I forgot to mention it, but Foster did seem to learn from his mistakes regarding going for it on 4th and 1, making sure to go for it early in the game and converting, which ultimately led to a touchdown on that drive. Just another data point to show that bullying works.
Watching this game I am once again convinced on how critical the o-line is and that everything flows from that. When the QB is running for his life his accuracy suffers. When there's no holes for RBs they get tackled for loss. Nebraska's defense, notwithstanding what happened today, is miles ahead of Rutgers'. I hope the o-line continues to improve as the season goes along.
Good afternoon, RF&W, I totally agree. That seems to be the mantra all around college and professional football Your star QB is set up for failure without a solid line in front of him.
I hope we beat Nebraska just to shut up all that Baby Mahomes talk that’s going on for Dylan Raiola.
We have already faced defenses tougher or as tough as Nebraska against Oregon, Penn Statex and Minnesota, so I think we have a decent chance in that game if our offense keeps showing continuous improvement, but Nebraska will be a tough environment to win in.
Bless you, Runfastandwin. As one of the old heads that Dimitri describes in his article who now wanders randomly around hallways and parks and streets mumbling "Line wins games", it's comforting to see a newer generation taking up the torch. I've said it forever. A good OL makes the run game a threat, and that slows a pass rush and opens up routes for receivers and that good OL gives a QB time to set his feet and and pick a target and throw on schedule. That doesn't mean they have to be big plays, but that process controls the ball and moves the chains and wears out defenses and wins games. The OL still has a ways to go (as shown by that pressure and Garbers fumble when they were running out the game) but they were more solid than not yesterday and it's no coincidence the offense had its best outing in a long long time.
Great win. Having fullback sets to help bolster the running game was a smart move. Ethan Garbers actually looked great especially when he has time to throw too, he was hitting a lot of passes that he missed against Minnesota. The commentators did mention multiple times that Rutgers was missing their best pass rushers but it just shows what we could look like with a strong o-line performance.
Hopefully our D continues to improve. If you score 35 points you definitely hope to win by more than 3
This shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone that’s been watching. It’s not like Garbers forgot how to play QB between this year and last year. He’s been running for his life this entire season. Bienemy finally decided to implement a similar type of gameplan that he did for Martin against Penn State to take the pressure off the QB.
Helped that Rutgers didn’t have a Dline to speak of but the coaching staff has adapted week to week and the team is improving as a result.
I agree! Foster is learning and I have great respect for him and the spirit of this team - they have never quit and the improvement is encouraging! 💙💛
Remember Chipster Alfraud's first season - it was a disaster and the beginning of several painful years of his lack of recruiting and lack of caring about UCLA.
Foster's record through the first 7 games of his inaugural season is identical to CK/OG. However, the Fraud had a solid recruiting class and roster to rely on in his first season thanks to Mora. Foster has nothing, thanks to one of the worst coaches in the history of UCLA football.
Thanks, Dmitri and thanks for pointing out Rutger's injuries on D. It was nice for a change to see a Bruin have career day, let's hope it wasn't a fluke.
Was that the 2024 Bruins? Am I dreaming? HUGE win for us. Keeps our bowl eligibility alive. Clicking on all cylinders today. We have a bye this week. Next up, Nebraska, in Lincoln.
As bad as our season has been going, USC has been worse relative to their preseason expectations. Started ranked in the preseason and but has the same number of conference wins as we do
Congratulations to the Bruins for finally achieving their 1st victory against a Big-18 Conference opponent--and on the road too. The way UCLA and U$C are currently trending, the Bruins may have a decent shot at getting HC Lincoln Riley fired after the teams face off on Nov. 23.
Amazing how low our expectations have gone for this team. Do they get a trophy for being one of the worst performing teams statistically in division 1?
No, the trophy should actually go to current AD Martin Guerrero and former HC Chip Alford for tanking the UCLA football program and leaving it in the sorry state that it is in.
