Tag: Jay Toia

Jay Toia keeps it real on UCLA’s disappointing season

Jay Toia keeps it real on the struggles.

The UCLA Bruins football team has not found much success this season. The only win up until this point came in Week 1 against Hawaii, albeit in a discouraging 16-13 effort on the road.

The Bruins have lost five in a row and the offense has yet to score more than 20 points in any game this season.

While the losses to Penn State and Minnesota were more encouraging than the three blowouts prior to that, the atmosphere around the program has been deflating.

Senior defensive lineman Jay Toia spoke about how things have been this season, per Matthew Niiya of The Dialy Bruin.

“The season’s not going how any of us want,” said senior defensive lineman Jay Toia. “But, I believe we’re getting better every week and we’re just striving to win games.”

Toia decided to return to Westwood despite some brief transfer portal buzz, but certainly, this is not what he had envisioned when he came back to UCLA.

UCLA faces Rutgers in Week 8 before a much-needed bye, although things don’t get easier on the other side of the bye. The Bruins finish with games against Nebraska, Iowa, Washington, USC and Fresno State.

Big Ten announces list of players for media days

54 players headed to Big Ten media days.

The UCLA Bruins are about to get their first taste of life in the BIG 10 later this month.

This week, the BIG 10 announced that a whopping 54 players from BIG 10 football programs will be in attendance at their media day in Indianapolis, Indiana. Each team will have three players in attendance to represent their school, and the Bruins have three stars heading to Indy.

Quarterback Ethan Garbers, linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo, and defensive lineman Jay Toia will represent the Bruins on July 24th alongside Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, and USC. In their first appearance with the BIG 10, the three athletes have an opportunity to show out for Bruins nation.

Though the Bruins are projected to collect near the bottom of the BIG 10 standing this football season, they have a chance to share some insights into how first-year head coach DeShaun Foster is running the program and their aspirations for their first season in the conference.

DeShaun Foster, Jay Toia on hand to support Laiatu Latu at NFL Draft

DeShaun Foster and others on hand to see Laiatu Latu get drafted.

The UCLA Bruins football program saw Laiatu Latu hear his name called during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday. He went No. 15 overall to the Indianapolis Colts, ending a string of 14 straight offensive players to be selected.

And, even more impressive, is that a few Bruins coaches and players were there to support him. DeShaun Foster, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, teammate Jay Toia, and athletic director Martin Jarmond were all there to support Latu.

DeShaun Foster is wasting no time making strong impressions in his first year as UCLA head coach, and them being there to see Latu get selected is quite something.

Latu then had his introductory press conference on Friday in Indianapolis and had plenty of things to say as his UCLA career comes to an end and he begins his NFL journey.

The Bruins contingent had to go back to LA to prepare for the Spring Game on April 27. 

Jay Toia changes course, stays at UCLA instead of entering the portal

Jay Toia is another defensive tackle USC won’t have on its 2024 roster.

Former USC Trojan Jay Toia transferred to UCLA. As a Bruin, Toia had announced his decision to enter the transfer portal earlier this month. Now, Toia has reconsidered. The defensive tackle is staying at UCLA. There was speculation that upon entering the portal, Toia might be in play for the Texas Longhorns as a possible pickup. Now that scenario is off the board.

UCLA Wire has more:

“The UCLA Bruins saw DL Jay Toia enter the transfer portal in what was expected to be a significant loss for the defense. However, days later, Toia decided to return to Westwood in a surprising turn of events.

“For Texas fans, they were hoping to land Toia, especially with him attending the Spring Game over the weekend and trending towards moving to Texas, or so everyone thought.”

The plot twists in the portal are emerging left and right. USC needs to find a way to ride the wave and catch a premium defensive tackle in this spring transfer portal window. The Trojans do not have the level of depth they need to flourish in the Big Ten. They need to add more pieces.

Could former USC Trojan Jay Toia move to Texas in the transfer portal?

USC versus Texas in the portal for Jay Toia? Let’s see how this one plays out.

UCLA Bruins defensive tackle Jay Toia entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday evening, he announced on social media on Thursday. He could become a target for the USC Trojans (again). He could also be in play for the Texas Longhorns,who are in the market for a defensive tackle.

“As I prepare to graduate from UCLA… After speaking with my parents and family, I decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal last night,” said Toia via X.

A Simi Valley (California) product from Grace Brethren High School, Toia initially signed with USC as a member of the 2021 recruiting class. He spent that spring semester with the Trojans before entering the NCAA transfer portal.

“The 2020 pandemic was tragic to so many that lost so much,” Toia wrote on Instagram announcing his transfer. “For me and especially my parents, we felt forced to make a major decision signing with USC based on limited information because of COVID-19 restrictions. We were not able to take any official or unofficial visits to any of the other schools on our short list such as Michigan, Utah, UCLA, Miami among others.”

