U C.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
L A.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
And they could end up being this phenomenal defense, So
they could be and end up being just horrible. But
but to not know, you know who they are, they
they they did make some moves in in uh in recruiting,
and they did get a quarterback, and quarterbacks can make
a huge difference on a team.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I think that the headline of this game is.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Who, and maybe it's in college football, which quarterback who
transferred is going to have the biggest impact.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I guarantee you.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
That Devin dan Pier is, like can I guarantee he's
fired up about this game? I guarantee. I just get
a sense that you know, you've you've got Jason Bett,
You've got this whole whole group of folks, and they're
all super excited about the opportunity to to really make
a splash for the youth. So man, what a what
(22:33):
an exciting thing to be a part of it?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Really is?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I just I got really fired up about the game
after listening to all of this
You were listening to The Sean O'Connell Show from the
Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one af AM Sweets.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Candy pay sports fans, Welcome back. It is the Sean
O'Connell Show here on ESPN seven hundred ninety two one FM.
Proud to be a part of the Utah ESPN Radio Network.
I'm Scott Mitchell filling in for Sean O'Connell today and tomorrow.
We're right around the corner from the kickoff to college
football here. We're sixteen days away. Really excited about it.
(00:39):
If you've missed part of our show, don't worry. Technology
allows you to catch everything anytime, anywhere anyway. You want
to listen to it live stream, you want to listen
to it in the podcast form, you can do it.
Go to ESPN seven hundred, sports dot com or go
to the ESPN seven hundred app.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
The app is free, you just download it. It's totally fine.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
We're also on YouTube you can get at ESPN seven
or Sports Utah, so we're everywhere all the time anyway, just.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The way that you like it.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We're super excited about the start of this football season.
There's a lot of optimism here at the University of Utah,
as there is everywhere. I'm sure that's the same with
UCLA Bruins. Joining us on the program right now is
Ben Bolts. He's the UCLA beat writer for the La Times. Ben,
Welcome to the program and how are you doing today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I'm doing great. I'm driving down to beautiful Coasta, Mesa,
California as we speak for the second to last day
of UCLA's training hem.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh nice. So how has training camp been so far?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
What's some of the hot news going on with the
Bruins right now?
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Well, it's an interesting question because our access I've been
at an all time low. We haven't seen They've only
granted us about twenty minutes of viewing every day, and
we normally only see stretching one kind of goal line
team period that lasts like five or six plays, and
(02:04):
then they go into some individual drills. So if I
told you I had a good read on this team,
I would be lying to you. I will say in
a few snap shots of practice that I've seen, I've
been there every day. Everybody wants to know this. Quarterback
Nico Yama Liaba from Tennessee the real deal. My early
impression is that he is he looks really sharp. He
(02:26):
looks like he's got some talent that I haven't seen
at quarterback in UCLA and maybe at least a decade.
He can throw a dart, he can he can pull
the ball and run. He makes really quick and smart decisions.
And you can say that I'm impressed with what I've seen.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's good intel to know.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's fascinating to me to see how these players move
around and change and how much time it does take
for a player to actually get acclimated to a program.
Is it a real expectation to say, you know, he'll
be just on all cylinders as the season starts, or
do you see this as something that will kind of
evolve and change over season. Because Utah is in the
(03:08):
same situation Devin dan Pire transferred. Of course, he transferred
in spring, so he's had all of the spring in
the summer. But I still think there has to be
some kind of acclamation to a new system, a new program,
and that should take some game time.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
I would think, you know, I think from what I
can tell, I think that Nico is going to really
be able to hit the ground running. Now that that's
not to say that late October November he's not going
to be playing at a higher level than he and
he will be early in the season just because of
that kind of getting to know you period that you're
alluding to. But I think he's going to be playing
(03:44):
at a very high level early in the season. From
everything I've seen, he doesn't seem to have any sort
of like problem graspic plays or getting on the same
page as as teammates. You know, they did a lot
of player run practices before the start of Praying training
camp on campus, meant a couple of times a week
to get the timing and the routes down. So I
(04:05):
think that he's a smart guy. He's a quick learner.
