LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA was 1-5 at the halfway point of coach DeShaun Foster’s first season, and nothing embodied the Bruins’ struggles better than their nonexistent rush offense.
But after three straight wins, fueled by a resurgent ground game, UCLA has found itself starting to turn around what looked like a lost year.
“The confidence we have now, it just keeps going up,” wide receiver Logan Loya said.
The Bruins (4-5, 3-4 Big Ten) now have a realistic path to bowl eligibility for a fourth straight season, something they haven’t done since 2011-2015. A win at Washington on Friday would put Foster on the precipice of becoming the fifth coach to take UCLA into the postseason in his debut.
Fittingly, given Foster’s history as a successful tailback and running backs coach at his alma mater, it is the rush offense that has helped UCLA get on track. The Bruins have at least 30 carries in each game of the winning streak, totaling 95 yards at Rutgers, 139 at Nebraska and 211 against Iowa.
T.J Harden ran for 125 yards on 20 attempts against the Hawkeyes, giving the Bruins their first 100-yard rusher of the season. Foster credited Harden, a junior, for having the maturity to handle a disappointing start to this season after rushing for 827 yards and eight touchdowns last year.
“You know, young T.J. probably would’ve got frustrated on how the season was going,” Foster said. “He never got frustrated, never got down on himself, and you know, when you’ve stayed positive, the football gods will eventually bless you."
Having topped 50 yards as a runner only once before his breakout game against Iowa, Harden tried to focus on other ways to help out. He leads the team with 29 receptions and is third with 257 yards receiving, proving adept in the screen game.
“He works,” Loya said. “Whatever the job he has, whether it’s blocking, whether it’s running, whether going on a pass route, gets the job done and gives even more after that.”
Harden is now benefiting from improved blocking. Even after losing left tackle Niki Prongos to a lower-body injury in the game against Iowa, the offensive line held up well. Foster also credited tight end Jack Pedersen for his contributions at the point of attack.
Their work made it possible to stick with the run game despite falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter.
“When you’re successful early in the run game, it makes you more confident to call it the whole game, so I think that played more into it,” Foster said.
Being able to maintain a push up front also makes it easier to close out victories. UCLA ran it 13 times for 58 yards in the fourth quarter against Iowa, holding the ball for 10:31.
Compare that to the 21-17 loss to Minnesota on Oct. 12, the last setback before the winning streak. The Bruins gained just 17 yards on seven attempts in the fourth quarter, when one more first down might have been enough to prevent the Golden Gophers from scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 27 seconds remaining.
“Obviously, we needed to grow overall as a team,” Loya said. “We wish we could get those back, obviously. But we needed those to grow and then get better.”
With much of the same personnel returning after averaging 197.9 yards rushing per game in 2023 under then-coach Chip Kelly, Loya remained confident the offense eventually would find success.
“So we knew we could do this,” Loya said. “It just took a lot longer than we all expected. But happy that we can finally show what we can do.”
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