DeShaun Foster shares his takeaways from UCLA opener

UCLA narrowly won its season opener 16-13 against Hawaii, perhaps not exactly the kind of start first-year coach DeShaun Foster had hoped to get off to.

Still, the coach came away with some real positives from the game, despite identifying several areas that remain a work in progress.

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“Just how they played. I just like how they played,” Foster said. “They didn’t blink. The game didn’t exactly go the way guys were expecting it to go, but we were playing against a good opponent. Hawaii played a good game and I was just glad that my guys showed that they were resilient and kept playing.”

UCLA struggled to run the ball, picking up only 71 yards on 20 carries. In the long term, you’d certainly expect a Foster squad to run the ball a little better.

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For now, the Bruins will simply focus on day-to-day improvement.

“Good opportunity to get better this week,” Foster said. “Just looking forward to seeing them practice with intent. We’re just going to get better.”

One thing UCLA will look to do better going forward is finish in the red zone. The Bruins had three field goals from inside of 40 yards, where you hope to come away with more than just three points.

Quarterback Ethan Garbers was also just OK, going 19-of-38 passing for 272 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. He’ll have to be better going forward.

Still, Foster viewed most of the UCLA issues as correctable.

“Just the whole offense, just not exactly executing the way that they should,” Foster said. “So, just a lot of stuff that’s easy to fix — ID’ing and stuff like that. So, I’m not really worried about it.

“They should get out here and make sure that they work through their corrections and get better.”

UCLA has a bye week this week before taking on Indiana at home the following week.