Everybody's been impressed with them, and everything I've seen points
to him being ready to go full go in that
season over against Utah.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, I'm fascinated to hear kind of the transformation from
the Pac twelve to the Big ten.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
What what was your one like?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Because for me, when I heard this happened, immediately, the
first thing I thought is, boy, that travel is just
going to be brutal. What what what was the first
year like? In the big in the Big twelve or.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Big ten, it was a little brutal, to be honest
with you, and I mean USL. I made cross country
trips to Penn State and Rutgers, and they, you know,
they tacked that onto a non conference schedule that had
Hawaii and LSU. So I think that I traveled more
miles last season than anybody. But you know, they, to
their credit, they did a pretty i'd say a pretty
(04:56):
good job given the circumstances into Sean Foster's first season there.
Their their kind of trick was to go out an
extra day early, so it's there flying out on Friday.
They would go out Thursday, go to the stadium wherever
they're playing to kind of take pictures, walk around, soak
it in. And you know, they had some some pretty
big road winds late in the season. They won at
Rutgers and at Nebraska, so I think it worked out
(05:18):
pretty well for them. And you know, as far as
the transition to the new conference, I think pretty much
as expected. It was kind of like a you know,
a different brand of football. But I think as the
season went on, you say, they started to match up
better and better, so you know, we'll see how that
goes in the year two. One of the interesting things
about this team is I just did the calculations last night.
(05:40):
The projected offensive line on this team this year is
going to be average six feet five and about three
hundred and twenty pounds. So that'll be one of the
biggest lines in school history, if not the biggest. And
you know that sounds like some Big Ten beef there.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, that was what was going to ask you.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
What. You know, it's kind of like Utah went to
the to the Big twelve and they were predicted to
actually win the conference and had a horrible year, and
I think they were shocked at the physicality of the league.
You know, that was one of the things Scotch Twittingam
talked about, was like much physical, much more physical league
than we really anticipated, from top to bottom. You know,
every week you show up and they have these physical teams.
(06:22):
What's been the difference You mentioned the offensive line being bigger,
but what what what differences are there between the teams
in the Pac twelve where UCLA was and now having
to compete in the Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Well, I would say, you know, maybe a slightly more
round oriented, not as many spread offenses, but they like
to sling it. You know, there's a lot of really
prolific offenses in the Big Ten. I mean obviously Oregon,
you know, coming home from the from the Pac twelve,
very familiar with them, and you know, a lot of
State and Michigan can match up with just about anybody
(06:57):
and do a variety of things. So it's not like
the old Ron day, you know, round and pound you
every every down. Like you know a lot of people
think the Big Ten still is. There's a lot there's
a lot of throwing it around as well, So I
would say it's pretty balanced, but it is physical. And
I did sense that, you know, UCLA is kind of
beating up and getting some of those bigger linemen are
(07:18):
being competed since kind of match up.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
U c l A has a great tradition, a great
brand recognition. Do you get a sense that the program
did Sean Foster going into a second year, you get
a sense that the program wants to compete and wants
to to you know, be a factor in championships, be
able to go and play in the in the college
football playoffs. Where where are the people with their long
(07:45):
term vision of U c l A. Brewin football.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, I mean it was interesting. On signing day last year,
Deshaun Foster alluded to, you know, what Colorado did in
year two with with Dean Sanders and what Indiana did
in the first year with Kurt Signetti said, you know,
you can basically turn over a whole roster and win immediately.
So in my eyes, he was kind of putting himself
(08:12):
on the clock there saying there's really no excuse to
not be playing at a high level. I do know that.
You know, yesterday we talked to Quanda Gilmour, who's very
promising softball wide receiver, and he didn't hold anything back.
He said, we want to win the national championship. He
wants to win the Blittanikoff Award as a nation's top receiver.