What do you expect when we hired a head coach so late? One that’s never been a head coach before. Considering we should’ve beat Minnesota and we beat Rutgers at least has us on a positive trend. It was looking like we wouldn’t get a Big 10 win. Any positive trend can only help the NIL fund and recruiting.
No one said wverything is ok. Many are encouraged by the improvements we have seen and by the spirit of this team. We do have an inexperienced coach in Coach Fos but he is learning and developing and will be a good coach. He has many intangibles and I believe we need to stick with him. He has done so much already to build community and his DRE pillars will lead to success.
The program was left in shambles by a disgusting lazy no good, no character fraud know as Chipster Alfraud and an AD known as Jelly 2.0 who made a horrible decision to keep CA and they are the reason the program was left high and dry.
This team believes in Coach Fos and they respect and love him. Coach Fos loves UCLA and his players, and will right the ship and douse the dumpster fire left by CA. These are good men on our team and I am proud of our team and Coach Fos.
Credit to the coaches who tapped Garbers for the start, and extra credit to the staff if they realized that the injuries to the Rutgers' pass rush might allow some unique opportunities. I would have had Martin playing the rest of the. year, as I still feel like his ceiling is higher than Garbers, but more for long term development for the next 2 years. But Garbers showed that he is a very capable QB when he has some consistent time to deliver a ball, and credit to EB for running more quick and complimentary routes to beat pressure and to avoid long developing plays that the WRs and OL are harder pressed to execute.
I'm also so happy for the kids, and especially Garbers, who have been the punching bag for much of the year so far. It's fair to question the team's overall talent and execution, but I don't think anyone should question their heart and effort. They deserve a reward for grinding and sticking with it this year.
Also, as a separate comment, does anyone understand the fair catch signal on the onside kick? I get we couldn't advance the ball after the fair catch signal, but does that fair catch signal allow us any kind of protection to receive the ball? If it does, then how would any onside kick ever be successful? Assuming it doesn't, then why would it ever be of any benefit to signal for a fair catch in that situation?
Another reason I love football. That's a situation I've never seen, so it's something new to learn and strategize with.
G - as I understand the rule, a fair catch signal only applies protections to the individual returner who signals for it, not to everyone on the return team though the restrictions on subsequently advancing the ball apply to everyone. The other risk of having someone on the front line of an onside kick signal it is that, if the returner signals it and touches it without catching it, the returner can not touch or recover it unless someone else touches it first.
Thus, you have someone in the 2nd line signal it if you want to make sure no one returns the onside kick in a scenario like Saturday where Rutgers' only slim chance was getting the ball back whether down 3 or 10 since they had no timeouts and couldn't stop us from kneeling the game out. Foster post game said he didn't want to see a return - as fun as it was - seems like that was actually well-coached
If the signal applies protection to the individual returner, can you have everyone on that side of the formation signal for the fair catch and ensure himself protection to recover the kick? (yes, I know I'm getting ridiculous)
Oh and I def agree with you that it was better not returning the kick and just running out the clock, so that really would have been great coaching if that was the intent.. I was yelling at the kid to slide or take a knee instead of scoring, but I guess he didn't hear me through the TV. ;-)
I forgot to mention it, but Foster did seem to learn from his mistakes regarding going for it on 4th and 1, making sure to go for it early in the game and converting, which ultimately led to a touchdown on that drive. Just another data point to show that bullying works.
Watching this game I am once again convinced on how critical the o-line is and that everything flows from that. When the QB is running for his life his accuracy suffers. When there's no holes for RBs they get tackled for loss. Nebraska's defense, notwithstanding what happened today, is miles ahead of Rutgers'. I hope the o-line continues to improve as the season goes along.
Good afternoon, RF&W, I totally agree. That seems to be the mantra all around college and professional football Your star QB is set up for failure without a solid line in front of him.
I hope we beat Nebraska just to shut up all that Baby Mahomes talk that’s going on for Dylan Raiola.
