Following a 42-10 victory against rival Wisconsin, the Iowa football team hits the road for a Week 11 matchup against the UCLA Bruins, who enter the contest at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play.
The Bruins are one of four new expansion teams in the Big Ten this season, and it’s been a bit of a struggle for the program. Head coach Chip Kelly left in the offseason to become the offensive coordinator for Ohio State, and UCLA tapped running backs coach DeShaun Foster to succeed him.
Foster, a former second-team All-American back for UCLA, began his tenure on an embarrassing note with a bizarre opening statement at Big Ten Media Days in July and responded by barely beating Hawaii and getting blasted by 17 points in their next three games.
Despite the disappointing record, the Bruins have played much better over the last few weeks, battling a top-five Penn State team in Happy Valley and securing an impressive road win at Rutgers two weeks ago.
UCLA continued the strong surge with a surprising 27-20 on the road at Nebraska, showing the rest of the Big Ten that they will be tough out the rest of the season.
This game will take place in primetime at 8 p.m. CT on Friday evening at the historic Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. Iowa has not won at the venue since claiming a 38-12 victory at the 1959 Rose Bowl Game, losing their four previous trips to the stadium, all of which were Rose Bowl games.
To fully digest this matchup, let’s take a deeper look at the Bruins.
Offense
The Bruins are one of the worst offenses in the Big Ten, averaging 17.4 points per game, ranking 17th in the conference. Despite their struggles, UCLA carved up a solid Nebraska defense in Lincoln last weekend, totaling 360 yards.
Eric Bieniemy enters his first season as the offensive coordinator after serving in the same role for the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders. Bieniemy has long been a potential NFL head coaching candidate but hasn’t received the long-awaited call yet.
Now, he looks to revitalize the UCLA program, and the results have finally started to produce.
Leading the Bruin offensive attack is quarterback Ethan Garbers, who has tossed 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions on 1,703 passing yards this season.
While the turnovers have been a problem this season, Garbers has improved each game, throwing four touchdowns against Rutgers and two against Nebraska last week. The fourth-year is also a capable rusher, tallying a 49-yard score against Rutgers and sprinting for another 56 yards against Nebraska.
Despite his inconsistent play, Garbers’ veteran leadership and experience will keep this Bruin squad in games it has no business being in. He is the primary name for Phil Parker and the Hawkeye defense to look out for in this one.
A solid run game is usually a good security blanket for a quarterback, but UCLA has struggled to run the football this year, totaling only 591 yards and three touchdowns this year. That number ranks dead last in the conference, nearly 400 yards behind Minnesota.
The Bruins also post a respectable pass-catching unit with four players recording over 200 receiving yards this season. Tight end Moliki Matavao leads this group with 303 yards, averaging 12.6 yards per catch. Logan Loya leads the way with three touchdowns.
Defense
The Bruins have been an average defensive unit in 2024, allowing 27.9 points per game, which ranks 92nd in the country.
Ikaika Malloe enters his first season as the defensive coordinator after previously serving as the defensive line and outside linebackers coach for two seasons. Malloe also has previous experience as the defensive coordinator at Washington State for two seasons, providing plenty of expertise for Foster and company.
Despite some struggles early on in the season, the Bruins have appeared to hit their stride over the last few contests, yielding just 20 points against Nebraska last weekend.
In addition to the strong performance against the Huskers, the UCLA defense also recorded a crucial pick-six off quarterback Dylan Raiola in the third quarter, a score that proved to be the difference in the victory.
Special teams
Second-year placekicker Mateen Bhaghani has performed his job well for the Bruins, knocking in 12 of his 14 field goal attempts and all 14 of his extra point tries. His season-long of 54 yards came against Oregon on Sept. 28.
Second-year punter Brody Richter has booted 28 punts with an average of 43.4 yards per attempt.
Final analysis
The Hawkeyes are the better team on paper here, but the Bruins will be determined to earn their first victory at the Rose Bowl this season. The only problem for them is that Iowa will likely bring at least 20,000 of their own fans to Pasadena for this one.
It’s hard to forecast the result of this one, but expect the Rose Bowl to feel like Kinnick Stadium on Friday evening.