So they're they're putting this out there publicly that they
(08:33):
expect to do great and you know, pretty much unprecedent
things at UCLA because you know, obviously the Bruins had
never won They've won a split national title in nineteen
fifty four, but nobody's wont the blittan Coff and this
is a team that does not want a conference championships.
It's nineteen ninety eight, So they're thirsting for that kind
of success, but they're they're not shying away from from
(08:55):
putting high expectations on themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, it's clearly with the landscape, you know, the ability
to really turn things around. You get high profile quarterback,
you're pretty high on it. Certainly moves things in the
right direction. Of course, money dictates a lot of the
success you can have. But also you know, Deshaun Foster
has a name. Does he have the kind of cachet?
(09:20):
Does he have cachet that can really move the needle
and draw attention to the UCLA program?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I think so. From what I've seen in recruiting and
then their efforts in the transfer portal, I would say
they've done very well. You know, this is the class
twenty twenty six has a chance to finish. It's the
top twenty class. And he expects that tom just to
only get better every year. You know, he when he played,
they had you know, classes in the top five pretty routinely.
(09:48):
So he wants to get it back to that level.
From what I with the recruits I talked to and
the players have arrived, they really connect with coach Foster.
You know, he sells them on having kind of walk
the walk of playing at u c l A and
getting to the NFL and playing in Super Bowl, and
you know his messages if I can do it, you
can do it, and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna
(10:10):
be in this together to get there. So that that
really resonates with with the players I've talked to. And
I do think that U c l A recruiting is
on thep swing.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Uh you mentioned and of course uh Nico the quarterback
and a massive offensive offensive line and a wide receiver.
What what type of offense will U c l A
run this year?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Then?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Is it going to be play action? Is going to
be spread out? Is it going to be pound and ground,
on the on the on the ground, what what? What
do you what do you anticipate from them?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be a little bit of
that sprinkled together. I think they're gonna be a pretty
dynamic attack. It's going to feature a lot of different looks.
They're they're not gonna, you know, be a true traditional spread,
but I think they'll have some elements of that. I
think they're going to try to run the football a lot.
They the one player that uh maybe outside of u c.
L A is not getting enough buzz. I think is
(11:02):
Javian Thomas, the transfer running back from count really really
dynamic running rusher who can you know, break one on
any given play. All the reports are that he looked
good in camp, and I think he's gonna be a
real difference maker for this team. So you you know,
you had a high level running back with a five
star transfer quarterback I mentioned Quasi Gilmer. I think he
(11:26):
is going to have a breakthrough season. My big question
is can the offensive line that I talked to out
a little bit and hold up? They've got some new
They're gonna have four new starters there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
These are you know, guys who transfer from other places
with a lot of potential but haven't really lived up
to it yet. So that's gonna be the question for me.
If this offensive line is good to very good, I
think that you still it's gonna kind of have the
season at once.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You mentioned we've talked a lot about the offense here.
Uh how many players actually transferred into UCLA this year
as Has that been part of how they've grown it or.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Is it No, it's been mainly through the poral, you know,
it's starting something I forgot. I lost track of how
many exactly. I mean, they actually added two new transfers
over the last week or so, so they're still getting
guys tickling in, and you know that's gonna be the
core of this team is gonna be these newly arrived transfers.
(12:23):
And on defense, they don't have any full time starters returning,
so that's you know, I talked about the offensive line
being a question mark. It's there's questions all across this defense.
You know, they don't have a Carson Swetzinger or a
olad Ajo who was excellent last year as an edge rusher,
so they're gonna need new guys to step up into
(12:43):
those roles and really make plays. I do have a
lot of faith in the ability of their defensive coordinator
or kai Ka Maloy to kind of really make the
best out of what he has. He's done that a
couple of years in a row now, so I don't
see any reason why, you know, they can't find it,
identify new guys to kind of fill those roles.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
First game of the season, of course, is with an
old familiar opponent. We're I know up here in Utah
excited to come to the Rose Bowl. I just think
it's one of the great events to go to. Whether
it's the actual Rose Bowl or if it's just a
game against UCLA, it's a special place. What's the sense
from the Brewin side of it about this first game
(13:25):
of the season with Utah.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, it's I think there is some excitement about it.