We have already faced defenses tougher or as tough as Nebraska against Oregon, Penn Statex and Minnesota, so I think we have a decent chance in that game if our offense keeps showing continuous improvement, but Nebraska will be a tough environment to win in.
Two weeks to prepare - let's keep the growth going... Nebraska is a bigger challenge than Rutgers but also beatable.
Bless you, Runfastandwin. As one of the old heads that Dimitri describes in his article who now wanders randomly around hallways and parks and streets mumbling "Line wins games", it's comforting to see a newer generation taking up the torch. I've said it forever. A good OL makes the run game a threat, and that slows a pass rush and opens up routes for receivers and that good OL gives a QB time to set his feet and and pick a target and throw on schedule. That doesn't mean they have to be big plays, but that process controls the ball and moves the chains and wears out defenses and wins games. The OL still has a ways to go (as shown by that pressure and Garbers fumble when they were running out the game) but they were more solid than not yesterday and it's no coincidence the offense had its best outing in a long long time.
Great win. Having fullback sets to help bolster the running game was a smart move. Ethan Garbers actually looked great especially when he has time to throw too, he was hitting a lot of passes that he missed against Minnesota. The commentators did mention multiple times that Rutgers was missing their best pass rushers but it just shows what we could look like with a strong o-line performance.
Hopefully our D continues to improve. If you score 35 points you definitely hope to win by more than 3
This shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone that’s been watching. It’s not like Garbers forgot how to play QB between this year and last year. He’s been running for his life this entire season. Bienemy finally decided to implement a similar type of gameplan that he did for Martin against Penn State to take the pressure off the QB.
Helped that Rutgers didn’t have a Dline to speak of but the coaching staff has adapted week to week and the team is improving as a result.
Hopefully OL recruiting is a ginormous priority for this staff.
Foster is learning and improving. That is all we care and all that matters. Who knows, were that guy still in charge, we may have lost this one.
lol
Yes, this is a better option to shield yourself. Please remain that way.
Love you Henry! 💙💛
I agree! Foster is learning and I have great respect for him and the spirit of this team - they have never quit and the improvement is encouraging! 💙💛
Remember Chipster Alfraud's first season - it was a disaster and the beginning of several painful years of his lack of recruiting and lack of caring about UCLA.
Foster is going to be good, given time 💙💛
Foster's record through the first 7 games of his inaugural season is identical to CK/OG. However, the Fraud had a solid recruiting class and roster to rely on in his first season thanks to Mora. Foster has nothing, thanks to one of the worst coaches in the history of UCLA football.
Thanks, Dmitri and thanks for pointing out Rutger's injuries on D. It was nice for a change to see a Bruin have career day, let's hope it wasn't a fluke.
Was that the 2024 Bruins? Am I dreaming? HUGE win for us. Keeps our bowl eligibility alive. Clicking on all cylinders today. We have a bye this week. Next up, Nebraska, in Lincoln.
Bowl eligibility? ANY win for the Bruins going forward will seem like an upset victory.
Please don't OD on hopium! :-)
Maryland just beat $outhern cal!
UCLA wins! Trogans lose!!! What a day!!! :D
Often referred to as a "perfect day".
As bad as our season has been going, USC has been worse relative to their preseason expectations. Started ranked in the preseason and but has the same number of conference wins as we do
Congratulations to the Bruins for finally achieving their 1st victory against a Big-18 Conference opponent--and on the road too. The way UCLA and U$C are currently trending, the Bruins may have a decent shot at getting HC Lincoln Riley fired after the teams face off on Nov. 23.
Go Bruins!
Amazing how low our expectations have gone for this team. Do they get a trophy for being one of the worst performing teams statistically in division 1?
No, the trophy should actually go to current AD Martin Guerrero and former HC Chip Alford for tanking the UCLA football program and leaving it in the sorry state that it is in.
Awesome.
