Iowa football 2024 early opponent preview: UCLA

UCLA goes through coaching change and conference change ahead of 2024 season

Jul. 12, 2024 6:15 am

Former UCLA great DeShaun Foster smiles at a press conference where he was introduced as the schools new college football head coach at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Editor’s note: 10th in a 12-part series previewing each of Iowa’s 2024 regular-season opponents.

IOWA CITY — It has been quite a while since Iowa football played UCLA in a regular-season game.

Diana Ross and Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love” was the Billboard top song. Gas cost $1.31 per gallon. Kirk Ferentz was 26 years old.

Forty-three years later, the UCLA team Iowa will face on Nov. 8 has experienced no shortage of change since the end of last season.

The Bruins changed conferences from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. They changed head coaches after Chip Kelly departed to take the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State.

The roster that DeShaun Foster — previously running backs coach before being promoted to head coach — inherited at least has some continuity, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

Ethan Garbers is back at quarterback after starting six games last season. He was clearly the best of UCLA’s quarterbacks in 2023, completing 67.1 percent of his passes while throwing 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.

UCLA lost top running back Carson Steele to the NFL, but last year’s No. 2 option, T.J. Harden, returns. Harden amassed 827 rushing yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry in 2023.

The receiving corps, highlighted by J.Michael Sturdivant and Logan Loya, appears to be the strength of this Bruins team. Loya led the Bruins last year with 59 receptions for 655 yards, and Sturdivant was second with 36 receptions for 597 yards. Loya also is a capable weapon on special teams.

Defensively, the Bruins lost several key players, including All-American (and 2024 NFL Draft first-round selection) Laiatu Latu and all-Pac 12 honorable mention Gabriel Murphy on the defensive line. Linebacker Darius Muasau — a sixth-round selection by the New York Giants — was among UCLA’s other notable offseason losses.

Iowa vs. UCLA: 3 things to watch

Do Iowa’s promising drives end in touchdowns or field goals? If UCLA’s offense performs how it has in past years — granted, a big “if” considering Iowa’s consistently stout defense — it will be much harder to win by scoring only three points at a time.
UCLA’s receiving corps vs. Iowa’s secondary. Sturdivant and Loya will likely be two of the better wide receivers that Iowa faces in 2024.
How do the Hawkeyes adjust to playing on the West Coast? It’s no secret Kirk Ferentz has not been a fan of playing west of the Central time zone. Iowa has won only three of its last 14 games west of the Central time zone. The night time slot (8 p.m. Central time) might not help matters.

2024 prognosis

As troublesome as games out west have sometimes been for the Hawkeyes historically, all signs point toward Iowa being the better team in this matchup.

Comments: [email protected]