I'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd we're
looking at. I know that the youths travel really well,
probably ten thousand plus in red in the stadium, which
I think lends to a great atmosphere. I haven't gotten
any definitive ticket counts or estimates yet, you know, I
(13:48):
hope that it's really a rocking place. I'm a little
bit bombed's an eight pm start. I do prefer kind
of the earlier evening sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains.
I don't think there's anything better than that at But
you know, with this game, we're going to be getting
out of there around midnight, which is not ideal. But
I am grateful for the fact that it is too. Uh.
(14:09):
You know, power teams going head to head right off
the bat kind of give you a sense of where
you are. I know, that you shall ask a tremendous
amount of respect for Utah and coach Witningham and and
and just the way they run things. So there there's
no way they're going to be going to this game
over conference or taking them lightly. I can tell you that.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
How much do you think a game like this matters
for a season? Like is it? Uh?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
You know, it's it's obviously as fans were excited because
it's a great opponent, it's a great matchup, it's a
great game. But from from the perspective of the program,
you know, just Sean Foster's like, it's so important that
we get off to the right's foot we win this game,
or or is there is there? Is it more about, Hey,
we just got to take care of our business in
the conference.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
You know, I think there's two ways to look at
I mean, definitely a good a good game. You can
look at an opening game as a is an definite
tone center and maybe points back to it later in
the season. But it's not gonna I don't think it's
gonna make or break either of these team seasons. It's
just you know, kind of like an early measuring stick.
And I can't tell you how many times, people overreact
to what happens in Week one and the team ends
(15:14):
up looking completely different one way or the other. So,
you know, I don't think we're gonna be able to
write the book on either of these team seasons after
that first game, but it will answer some questions and,
as I said, possibly set a talent for what we
see the rest of the way.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, these seasons are funny and they never seem to
tune in to or turn out the way you expect
them to be. So it's what it's why we like
to tune in. It's like why why we want to watch?
Uh kind of in the big picture for U c
l A. This season, where do you where do you
see them finishing? What what would you consider to be
a successful season for the Bruins.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Yeah, you know, I already wrote that, Uh to the
baseline for success is a bowl game, which would require
six and six and uh, you know, getting to a
ball game. I think that they should aim higher than that.
I mean, like, if I was really gonna be critical,
I would say eight wins before the bowl game. I
think that that's doable. I think that that should be
the expectation year two. But I think that if you
(16:11):
get to six wins, and you know, maybe when your
Bowl game you can point to upward trajectory, which has
been athetic director Martin Jarmond's big kind of measuring point
of for for for heading in the right direction. But
like I said, you know, they don't play Oregon, they
don't play Michigan as part of their Big Ten schedules,
(16:34):
So I think things set up for them relatively well,
you know, they got Penn State at home. I know
that it's still going to be tough regardless, but you know,
when you miss out on two of those premier programs
as part of your schedule, I feel like it's set
up for you to have a good season. So I
really think, you know, as we talk more about it
and I think more about it, I think eight wins.
(16:55):
If you get to eight wins, I don't think there's
any question that it was a successful season.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
One last question for I let you go here and
really appreciate times fascinating stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
I love all this, but.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
What has been good about the Big Ten and and
actually getting there? Have you seen what's the benefit for
U c l A over being like in the in
the PAC twelve.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Well, I think it's two big things. I think it's
prestige slash excitement, and then I think it's the money, right.
