Tag: BIG Ten Conference

DeShaun Foster sees Patrick Mahomes comparisons in Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola

Foster says Dylan Raiola reminds him of somebody.

As UCLA prepares to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 10, the biggest storyline is Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola.

The former Georgia commit changed course and decided to come to Lincoln and has gotten off to a strong start in his freshman season.

Raiola has thrown for 1,744 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions as Nebraska has a 5-3 record. The last two weeks have not gone well for Raiola, however. He has a combined zero touchdowns and four interceptions in back-to-back losses, albeit against ranked teams Indiana and Ohio State, both on the road.

On Monday, UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster even said Raiola reminds him of Patrick Mahomes, who Foster worked with during his time at Texas Tech (h/t Tracy McDannald of Rivals).

“UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster said he can see the comparisons made between Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola and Kansas City Cheifs star Patrick Mahomes. Foster was a running backs coach for the Red Raiders when Mahomes was there.”

Raiola reminding Foster of Mahomes is quite the comparison and could make things problematic for UCLA in Lincoln.

UCLA basketball hope to fine-tune things against Cal State LA

The Bruins play their first and only pre-season game ahead of their first season in the Big Ten.

The UCLA men’s basketball team is set to take the court this Wednesday in an exhibition matchup against Cal State L.A. at the Pauley Pavillion.

After a disappointing 2023 season, the Bruins are back in action with some familiar and unfamiliar faces on the roster. Head coach Mick Cronin weathered the storm last season with UCLA, despite some serious ups and downs and a deflating second-round exit in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Now, the new-look Bruins hope to cross their t’s and dot their i’s before starting the season on November 4th at home. The No. 22 ranked team in the nation, UCLA has high expectations in 2024 after the transfer portal additions of forwards Kobe Johnson and Eric Dailey Jr. and guard Skyy Clark.

The Bruins are in uncharted territory this season as they begin their tenure in the Big Ten. With questions swirling surrounding the trajectory of the program and Cronin’s ability to coach a blue-blood program, UCLA fans will get their first taste of the 2024 team this week in what should be a blowout win in Westwood.

Big Ten releases statement on controversial play in Saturday’s game

The Big Ten released a statement on a controversial non-first down play on Saturday.

The Big Ten Conference released a statement regarding the officiating from Saturday’s Ohio State Buckeyes-Nebraska Cornhuskers football game. Several calls generated controversy, as Nebraska could not pull out the victory. Ohio State ended up winning by a 21-17 margin, continuing its strong season.

One of the missed calls involved a spot. Running back Emmett Johnson appeared to get a first down towards the end of the first half. However, the ball was spotted a bit behind the first down marker. This seemed to confuse the Huskers, who ended up draining several seconds off the clock as a result of the confusion.

The Big Ten admitted that the call was incorrect on Monday, per a statement they released.

“During Nebraska’s final drive of the first half, on second down with two yards to gain on the Ohio State 39-yard line, the ball was incorrectly spotted after a run by Cornhuskers RB [Emmett] Johnson. The ball carrier crossed the 37-yard line, and a first down should have been awarded to Nebraska. “Replay should have stopped the game to review the spot since it involved the line-to-gain.”

Nebraska will look to turn the page as they take on the UCLA Bruins this Saturday. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to wonder how the game could have changed if the call had been correct.

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UCLA’s win over Rutgers boosts chances vs. Nebraska

The chances are getting better.

The UCLA Bruins finally won their first-ever Big Ten Conference game by defeating Rutgers on the road. Then, UCLA had a bye week to rest and try to get things back in order.

In the first week of November, UCLA faces Nebraska on the road in Lincoln. The matchup is a difficult one with Dylan Raiola as the quarterback for the Cornhuskers.

Before the Rutgers game, ESPN gave UCLA just a 24% chance to defeat Nebraska.

However, that number has now increased to 32.1% after they knocked off the Scarlet Knights, as Mike Regalado points out.

Nebraska is coming off a close 21-17 loss to Ohio State and then a blowout loss on the road to Indiana, so they have dropped to 5-1 after a strong 5-1 start.

Kickoff is on Saturday, November 2, at 12:30 PM PST as UCLA tries to get the second Big Ten win of the season.

UCLA schedule: Is UCLA playing in Week 9?

UCLA is off in Week 9.

Will the UCLA Bruins be on the field today in Week 9 of the college football season?

In Week 8, UCLA finally got its first-ever Big Ten Conference win by defeating Rutgers on the road. DeShaun Foster was excited about getting the first W in conference play and Ethan Garbers ended up as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after scoring five touchdowns.

In Week 9, UCLA has a bye and will get some much-needed rest after a grueling slate of games.

They will return in Week 10 to face off against Nebraska in Lincoln.

Here is a quick rundown of the remaining schedule and the results for the season at UCLA.

