DeShaun Foster offers injury update on OL Garrett DiGiorgio, Reuben Unije

UCLA struggled to run the ball last weekend during a 16-13 win at Hawaii. The Bruins logged just 71 rushing yards on 20 attempts, or 3.6 yards per carry. It didn’t help that they had a shorthanded offensive line.

Head coach DeShaun Foster was asked Wednesday about the status of veteran offensive tackles Garrett DiGiorgio and Reuben Unije.

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“They should be back but probably not today,” Foster said.

Luckily for UCLA, it has a bye this week before opening up Big Ten play in Week 3 against Indiana in the Rose Bowl.

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“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.”

Because the Bruins had a hard time moving the ball on the ground, they turned to the arm of redshirt senior quarterback Ethan Garbers, who finished 19-of-38 for 272 yards and a touchdown as well as two interceptions in the win. Foster didn’t put the shortcomings in the run game entirely on the Bruins O-Line, though.

“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 needed a late, 32-yard field goal from Mateen Bhaghani to beat the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii is still looking for its first win over a power conference opponent since 2019.

Foster was asked Wednesday for his biggest takeaways about his team’s season-opening performance from his rewatch of the nail-biting victory in Honolulu.

“Just how they played,” Foster said. “I just like how they played. They didn’t blink. The game didn’t exactly go the way that guys were expecting it go. But we were playing against a good opponent.

“Hawaii played a good game. I was just glad that my guys showed that they’re resilient and kept playing.”

Foster is in his first season as head coach. Previously the Bruins running backs coach, Foster — a former UCLA back himself — took over the program after Chip Kelly left for the Ohio State offensive coordinator job in February.

The Bruins are one of four former Pac-12 members who joined the Big Ten this year. Their first Big Ten slate begins Sept. 14 against Indiana.