What do you expect when we hired a head coach so late? One that’s never been a head coach before. Considering we should’ve beat Minnesota and we beat Rutgers at least has us on a positive trend. It was looking like we wouldn’t get a Big 10 win. Any positive trend can only help the NIL fund and recruiting.
don't feed the trolls
His history looked like it, but I’ve been too busy to be around here enough to know for sure.
Amazing game by Garbers, hopefully this gives us momentum into the next few weeks.
NO.
Win 1 game and suddenly everything is ok? We have a really bad team, no coach, and a program in shambles.
No one said wverything is ok. Many are encouraged by the improvements we have seen and by the spirit of this team. We do have an inexperienced coach in Coach Fos but he is learning and developing and will be a good coach. He has many intangibles and I believe we need to stick with him. He has done so much already to build community and his DRE pillars will lead to success.
The program was left in shambles by a disgusting lazy no good, no character fraud know as Chipster Alfraud and an AD known as Jelly 2.0 who made a horrible decision to keep CA and they are the reason the program was left high and dry.
This team believes in Coach Fos and they respect and love him. Coach Fos loves UCLA and his players, and will right the ship and douse the dumpster fire left by CA. These are good men on our team and I am proud of our team and Coach Fos.
Nice write up Dimitri. One editorial comment: the young returner who got his TD taken away is Grant Gray, not Gary Grant.
Credit to the coaches who tapped Garbers for the start, and extra credit to the staff if they realized that the injuries to the Rutgers' pass rush might allow some unique opportunities. I would have had Martin playing the rest of the. year, as I still feel like his ceiling is higher than Garbers, but more for long term development for the next 2 years. But Garbers showed that he is a very capable QB when he has some consistent time to deliver a ball, and credit to EB for running more quick and complimentary routes to beat pressure and to avoid long developing plays that the WRs and OL are harder pressed to execute.
I'm also so happy for the kids, and especially Garbers, who have been the punching bag for much of the year so far. It's fair to question the team's overall talent and execution, but I don't think anyone should question their heart and effort. They deserve a reward for grinding and sticking with it this year.
Everything you said 😊
Also, as a separate comment, does anyone understand the fair catch signal on the onside kick? I get we couldn't advance the ball after the fair catch signal, but does that fair catch signal allow us any kind of protection to receive the ball? If it does, then how would any onside kick ever be successful? Assuming it doesn't, then why would it ever be of any benefit to signal for a fair catch in that situation?
Another reason I love football. That's a situation I've never seen, so it's something new to learn and strategize with.
I don't think you can fair catch once it hits the ground
You're probably right though clearly Loya called for it before it did otherwise the return would have counted, right?
That's what I thought. If so, then why ever signal for a fair catch on an onside kick>
They apparently changed the rule a few years ago where you have an opportunity to fair catch on the high bounces.
G - as I understand the rule, a fair catch signal only applies protections to the individual returner who signals for it, not to everyone on the return team though the restrictions on subsequently advancing the ball apply to everyone. The other risk of having someone on the front line of an onside kick signal it is that, if the returner signals it and touches it without catching it, the returner can not touch or recover it unless someone else touches it first.
Thus, you have someone in the 2nd line signal it if you want to make sure no one returns the onside kick in a scenario like Saturday where Rutgers' only slim chance was getting the ball back whether down 3 or 10 since they had no timeouts and couldn't stop us from kneeling the game out. Foster post game said he didn't want to see a return - as fun as it was - seems like that was actually well-coached
If the signal applies protection to the individual returner, can you have everyone on that side of the formation signal for the fair catch and ensure himself protection to recover the kick? (yes, I know I'm getting ridiculous)
i think you can....but once the ball bounces the ball is live.
Oh and I def agree with you that it was better not returning the kick and just running out the clock, so that really would have been great coaching if that was the intent.. I was yelling at the kid to slide or take a knee instead of scoring, but I guess he didn't hear me through the TV. ;-)