Ohio State football Buck'Eyeing' the Big Ten: UCLA Bruins
By Chip Minnich
Before I proceed too much further, I hope everyone has had or is having, a safe and festive Independence Day weekend. We are now firmly into July - Big Ten media days are rapidly approaching, which means college football season is getting closer and closer.
With the expansion of four new teams into The Big Ten, the conference developed a new scheduling strategy of rotating opponents, beginning with the 2024 season. Also new to the Big Ten is the elimination of divisions, with the end result that the top two teams within the conference at the end of the regular season will play in The Big Ten Championship Game.
It is with that thought in mind that prompted me to start this series to look at the other teams within The Big Ten that Ohio State will not be facing in the 2024 regular season. I am going to be reviewing these teams within The Big Ten in alphabetical order, giving my thoughts on their possible season outlook, as well as the odds that the team could wind up in The Big Ten Championship Game.
5. UCLA Bruins (2023 Record: 8-5)
Bill Walton, the legendary UCLA basketball center, was a longtime fan of The Grateful Dead. To borrow from the song "Truckin", I believe Walton would agree that when analyzing the 2024 college football season for the UCLA Bruins, the lyrics "What a long, strange trip it's been..." would be appropriate.
Consider the crazy twists and turns UCLA has been on since the seismic news on June 30th, 2022, that UCLA, along with longtime rival USC (more on them in next week's article), were joining The Big Ten.
- Chip Kelly led UCLA to a 9-4 record in 2022, which included a 37-35 loss to Pittsburgh in The Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl
- Chip Kelly led UCLA to an 8-5 record in 2023, which included a 35-22 win over Boise State in The Starco Brands LA Bowl.
- Kelly was rumored to be fired prior to the USC game in 2023, only for UCLA to defeat USC 38-20. At the time, Chip Kelly stated on his job speculation, “Not an issue for me...I’ve never been governed by the fear of what other people say.”.
-During the college football offseason, Chip Kelly openly interviewed for jobs within the NFL as an offensive coordinator. After not being hired within the NFL, Kelly resigned his position as UCLA's head coach, to become Ohio State's offensive coordinator on February 9th, 2024.
-Former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster was named the new head coach on February 12th, 2024. Among the key hires by Foster on the coaching staff was Eric Bieniemy as the Bruins' associate head coach and offensive coordinator.
Oh, by the way...How about moving to a completely brand new athletic conference?
Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Against Ohio State: 2025, when Ohio State will be hosting the Bruins. The date of the game has not yet been announced. Ohio State will not travel to UCLA until the 2028 season, and who knows if Chip Kelly will still be on Ohio State's staff at that point.
Key Personnel Losses From 2023: Pass rusher extraordinaire Laiatu Lata was the first defensive player selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, selected 15th overall by the Indianapolis Colts. LB Darius Muasau was the only other Bruin selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, going in the 6th round to the New York Giants.
Even more troubling than the loss of players such as Lata or Muasau is the loss of coaches. The Chip Kelly saga is documented up above, and that is substantial, no matter how rocky the relationship had developed between Kelly and the athletic administration.
Another key loss was on the defensive staff, as D'Anton Lynn left UCLA to become USC's new defensive coordinator. Lynn was largely credited with the significant improvement the Bruins demonstrated in 2023, as the defensive ranking improved from 87th to 11th in the country. The new UCLA defensive coordinator is Ikaika Malloe, who will also be tasked with coaching the Bruins' inside linebackers. Malloe has been on the UCLA staff since the 2022 season.
2024 Schedule Outlook: No sugarcoating it for UCLA, as this is a challenging schedule, even without having to play the Buckeyes. The season opener at Hawaii on August 14th should allow UCLA to start the season off on a winning note, then the Bruins will welcome in new Big Ten rival Indiana (This is going to be an adjustment for me, I will not lie) on September 14th.
A road trip to LSU on September 21st, a home game against Oregon on September 28th, then the Bruins will travel to take on Penn State on October 5th for the first time in Beaver Stadium since 1967. At the end of that stretch, it would not be unreasonable to believe the Bruins will be 2-3 as October begins. Getting to 6-6 is going to be tough.
Prediction for 2024: DeShaun Foster has come in and reinvigorated the program after Chip Kelly's messy departure this winter, but it would rank as a shocker if the Bruins are anything more than a 6-6 bowl-eligible team. First-time head coach, new coordinators, and a difficult schedule in a brand new conference will result in more than a few growing pains. It would not surprise me if UCLA's season finale versus Fresno State will determine if the Bruins go bowling this season.
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Look for the sixth part of the series next week, as we look at how the 2024 season may shape up for the USC Trojans, another new Big Ten member. As always, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.