Official dumping ground for B1G’s incoming newbies as they ready for their first season in a new conference – UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington.
Washington has the most headlines going on as of late, but let’s start with
UCLA:
UCLA finished 2023 with a strong showing in the LA Bowl thanks by and large because QB Ethan Garbers came off the sideline after halftime and rescued the Bruins from Boise State. UCLA finishes 8-5; Chip Kelly improves to
25-13 accounting for the past 3 seasons. (Overall W/L record since taking over UCLA in 2018:
35–34.)
With Garbers playing, UCLA was a ranked team this past year, starting 6-2. Without Garbers late in the season, UCLA went dead against Arizona (D knocked him out of game), Arizona State (L), and Cal (ugly L). With Garbers healthy all year UCLA would be at least 9-4 and nobody besides a few LA beat writers and irate fan sites are waving pitchforks at Chip Kelly.
I get the impression that UCLA is in the same place with Chip Kelly as (
fill in the blank!) fans were with (
fill in the blank!) and his perpetual 9-4 teams (hint, hint!). Bruins fans are tired of him even if he posts a winning season.
Good news next season for UCLA:
https://twitter.com/BruinReport/status/1736245286002180410On another note, it’s well known Chip Kelly prefers working the portal over prep recruiting—
From CBS Sports: National Signing Day 2023: Winners and Losers of early signing period:
Losers:
UCLA:
"It's Year 7 for coach Chip Kelly recruiting at UCLA, but it's the first as his program enters the Big Ten next year. UCLA did not make a great impression on Wednesday, finishing at No. 17 in the conference and No. 60 overall. Kelly has rarely prioritized prep recruiting, instead choosing to use the portal, but the belief was he may ramp up efforts in preparation for the Big Ten move -- which clearly was not the case. The only class trailing UCLA in the Big Ten is Northwestern."
