PASADENA, Calif. -- The longest offseason in sports has officially come to an end. College Football is back!
UCLA will open its season on Saturday, August 29, at the Rose Bowl when it takes on the Utah Utes.
Season Preview
Thomas Murray:
The Bruins are in year two of the Deshaun Foster era, but will enter year one of the Nico Iamaleava era.
Iamaleava was the biggest acquisition by the Bruins over the offseason after transferring over to UCLA from Tennessee last April.
Taking over in Feb. 2024, Foster had a late start to prep for the 2024-25 season. But in this year's offseason, he had plenty of time and didn't miss.
The Bruins had a complete overhaul of their roster during the offseason by adding 53 new players.
In today's era of the transfer portal, the Bruins added 31 new players. The rest were incoming freshmen.
Foster also made some changes to his coaching staff after finishing last season 5-7 overall and 3-6 in their first year of Big Ten Conference play and not being bowl eligible. UCLA will be looking for significant improvement.
Defensive Coordinator Ikaka Malloe remains coaching the defense at UCLA, but the offense has a new name, calling the plays.
One of the biggest surprise teams in college football last season was the Indiana Hoosiers, and their emergence on the scene after Curt Cignetti led them to a second-place finish in the Big Ten with an 11-2 overall record and 8-1 in conference play.
A big reason of their success was led by the offense.
UCLA parted ways with Eric Bienemy during the winter and made a splash by adding Hoosier co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri.
Throughout fall camp, multiple players have said the Bruins offense has said the new system has been simplified when it comes down to play calling and also added that it is a much faster-paced offense that relies heavily on signals from Sunseri on the sideline.
While media availability has been fairly limited during fall camp as reporters have been asked to exit practice after the team is done running a few plays on goal line drills, Sunseri has stated that he plans to pay homage SEC roots where he served as a graduate assistant at Alabama and quality control assistant at Tennessee, and be aggressive running the ball.
Moving forward with the UCLA roster, here is an in-depth look at this year's roster and how they line up on offense and defense.
Quarterback Room
Aside from Iamaleava, UCLA's quarterback room will feature Luke Duncan and Louisville transfer Pierce Clarkson backing up the former Volunteer.
Standing at 6'6" and weighing 215 pounds, Iamaleava will be the man under center for the Bruins this year.
Last season, he led the Volunteers to a 10-3 record, appearing in all 13 games last season, throwing 2,616 yards, a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 19-5, and a completion percentage of 63.8%.
While the trio of Iamaleava, Duncan, and Clarkson will be on the depth chart this year, Iamaleava's younger brother Madden, joined the team after Nico transferred over.
Madden Iamaleava and his school teammate Jace Brown were both committed to UCLA for the bulk of last season, but the two flipped over to Arkansas on signing day last winter. Once Nico announced he was headed back west, Madden and Brown both followed him to Westwood.
Running Back
During fall camp, Sunseri hinted that the Bruins offense could feature multiple running backs sharing the load. As of right now, the Bruins will likely feature three running backs sharing snaps in the mix of Javian Thomas, Jalen Berger, and Anthony Woods.
Thomas is a junior running back transferring in from California. Last season, he had 100 carries and ran for 626 yards with 8 touchdowns. Berger is in his second season as a running back at UCLA. Last season, he split the load alongside T.J. Harden, carrying the ball 48 times for 178 yards. In the passing game, he had 10 receptions for 59 yards.
Woods came to UCLA as a transfer from UCLA last season. Despite being part of the Utes roster, he did not play a snap last season due to injury. Before missing the 2024 season, he was the featured back at Idaho. In 2023, he had 207 carries with 1,131 yards and 16 touchdowns. The year prior, he ran the ball for 872 yards.
Wide Receiver
The Bruins' wide receiver room will mix of Kwazi Gilmer, Mikey Matthews, and Titus Mokia Atimalala.
Mokia Atimalala will lead this group as a senior this year. Missing part of last season due to injury, he had 28 receptions for 294 yards and 1 touchdown.
As a freshman last season, Gilmer saw regular playing time lining up at the outside. He finished the season with 31 receptions for 345 yards and two touchdowns. In the final game of the season against Fresno State, he had a 6 catch game for 54 yards.
Matthews is a junior receiver and is playing for his third team in three years. Starting his career at Utah and playing last year at California, Matthews has a total of 61 receptions for 533 yards and one touchdown. Before college, he was a local player in the Southern California area, playing at Mission Viejo.
Tight End
The Bruins will be replacing senior tight end Moliki Matavao after he entered the NFL Draft after his senior season and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round.
Right now, senior tight end Hudson Habermehl has been lining up at tight end for the Bruins and will likely be the starter for the season opener.
Working as a backup in 2022 and 2023, Habermehl missed the 2024 season, making way for Jack Pedersen to be the team's backup last year. Pedersen is currently slated to back up Habermehl this seaso,n but could find his name rotating in the mix.
In his career, Habermehl has a total of 24 receptions for 315 yards and five touchdowns. Pedersen had 12 receptions in his freshman season last year for 126 yards and one touchdown.
Offensive Line
During camp, the Bruins had an open competition at center between redshirt junior Sam Yoon beat out redshirt senior Oluwafunto Akinshilo for the starting center job. The battle lasted until the final days of fall camp, and Foster made decision on who won the job earlier this week.
At tackle, UCLA redshirt senior 6'6", 327-pound Courtland Ford lined up at left and 6'7" 310-pound Garret DiGiorgio at right. At guard, Eugene Brooks will lineup at left and Julian Armella will lineup at right. Brooks is 6'4", 340 pounds, and will begin his freshman year after sitting out last year as a redshirt. As a redshirt junior, Armella is 6'6" at 320 pounds.
