By Hunt Palmer
On Wednesday’s edition of The Hunt Palmer Show, Zach Anderson-Yoximer of Locked on UCLA joined me to preview the Bruins. Understandably, after a rocky first two games for the Bruins, Anderson-Yoximer was rather subdued in his expectations for Saturday and beyond. As you continue reading, you’ll get to transcripts from Matt Moscona’s interview with UCLA postgame host Bryan Fenley from AM 570 in Los Angeles. Fenley’s reviews on the Bruins were, well….not great. Jim Mora would blush at the litany of issues Fenley laid out with this team.
On the vibes around UCLA right now…
Z A-Y: I don’t think they could be any worse at the moment. After a drubbing at the hands of Indiana to open Big 10 play, that’s about as embarrassing as it gets for UCLA fans in football land.
On the level of expectation in Year 1 under a new head coach
Z A-Y: It’s very much a crisis after two games. There was a lot of optimism from a lot of UCLA pundits, including myself. I still think there’s quite a few pieces from last year’s team left over from Chip Kelly that made contributions. And there was some hope that maybe they could go bowling, but clearly through the first two games that does not look likely to be the case. There needs to be much improvement to even get to three wins this year.
On offensive problems:
Z A-Y: It’s very different from the MO of Chip Kelly. Chip Kelly, run the ball, run the ball, simple passing routes. Well, then you’ve got Eric Bienemy, got his big shot with the Commanders, comes to UCLA and is trying to utilize a receiver room in UCLA that’s pretty good and an experienced redshirt senior quarterback, a running back room that’s decent, some returning offensive linemen, and you‘d expect this offense to have a lot more of a passing emphasis this year. Well, so far, Garbers’s best game included two picks, 270 yards against Hawaii where he looked anything but steady, and what he’s trying to do is find a way to get more protection for Garbers. That was a concern last year, and it’s a concern this year. And use all these weapons they have available. Right now, that’s been a big problem for the Bruins with the quarterback making bad decisions, dropping the ball, a lack of protection. And right now, nothing is really going right for a coordinator who is not known to run the football.
On Quarterback Ethan Garbers…
The idea is he’s a great leader. He can lead the locker room. He can digest the offense that the rest of these guys have all struggled to understand through the spring and into the summer. That’s kind of translated onto the field. What he’s supposed to be is a good decision maker and a veteran presence in the locker room in this day in age of transition from Chip Kelly to DeShaun Foster. Well, the accuracy hasn’t been there. The decision making hasn’t fully been there. It just hasn’t panned out. He’s not exactly the best deep ball thrower, and the hope was he could just get it to the playmakers on the outside and they’d make plays…maybe that can happen this week. The last two seasons, Garbers has been bombarded in the backfield with limited protection on drop backs. If he gets any protection, any confidence going forward, he could be a better quarterback in the Big 10. Not the top quarterback, but he could be serviceable. He has not shown that in these two games to open up the ’24 season.
Now we transition over to Bryan Fenley’s segment on After Further Review. Buckle up. It’s a doozy.
On the feeling around the program…
BF: I would say, honestly, the energy is pretty low right now. People thought Eric Bienemy would have the offense rolling by this stage. Clearly that hasn’t come yet. Not to say it won’t come, but it hasn’t come. There have been reports about his system being really complex and the guys not really getting it. I think the biggest struggle right now is the offensive line. If you go on social media, I’ve never heard of a one-loss team, and UCLA did get beat in their Big 10 home opener, but it was if that one loss meant that there was going to be a loss every week the rest of the year. I’m not saying that can’t happen. Of course there is a possibility. But the fans took one loss, one lopsided loss, and now are saying to themselves that they don’t think UCLA is going to win another game this year. I’m not going to go that far.
You mentioned the offensive line. What’s the culprit there?
BF: The culprit is that UCLA has not done a good job of recruiting. The way that Chip Kelly left the program, he left it after, sort of, the coaching carousel had passed. A lot of the transfers and all of that market had passed, as well. UCLA under DeShaun Foster was put in a really tough position. They have two transfers on the offensive line that they were able to snag. The problem is that they’re not getting any push on the offensive line, and this is a team that has a really good running back, and they’re not able to exploit that. And the pass protection might be the only thing that this team is okay at. Beyond that, you get tight ends, you get running backs that are trying to pick up their blocks, and they’re missing their blocks. There is a lot of miscommunication going on. A lot of missed assignments. UCLA, their offense, over the course of their two games, has scored a total of two touchdowns, one touchdown per game. That is not going to get it done. And too many times, the offense puts the defense in a horrible position because all of a sudden it’s 14-0 before you know it, and now you’re forcing things. There’s a lot of chaos going right now.
What is the perceived strength of the offense?
