UCLA running game: UClA needs to do more than the 51 rushing yards against Minnesota. Somehow, the offense needs to find a way to run offense or it's going to get really ugly quickly

Garbers: needs to manage the game better and not throw INTs. He needs to find a way to move the chains and eat up clock.

Penalties: UCLA needs to be more disciplined and reduce the costly penalties

Oline: The oline needs to play better. Against Penn State I saw improvement but against Minnesota they seemed to slip a little. They need allow Garbers the time to see the field and look for his secondary WRs.

Defense: the defense needs to keep Rutgers offense off the field as much as possible. Looking for another great game by Carson Schwesinger and Medreno.

so they can retain their eligibility this season and then transfer...suc had two players that just quit the team and left

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Jett Washington, a four-star athlete at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman ranked 178th overall nationally in the 2026 class, was offered Wednesday afternoon by UCLA.

It looks like he is being recruited as a safety.

He is the nephew of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

Hey guys! Richie O'Leary here, publisher of The Knight Report aka the Rutgers-Rivals site. Just wanted to drop by and post our video from RU head coach Greg Schiano's press conference today. I'll try to stop by throughout the week and answer any questions you guys have + I'll drop all our game week links below as well.

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I know it’s not prime recruiting season, but it is coming up soon. It’s all a jumble now because we have no idea who stays, who transfers, who goes pro, how much hs kids need in NIL, and for our team, who is disgruntled by lack of PT.

But it seems like we should have 2-3 quality freshmen every year that understand the whole landscape and value what UCLA offers.

In a perfect world, we could get an elite prospect plus a couple of really good prospects each year. If one is good enough, they stay 2 years and go pro. One transfers, and the other plays by year 2 and stays 4 years. That provides a base of 8-9 homegrown players on the team at any given time. Add in a couple of transfer portal guys and a couple of transfers who still have eligibility and you have everything you need.

It seems the schools and coaches who need to remake their roster with 5+ transfers a year can’t develop talent or have such deep pockets that they can buy whatever they want. I hope this year is an aberration and we don’t have 8 new players every year.

5 new guys is a healthy way to grow a team but 8 every year is chaos and feels more like fantasy football than college basketball.

on Saturday. Maybe I'm sticking my neck out...but this could be Win Number Two?

It's going to be low scoring...20 UCLA, 14 Rutgers??

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Hey I'm out in St. Louis checking in on Cardinal Ritter where they have a number of talented prospects. The highest rated one is wide receiver Dejerrian Miller. I previously thought that his recruitment would come down to Tennessee and Mizzou but after spending time at the school, I really like where UCLA is with him. The staff has made a big impression and have stayed in constant contact with him. He's visiting for the bye week next weekend and then plans to make a decision the following week.

Good news could be coming if the visit goes well.

This does not include wings like Kobe Johnson, Eric Dailey Jr. and Lazar Stefanovic since the bulk of those minutes will likely be at the three. It made more sense to give them their own preview to not clutter this up.

It’s a more formal version of my first impression notes in the scrimmage thread:

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Safeties coach Brian Norwood and offensive line coach Juan Castillo have been busy tonight.

Dyakonov was on the visitor list for the Minnesota game. He’s HS teammates with four-star WR Jameson Powell and both camped at UCLA in June.

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Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep 7-footer Obinna Ekezie Jr. announced Wednesday morning that he’s been offered by UCLA.

He’s ranked 15th nationally in the 2027 class.

The UCLA men’s basketball program announced Wednesday that it will honor the late Bill Walton during the Feb. 23, 2025 game against Ohio State at Pauley Pavilion.

“It’s a difficult reality to know we’re getting ready to start a basketball season in Westwood without Bill’s presence,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said in a statement announcing the gesture. “He will forever be an icon in our great game, and his memory will forever live on at UCLA. For our program, especially over the past 12 seasons, he’s been a fixture while working as a broadcaster. On gamedays, he routinely chatted with our players, he shared advice with me, and he meant so much to everyone around our program. We want to honor Bill this season, and we’re grateful to have the support of his family. After conversations with his former teammates and with the blessing of his family, we wanted to select a game when we’re at home on the weekend, playing before a national television audience.”

The game will be nationally televised on CBS at 12:45 p.m.

UCLA will honor Walton during a halftime ceremony that afternoon and throughout the game itself. Fans at the contest against Ohio State will receive an exclusive, commemorative poster that celebrates Walton’s life and legacy. In addition, UCLA students will receive a custom tie-dyed T-shirt to celebrate Walton’s larger-than-life personality.

About to get underway

Before I sit down and go through all the notes (and later do a formal recap), here are interviews with associate head coach Darren Savino, wing Eric Dailey Jr. and forward William Kyle III:

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The Bruins check in at No. 22.

In all, four teams from the Big Ten are ranked including No. 14 Purdue, No. 17 Indiana and No. 25 Rutgers.

Kansas topped the poll, receiving 30 of 60 first-place votes.

Story to come, but for now here is the full poll:

Practice is about to get underway

Those of you who already saw the post last night in the recruits thread for the Minnesota game have already seen the full comments.

This is just the formal story:

UCLA’s release on the restructured NIL collective that has three distinct NIL funds for football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball and Olympic sports:

Things are underway

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Will gather a more complete list by Friday, but Adam Gorney has learned that former Purdue commit and local 2026 QB Oscar Rios will be among them.

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There’s still about 30+ mins until the availability report will be released to see if UCLA tips its hand about QB Ethan Garbers (I’d assume they won’t).

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UCLA checks in at No. 26 overall, third-best in the Big Ten.

The Bruins’ offensive rating is 30th, defense is 29th.

The full ratings:

This week’s PFF grades will be a bit more thorough as I also take a look at the overall season grades and where UCLA ranks in the Big Ten now that it’s halfway through the schedule.

So, look for that in a few hours. But what I can tell you from taking an early look is that linebacker Carson Schwesinger turned in an elite performance:

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I have seen anywhere from 3-5 wins this football season given the tough schedule ahead of us. I would assume CF would be granted a pass this year given his placement as head coach late in the year but does anyone out there predict more than 5 wins? We loss a lot on defense in players as well as defensive coordinator. I like our starting QB but if we can’t protect Garbers and have to go to QB2, CF’s season could look really embarrassing.
My interpretation of a successful year would be getting a bowl game AND being within striking distance into the 4th quarter of each game. A “decent” year would be just the latter for most games.

UCLA now ranks 109th of 133 FBS teams with 7.67 penalties per game.