This post was updated Aug. 24 at 6:43 p.m.

UCLA football is commencing its 2025 campaign against former Pac-12 adversary Utah in just a week. The Daily Bruin collected questions from Bruin fans about the team’s second season in the Big Ten and second under the helm of coach DeShaun Foster. Sports editor Connor Dullinger and assistant Sports editor Grant Walters dissect questions from UCLA aficionados while analyzing the Bruins’ 2025 outlook in this edition of “Between Two Bruins.”

Is Foster the answer?

Fans were tired of the Chip Kelly experiment after six seasons.

And rightfully so. The former UCLA football head coach went 35-34 at the helm and won just a single bowl game – a 35-22 victory over Boise State in the LA Bowl – despite finishing with three winning seasons.

Although Kelly took a demotion by taking the reins as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator last season, he may very well have had the last laugh. Kelly finished the 2024-2025 season with a national championship – leading one of the decade’s most explosive offenses – and most recently took the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive coordinator vacancy.

Foster led the Bruins to a 14th-place finish in their inaugural Big Ten season and a 5-7 record, their worst since 2019.

And the Bruins’ offense struggled all season. Former UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers co-led the conference in interceptions and looked like he could not spark anything on offense. In his defense, the offensive line did not give him a lot of help by letting opposing defensive lines virtually walk through untouched.

You would think offense would be the team’s strong suit, or that at least there would be a proficient ground attack, since an offensive-minded coach and former running back is at the helm. In reality, the Bruins’ running game was one of the worst in the country, finishing last season with the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game in the nation and just four rushing touchdowns.

It was clear that Kelly was not the answer, and Foster – a former running backs coach at UCLA with no coordinator or head coaching experience – may not be either.

There is no doubt that Foster is building a program reminiscent of the Terry Donahue days – a culture where players wear the blue and gold with Bruin pride, something the Rose Bowl has lacked in recent years.

But questions remain whether Foster has what it takes to win games – and big ones at that.

The truth is no one knows, and there are not enough data points to come to a conclusion. But if you are someone who believes in chemistry and camaraderie above the Xs and Os, then Foster deserves your faith.

– Connor Dullinger, Sports editor

Where will this team finish?

Many center their focus on the end rather than the beginning.

But just as quality writing often revolves around a paper’s introduction rather than its conclusion, the same may apply to UCLA football.

And the Bruins could craft a compelling hook with their performance in the first four contests of the 2025 campaign.

UCLA will face Utah, UNLV, New Mexico and Northwestern to open its season – three of which posted a sub-.500 winning percentage in 2024.

UNLV is the sole team out of those four that had a successful 2024 campaign, tying a program record with 11 wins, but lost head coach Barry Odom – the architect of the team’s success – who departed to lead Purdue.

The initial stretch of games is far removed from the gauntlet the Bruins faced in 2024, when they battled two eventual College Football Playoff squads in Indiana and Oregon within their first four matchups.

Foster and company also traveled to Hawaiʻi and LSU during that span, part of the nation-leading 22,000+ miles the Bruins covered during Foster’s debut campaign as head honcho. 

The luxury of an easier schedule, especially at the beginning of the season, may allow the Bruins to muster early confidence while also gaining momentum.

UCLA is set to face its most daunting opponents during the heart of the season, rematching Penn State and Indiana in October and waltzing into Ohio Stadium to challenge defending national champions Ohio State in mid-November.

The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the preseason AP poll, and both programs have refined their winning pedigrees under coaches James Franklin and Ryan Day, respectively. Although the Bruins are blossoming, they do not boast the firepower to vanquish these squads just yet.

However, UCLA can defeat teams like Indiana in the middle-to-upper echelon of the Big Ten.

The additions of redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri – who last coached at Indiana – have bolstered the team’s outlook heading into the 2025 campaign.

The player-coach tandem also brandishes athletic weapons on the outside, particularly in wide receivers sophomore Kwazi Gilmer, redshirt senior Titus Mokiao-Atimalala and junior Mikey Matthews, to swing contests.

UCLA will most likely fall to Ohio State and Penn State, but the Bruins’ other contests are winnable. I expect the squad to capture victories in each of its first four affairs – an unblemished start that will lead the team to an eight-win campaign and a bowl game bid.

– Grant Walters, assistant Sports editor

Who is 2025’s Carson Schwesinger?

A team’s most anticipated players often do not transform a good team into a great one.