I mean, we were talking about a department that has has,
you know, run up some huge deficits here over the
last five or six years and really need needed a
financial lifeline to kind of get out of that and
sustain itself going forward. And we're gonna see some answers starting, uh,
(17:44):
you know soon, because the Big Ten money just started
kind of trickling in, rolling in, so we'll see how
that impacts them. But I think that you know, bottom line,
they were worried about having to cut some of their
Olympic sports if they didn't make this move, and you know,
how are they going to sustain themselves long term? So
this was a big deal on that front. And then
you know, I mentioned the prestige excitement factor. I just said,
(18:05):
it's a you know, a buzz and and everybody most
people think that, you know, the SEC and the Big
Ten are the premier college football conferences, so you want
to be a part of that. And I think that
was a huge motivation for this move, is that, you know,
if you get to the top of the Big Ten,
now you're one of the best teams in the country,
and everybody's talking about you maybe in a way that
(18:27):
they weren't as much in the Pac twelve. So I
think those are the you know, motivating factors. Obviously, UCLA
has not gotten to the near the top of the
Big ten in football yet it's only one year in.
But you know, if they ever can do that, I
think that that's going to be something that's really going
to kind of galvanize the fan base and and really
(18:48):
ticket to a new level.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
All right, who wins this game?
Speaker 4 (18:53):
You know what I do think this is, you know,
the proverbial coin flip game. I and see scenarios easily
going either way. But you know, not to be a Hober,
but I do think that UCLA has a lot of
momentum right now. With Nico. I think he's going to
be very driven to have an excellent start to his
(19:13):
UCLA career. And for that factor alone, I'm gonna kill
things slightly in the favor of UCLA and say that
they emerge victorious in a very very tight game.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I wouldn't expect you to say anything different, so I'm
not offended.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I appreciate your time. Ben, have a great day. And
enjoy practice.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
All right, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yep, there you have it, Ben Bolt.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
She's the beat writer for the UCLA Bruins for the
La Times. Fascinating stuff, you know, it's so interesting, the whole.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Pac twelve, Big twelve, Big ten.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
All the moving around and kind of what impact to me,
it feels like. And there's some positive things about UCLA.
It does have a lot of cash, a lot of
name recognition, kind of flying under the radar. I don't
think there's a lot of people that have a lot
of expectation for UCLA.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Don't you almost go, oh, yeah, they're in the Big ten.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, that's that's I mean, I hate to say that,
but it's kind of you know, when you think of
the Big ten right now, you do think of Oregon.
I think of all of all the teams that came
over from the pack, the pack, Oregon's the one you
talk about. You're not talking about USC so shockingly. I mean,
Lincoln Riley could be on the hot seat that USC,
which I just don't understand at all, unless USC just
(20:33):
doesn't really care about football, doesn't want to put I
don't know. It's just weird It's like USC could just
be so dominant and all the time and they're just not.
But the only team they're really talking about is Oregon.
I mean, you talk about the the Big Ten, it's
it's it's Michigan, It's Ohio State, it's a little bit
of Penn State now and from time to time you
(20:55):
throw in a Wisconsin, but it's it's Michigan, Ohio State,
Penn State, Oregon. That's that's who everyone talks about. End
of discussion. And and so it'd be fascinating, you know,
just just to see this quarterback Nico Imala Avea see
if he you know, pans out, I mean, who knows
(21:17):
you just you have no you know, It's it's a
crapshoot right now. And and which makes which makes his
game I think so fascinating because what I what I
got out of this conversation with Ben, there's a lot
of question marks. I mean, he threw out a lot
of quicks, I mean, no returning starters on the defense
for U C.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
L A.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
And they could end up being this phenomenal defense, So
they could be and end up being just horrible. But
but to not know, you know who they are, they
they they did make some moves in in uh in recruiting,
and they did get a quarterback, and quarterbacks can make
a huge difference on a team.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I think that the headline of this game is.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Who, and maybe it's in college football, which quarterback who
transferred is going to have the biggest impact.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I guarantee you.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
That Devin dan Pier is, like can I guarantee he's
fired up about this game? I guarantee. I just get
a sense that you know, you've you've got Jason Bett,
You've got this whole whole group of folks, and they're
all super excited about the opportunity to to really make
a splash for the youth. So man, what a what
(22:33):
an exciting thing to be a part of it?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Really is?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I just I got really fired up about the game
after listening to all of this
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