BF: The strength is the wide receivers. They’ve got Rico Flores, a transfer from Notre Dame, who is outstanding. They just can’t get the ball to him. They’ve got Michael Sturdivant, a transfer from Cal, and they can’t get the ball to these guys. They’ve got, arguably, one of the best wide receiver corps in the conference, the Big 10, and they can’t get the ball to them. They can’t convert on third downs. They can’t stay on the field. I think UCLA maybe converted three third downs on offense in their game against Indiana. They have really solid running back play, but it’s the same saga over and over again. You go three and out. You go three and out. You can’t develop a rhythm, and you’ve got a veteran presence at quarterback who is very familiar with UCLA. He’s a redshirt senior, a transfer from Washington. His brother, for many years, was the quarterback at Cal. And you’ve got Ethan Garbers as the QB, and I love the guy, but he’s lost out there. And I’m not saying it’s his fault. The guys are going over to each other houses to study the playbook like it’s a homework assignment even the week going into the game. I’ve never heard that before. I know Eric Bienemy’s offense is really complex, and he’s got a great history, but I don’t know how much Eric is willing to adapt and be willing to say, ‘maybe I shouldn’t be as set in my ways, and I need to adapt to the new age college kid and simplify things’. Because I think right now there’s no simplification in the offense. You look at Ethan Garbers, he’s locking onto receivers before he throws. And he’s throwing picks. Guys just aren’t in the right positions running routes, blocking schemes. Offensively, they’re in a really tough spot right now.
On issues with the UCLA defense…
BF: The problem with the UCLA defense right now is there are some holes in the secondary. With the run and shoot offense that Hawaii did, and I think even Indiana at times, UCLA, and they would be the first to tell you, they are getting burned on the quick hitters, the quick catch and run up the field. UCLA is playing too conservative with their coverage, and so wide receivers are getting the ball in space, and they’re getting chunk plays, electrifying plays. The problem is that UCLA doesn’t have a pass rusher. Laiatu Latu, the first-rounder, onto the NFL. They haven’t been able to really dig into the transfer portal and get somebody good. The other problem is, arguably their best player on defense, who is an NFL guy, Jay Toia, reports are this week…he’s our only hope, there are reports he hasn’t been practicing this week because of an injury. So, the best part of the defense is the linebacking corps. Kain Medrano, and I know because I listened to Brian Kelly talk this week, he mentioned his name in the press conference leading up to the game. Kain Medrano is our only hope. We have a lack of dudes on the line. We can’t develop a pass rush. So, as I’ve heard others talk about, maybe against LSU you drop eight, and you see what you can do when you get back into coverage. I did see an adjustment on the defense in the second half against Hawaii where they did play tighter coverage on the corners. That seemed to help, but you gotta be able to score, and UCLA, right now, they just can’t do that.
On the team’s leadership and energy…
BF: I love DeShaun Foster. He’d be the first one to tell you; he’s an introvert. He’s not the fiery guy on the sideline. He’s not going to scream during the game and get his guys riled up. And the same could be said for the quarterback. Ethan Garbers is a little bit more soft-spoken. So, when you’ve got the face of your team pretty quiet and a coach that’s a little quiet, this team, and they were called out in practice a little this week from reports based on not having enough energy. So, who are the guys that are going to bring energy? Who are the enforcers? Who are the guys that are gonna come in and say, ‘guys, what are we doing out there?’ Holding people accountable and bringing an energy…right now there’s a lethargy, I think, and I love DeShaun, there needs to be an energy there to get these guys and push them a little bit harder because right now they’re kind of going with the emotional mood of the coach. And that’s just who he is.
On the team’s composure…
BF: One of the big problems with UCLA is they get rattled emotionally. Some of the players have talked about that. They let their emotions take over too much. They get too charged up. Maybe nerves. Maybe it’s apprehension. And you’re going into these big environments like LSU. UCLA has never seen a crowd like this. As you’ve pointed out, they’ve never played at LSU. I don’t know how they’re going to handle that environment. Is it going to be overwhelming? Probably. Does that mean they’re going to lose? I mean, a lot people think they are, and most people are probably right in terms of where the team stands right now, but the way that the team handles itself in those environments in those big venues, like, you said. It’s Penn State. It’s LSU. UCLA, they’re way too emotional. I mean the first play from scrimmage for UCLA against Indiana last week was a fumble! The very first play! You had a bye week the week before, two weeks after going to Hawaii and trailing in that game for 59 and a half of the 60 minutes and finally making the field goal to win the game at the very, very end. You get two weeks to prepare, and then the very first play Ethan Garbers fumbles the football. Indiana falls on it. There’s something there emotionally where the guys…and that’s why these big environments are going to be scary.
On the blueprint for a win…
BF: If UCLA goes into the fourth quarter, and they’re within two touchdowns, I’m gonna be very, very happy.