TEAM 2024 schedule

  • Week 1: At Hawaii (W, 16-13)
  • Week 2: BYE
  • Week 3: vs. Indiana (L, 42-13)
  • Week 4: At LSU: (L, 34-17)
  • Week 5: vs. Oregon (L, 34-13)
  • Week 6: At Penn State: (L, 27-11)
  • Week 7: vs. Minnesota (L, 21-17)
  • Week 8: At Rutgers: (W, 35-32)
  • Week 9: Bye
  • Week 10: At Nebraska
  • Week 11: vs. Iowa
  • Week 12: At Washington
  • Week 13: vs. USC
  • Week 14: vs. Fresno State
  • Record: 2-5 (1-4 Big Ten)

Ethan Garbers earns Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week

What an honor for Ethan Garbers.

The UCLA Bruins got the first Big Ten Conference win. It came against Rutgers in a road game that began at 9 AM Pacific Time, Noon Eastern, in another cross-country road trip.

However, UCLA got the 35-32 win on Saturday. The biggest highlight of the game was UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers.

Garbers threw for 383 yards and had just six incompletions while tossing four touchdowns and rushing for another.

As a result, Garbers was named the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week. 

Entering the game, Garbers’ play had been a talking point with questions about whether or not Justyn Martin would take over. 

Garbers even had only four passing touchdowns all year before the Rutgers game, and he had two games with zero passing scores and had at least one interception in every start.

Nonetheless, Garbers earned a huge honor after a strong performance against Rutgers. UCLA has a bye next.

DeShaun Foster elated after UCLA’s first-ever Big Ten win

DeShaun Foster is excited.

It took longer than many hoped, but the UCLA Bruins finally got the first-ever win as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

After losing five in a row and four Big Ten games, UCLA got the win over Rutgers in Week 8 despite a long road trip and some difficult matchups.

After the game, UCLA coach DeShaun Foster spoke about the win and what it means to get the victory in Big Ten play, per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times. 

“It’s more about the guys, so I’m excited to get a Big Ten win but we’ve got a few more games and I would like to get bowl-eligible, so we’re going to continue to play and hopefully we can get there.”

It was an encouraging performance for UCLA against Rutgers, and UCLA now goes into a Week 9 bye as they can celebrate a bit after the huge victory.

Photos as UCLA wins first Big Ten game in Week 8 vs. Rutgers

The Bruins did it!

The UCLA Bruins finally did it. For the first time since Week 1, UCLA gets a win. 

Moreover, it is the first-ever Big Ten Conference win for the Bruins, and it came despite a grueling cross-country trip to New Jersey to take on Rutgers.

The Bruins got the best of Rutgers as quarterback Ethan Garbers silenced the doubters for at least one week in a big performance.

Even with the 9 AM Pacific time kickoff (noon in New Jersey), UCLA found a way to win as DeShaun Foster and his staff can breathe a sigh of relief.

Here are some of the best photos from the game in Week 8.

Rutgers center has family ties to UCLA

Gus Zilinskas has some interesting ties.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are facing off against the UCLA Bruins in a Big Ten Conference showdown in New Jersey on Week 8.

While Rutgers is favored, especially with UCLA sliding quickly, there is an interesting storyline in this game. Rutgers center Gus Zilinskas has some family ties involving the Bruins.

His father, John Zilinskas, was once a starter for the Bruins football program. Zilinskas was on the team from 1987 until 1991 and was part of the roster with Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman.

Gus spoke about the ties and mentioned his father will be at the game, per Bobby Deren of Scarlet Nation.

“He is going to be at the game and it is going to be fun to experience that,” Zilinskas told Scarlet Nation on Tuesday. “Growing up, I watched a lot of UCLA because he played there. It’s pretty cool.”

The Zilinskas family makes trips regularly to see him play, but this time it means more given it’s his father’s alma mater.

“It’s week by week but when I saw they were on the schedule,” I was excited,” Zilinskas said. “It’s going to be good to play my father’s alma mater.”

It will be an interesting battle for the Zilinskas family on Saturday.

Pair of UCLA writers pick Rutgers to win in Week 8

Rutgers picked to win twice here.

The UCLA Bruins have a tough road ahead of them and are eagerly searching for the first Big Ten Conference win of the year.

In Week 8, they face Rutgers on the road in another early kickoff time.

UCLA is coming off a 21-17 loss against Minnesota in a close game, albeit a disappointing one given the way things have gone this season.

Ahead of the Rutgers showdown, Nicholas Hart of The Daily Targum sat down with Daily Bruin writers Matthew Niiya and Ira Gorawara. The two Daily Bruin writers gave their predictions for the UCLA-Rutgers game, and both picked the Scarlet Knights to get the win.

“I’m going to say 17-10 Rutgers,” Niiya said.

“I’m going to go also Rutgers wins, but I’m going to go 23-20,” Gorawara predicted.

Both UCLA writers have the Bruins playing a close game, which is encouraging to see, although neither one has them winning.

It will be a tough test for UCLA once again, and the Week 9 bye will be a good chance for them to reset a little bit.