Over the last two seasons, the Tonga native started 24 combined games, recording 30 tackles with three tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble in 2022. Toia collected 28 tackles with four tackles for loss and one sack in 2023.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Texas trending for UCLA DL Jay Toia, Arizona DL Bill Norton

Could Texas bring in multiple defensive tackles in the post-spring transfer portal?

Texas is trending for two of the top defensive tackles in the spring transfer portal opening. The Longhorns have long been the favorite for Arizona defensive tackle Bill Norton, but now trend for another former Pac-12 talent.

Texas is reportedly hosting UCLA defensive tackle Jay Toia in the early going of the portal reopening. Horns247’s Jordan Scruggs and Hank South have entered crystal ball predictions for the Longhorns to add Toia to the fold.

It’s early, but Texas faithful have to like where the team is positioned in the recruitment. It doesn’t appear that the Longhorns are opposed to taking more than one defensive tackle.

Presently, the interior defensive line is incomplete. Veteran defensive tackle Alfred Collins is primed to lead the position, but there are questions about the position as a whole. Adding Toia and Norton to Collins, Tiaoalii Savea and Vernon Broughton could solidify the defensive tackle position for Texas.

We’ll keep an eye on how the recruitment unfolds.

USC player who transferred from UCLA reacts to Jay Toia entering the portal

Jay Toia went from USC to UCLA. John Humphrey went from UCLA to USC. Humphrey reacted to Toia’s transfer.

The transfer portal is creating some fascinating stories at USC football and elsewhere. One of the plot points USC fans are focused on is the twisting saga of Jay Toia, the defensive tackle who transferred from USC to UCLA but has now re-entered the portal. USC’s John Humphrey transferred from UCLA to join D’Anton Lynn with the Trojans. Humphrey reacted to Toia’s announcement that he is going back into the portal. Could a Toia return to the Trojans be in the works? USC needs defensive tackles, and Toia would be a natural fit.

UW Huskies Wire has said that Washington should make a run at Toia in the transfer portal.

UCLA Wire had more on Toia:

“Initially starting his career at USC, where he saw no playing time, the 6’3″, 325 lb Toia transferred to UCLA in 2021. The junior lineman totaled 66 tackles in his career with the Bruins and added two sacks and a forced fumble.

“Given that the Murphy Twins, Laiatu Latu, and Darius Muasau have all left for the NFL Draft, Toia’s exit from the program delivers another blow to the UCLA defensive line.

“Lacking veteran talent and leadership up front on defense, Toia’s timing does not bode well for the newly-minted Big Ten Bruins, where ground-and-pound football rules.”

Now we get to see if Toia is headed back to USC.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Defensive tackle transfer Philip Blidi no longer visiting Oklahoma for the Spring game

The Oklahoma Sooners have a busy recruiting weekend ahead but one talented defensive lineman will no longer be there.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a massive weekend ahead with the spring game and the number of recruits set to be on campus. In addition to the high school prospects OU will be hosting, the Sooners will also host several transfer targets this weekend.

The list of transfers includes defensive tackles [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Jermayne Lole[/autotag] and interior offensive lineman [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag]. Initially, that list included Indiana Hoosiers’ transfer, [autotag]Philip Blidi[/autotag]. He was the first of the group to announce he’d be at the spring game but has now announced he will not be in attendance.

Some people may look at that and be surprised. When Blidi first entered the portal, it looked like he was set to be a Sooner. But after a few visits and the list of Sooners targets growing, the rumblings of Blidi not ending up in the Crimson and Cream only grew louder.

Obviously, he would have brought a lot of experience, which would have helped a talented but young defensive tackle group. However, the Sooners still have two big-time transfers at that position set to come to campus. Williams is considered Oklahoma’s top defensive tackle target. As the Sooners are over the scholarship limit, they were going to have to be picky in their additions.

So, now the focus turns to Williams and Lole and a recent transfer portal entry in UCLA defensive tackle Jay Toia. But it remains to be seen how active the Sooners will be with Toia.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

MICHIGAN OFFER: 2021 Simi Valley (CA) Grace Brethren DT Jay Toia

The Wolverines offer a four-star USC commit that’s becoming more and more of a national focus.

[jwplayer CSlA2VdT-XNcErKyb]

Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 4 165 10 15
Rivals 4 – 21 24
ESPN 4 164 5 13
247Sports Composite 4 192 12 18

Vitals

Hometown Simi Valley (CA) Grace Brethren
Projected Position Defensive Tackle
Height 6-foot-3
Weight 320-pounds

Recruitment

  • Committed to USC on June 12, 2018
  • Michigan offered on Feb. 21, 2020, per his Twitter

Offers

  • California
  • UCLA
  • Michigan
  • Nebraska
  • Oregon
  • LSU
  • Tennessee
  • USC (Committed)
  • Utah
  • Vanderbilt

Film

[protected-iframe id=”eb3169383ceaf046c34159ff34a59b50-146813584-139854940″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/8352399/5d5b84929a9c4c0b2c57920b” width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

Twitter

https://twitter.com/JayToia_102