Edge Rusher
Lining up at edge rusher, UCLA will have a familiar face in Devin Aupiu lining up at the position. Aupiu will see action as a starter for the first time in his collegiate career.
Serving as a rotational piece last season, he had 1.5 sacks with 15 total tackles.
Lining up opposite him will be senior transfer from Arkansas, Nico Davillier.
Davillier is 6'4" and 255 pounds. He has two career sacks and 36 total tackles in his career.
Defensive Tackle
The Bruins will be replacing Jay Toia at defensive tackle this season. Gary Smith and Siale Taupaki are expected to start at the position this season.
Missing the 2024 season, Smith will see time as a starter for the first time in his career. In 2023, he had a total of 21 tackles with 2 sacks.
Taupaki made his debut with the Bruins last year as a sophomore and had 1 sack with 23 total tackles. 14 of those tackles were logged as solos.
Linebacker
UCLA will be running three linebackers in the middle part of the defense. Benjamin Perry and Jalen Woods are both expected to line up on the outside, while JonJon Vaughns will be in the middle.
Perry is a 6'3" 210 210-pound transfer from Louisville. Having a down year in 2024, Perry had a total of 56 tackles, 26 of them solo, and 1 sack in 2023.
Woods will enter his fourth season as a junior with the Bruins this year. Having 22 tackles, 15 of them logged as solo tackles and one sack last year, Woods will be a full-time starter for the first time in his career.
In 2022, Vaughns emerged on the scene at UCLA, having a total of 53 tackles with 5 pass deflections. But last season, he appeared in just one game against Oregon, where he had 4 total tackles. Now as a senior, Vaughns is the lead middle linebacker for the Bruins and will look to capture the same magic he had in 2022.
Defensive Back
Both Key Lawrence and Croix Stewart are expected to be the starting safeties for UCLA this year. The one area to watch with Lawrence is if he can stay healthy. During fall camp, Lawrence went down with a leg injury, and Scooter Jackson was filling in at his place. Lawrence eventually returned and has been practicing with the first string since.
Entering his senior season, Lawrence will be at his fourth school in five years after appearing in one game in his season with Ole Miss. In 2023, he played for Oklahoma and recorded two interceptions and 44 tackles.
Stewart is entering his third season at UCLA as a junior and appeared in six games last year, recording 11 tackles.
Lining up at cornerback will be Andre Jordan and Robert Stafford. Kanye Clark and Rodrick Pleasant will serve as backups behind the two.
Both Jordan and Stafford are coming in as transfers. At Miami last season, Stafford appeared in only five games. Jordan spent the last two seasons at Oregon State and played in every game for the Beavers last season.
Spending the last two seasons at Oregon and Arizona State, Cole Martin will be UCLA's starting nickel corner this season. Martin appeared in the Sun Devils' first two games last season, then missed the rest of the season. In 2023, he appeared in every game as a freshman for the Ducks.
Special Teams
On special teams, Matthews has been leading the charge as the lead punt returner. Matthews has also been lining up opposite of Thomas on kickoff returns during camp and the two will be the return men for the Bruins.
Mateen Bhaghani is one of 30 kickers named to the 2025 Lou Groza Award watch list for the coming season after going 20-24 in field goal attempts last season and 20-20 in PAT attempts. Last season, he hit a career-long 57-yard field goal against Iowa.
Backing up Bhaghani this year will be Cash Peterman.
At punter, Will Karoll will be the lead punter and will line up behind long snapper Morrow Evans.
UCLA Schedule
Week 1: VS Utah
Week 2: @ UNLV
Week 3: VS New Mexico
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: @ Northwestern
Week 6: VS Penn State
Week 7: @ Michigan State
Week 8: VS Maryland
Week 9: @ Indiana
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: Nebraska
Week 12: @ Ohio State
Week 13: VS Washington
Week 14: @ USC
Predictions
Thomas Murray: This season, I think the Bruins will get off to a hot start, winning their first four games but will get their first loss against Penn State. With Tino Sunseri's run-heavy, fast-paced offense, I expect Nico Iamaleava to throw over 3,000 yards with at least 25 touchdowns. I also expect Kwazi Gilmer to take the next step and emerge as a top receiver in the Big Ten. I think the defense is the biggest question mark this season as their are a lot of players that have to prove they can stay healthy.
Record Prediction: 7-5
Alex Hutton: In the era of the transfer portal with so many roster changes each offseason, it’s harder than ever to predict the college football season. With that being said, I think UCLA has improved from last season. The Bruins’ two biggest problems last season came in the form of a weak, inconsistent-at-best offense and a tough schedule. Neither of those issues should be as big of a deal this season. I think they added a lot more offensive talent in the portal than they lost, and their schedule shouldn’t be as difficult. Furthermore, the return of defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe should give that unit some much-needed consistency. I think the Bruins will win three of their first four games, and while the schedule gets more challenging after that, they’ll be able to find enough wins the rest of the way to reach bowl eligibility.
Record Prediction: 7-5
Jack Haslett: The Bruins will surely be tested as the season winds down, with a brutal last five set of matchups to finish off the season with no. 20 Indiana, Nebraska, no. 3 Ohio State, Washington and finishing off the season with USC. They’ll be able to gain momentum early in the season before having a matchup against Penn State, but if they can keep up their energy after what is all odds going to be a loss against the Nittany Lions then they should have a good chance of contending with that last stretch of games.
The upside of Nico Iamaleava is going to carry a lot of weight for the Bruins offensively and they could very well muscle their way through their tougher matchups. The Bruins’ defensive line has a lot for fans to look forward to, with Keanu Williams, Gary Smith III and Siale Taupaki leading the way in that regard and sure to be a nightmare for opposing runs.
Record Prediction: 9-3