In actuality, it is the silent hero: one who watches from the shadows, waiting for the opportune moment to burst onto the scene; one who propels a program to succeed – a dark horse.

Iamaleava is without a doubt the team’s strongest force, guiding UCLA to a safe haven.

The Bruins will be a car without an engine if Iamaleava does not live up to expectations, left without the life force that keeps it humming and accelerating forward.

But with no games played, it is yet to be discovered who will be the team’s dark horse.

Linebacker Carson Schwesinger, a former walk-on-turned-No. 33-overall-pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, held this title in 2024. With Schwesinger now donning a Cleveland Browns uniform, someone else will have to answer the call.

Gilmer seems like the most likely candidate to take his place. Most true freshmen do not even see the gridiron – instead opting to redshirt until it is their time to shine. But Gilmer posted 345 receiving yards on 31 receptions alongside two touchdowns in his first season with the Bruins.

The sophomore wideout showed flashes of elite, top-level talent, all while sitting behind former Bruin wide receivers Logan Loya and J.Michael Sturdivant and tight end Moliki Matavao.

Gilmer has the speed and cutting ability to beat most defensive backs in man-to-man coverage and the hands to make tough combat catches. Throw in a colossal improvement from under center with Iamaleava throwing the ball, and Gilmer should be poised for a major sophomore breakout.

And if it is not Gilmer, junior running back Jaivian Thomas could very well rise to the occasion. The California transfer rushed for 626 yards and seven touchdowns last year on an efficient 6.3 yards per carry.

Foster’s tutelage should amplify Thomas’ rushing impact, and the presence of multiple talented backs behind him – freshman Karson Cox, redshirt junior Anthony Woods and redshirt senior Jalen Berger – will allow the ground attack to implement a versatile game plan.

Iamaleava should also keep defenses guessing, as his powerful arm will force secondaries to respect the deep ball, and his dual-threat ability will help deceive edge defenders charging toward the pocket.

And if Thomas can maintain his efficiency from California, then Westwood may boast two unexpected heroes.

– Connor Dullinger, Sports editor 

Have I seen this before?

Jay Gatsby wishes for history to repeat itself and to rekindle a long-lost love.

Although Gatsby did not achieve his aspirations with Daisy Buchanan, UCLA football may have discovered its own rendition of Buchanan in Iamaleava.

The similarities are glaring given how Iamaleava compares to a Bruin legend.

Troy Aikman played two seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to UCLA prior to the 1987 season. The three-time Super Bowl champion helped lead UCLA to back-to-back 10-win campaigns, along with Aloha Bowl and Cotton Bowl triumphs.

During his final season, he won the Davey O’Brien Award – an honor given to the nation’s top quarterback – and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting.

Aikman’s transfer was particularly intriguing because he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in 1985, which opened the door for fellow signal-caller Jamelle Holieway to take the reins and help lead Oklahoma to a national championship.

Iamaleava’s transfer was also compelling. Controversy marred the Bruins’ acquisition, with many assuming that Iamaleava left Knoxville, Tennessee, to cash in a heftier paycheck. However, the Long Beach, California, local said his desire to move closer to home was the main consideration influencing his UCLA commitment.

But just as Iamaleava repeated history under center, Foster followed suit.

Former UCLA coach Terry Donahue, the winningest head honcho in program history, commanded the Bruins from 1976 to 1995, and two of his three double-digit win campaigns came when Aikman orchestrated the offense.

Donahue was a defensive tackle for UCLA, helping the team achieve its first Rose Bowl victory in program history in 1966. The College Football Hall of Fame coach also served as UCLA’s offensive line coach prior to his head coaching stint.

Foster has experienced a similar progression, boasting the fifth-most career rushing yards in UCLA history with 3,049, and he was also the squad’s running backs coach from 2017 to 2023.

In line with the precedent Donahue established, Foster has sought to enlist a staff with deep Bruin ties – hiring associate head coach Scott White and assistant coaches Jethro Franklin and Demetrice Martin – all of whom coached at UCLA before rejoining the squad for the 2025 campaign.

Although the green light enraptured Gatsby to the point of hopeless obsession, the Bruins can channel the lessons learned from the past to cultivate success reminiscent of Aikman and Donahue’s accomplishments.

The light is not a symbolic warning but rather a glimpse of UCLA’s fruitful future.

– Grant Walters, assistant Sports editor