UCLA football has now won three games in a row following their 20-17 over Iowa Friday night at the Rose Bowl but even with the recent win streak, the Bruins rushing attack has taken a significant step back in 2024.
Their move to the Big Ten certainly plays a factor but the change from Chip Kelly to two former running backs, Eric Bienemy and DeShaun Foster hasn’t worked out well statistically for the UCLA rushing attack.
UCLA currently ranks #128 in the nation in rushing yards per game, the Bruins currently sit right between the Akron Zips and Temple Owls for the sixth-worst rushing team in all of FBS football. UCLA’s averaged just 89.1 rushing yards per game, which was just 73.88 before the Bruins rushed for 211 yards Friday night.
Last year, the 8-5 Bruins averaged 197.9 rushing yards a game, ranking #17 in the country. As you might expect, the 2023 Bruins rushed the ball a lot more, with 40.5 rushes per game last year compared to only 27.4 this season.
Even with those differences, UCLA has gotten much less bang for their buck on the ground this year, averaging 3.2 yards a carry on the year, even after the solid showing on the ground against Iowa, last year UCLA was at 4.9 yards per rush. Unsurprisingly, the Bruins found the end zone a lot more often on the ground a year ago, rushing in 1.62 touchdowns per game last year, with that mark sitting at 0.33 a game this season.
With that said, if Foster can continue to string together wins in the Big Ten, the rushing inefficiency becomes a less pressing topic.