Sports
UCLA vs. USC takeaways: Bruins aim for resilience after fumbling away a signature win
A heavy mist hung over the Rose Bowl late Saturday night, adding to the yuck factor of what just transpired for the home team.
A shanked punt at the worst possible time. A sturdy defense fooled by a trick play. An offense that couldn’t gain one yard given a chance to win the game.
It added up to the most crushing loss of the season.
“Sucks,” UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers said after the Bruins’ 19-13 setback against USC in his final cross-town rivalry game. “Really sucks.”
Garbers was involved in two critical sequences that ensured UCLA (4-7 overall, 3-6 Big Ten) will finish the season with a losing record.
The first came on a failed fourth-down sneak. The second came when he suddenly couldn’t find a rhythm after completing every previous pass in the second half.
It left Bruins fans with a similarly sickening feeling from previous close losses to Minnesota and Washington.
Here are five takeaways from a defeat that will heavily frame UCLA coach DeShaun Foster’s first season:
Bad ending
USC defensive end Sam Greene hits UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers as he delivers an incomplete pass on Bruins’ last offensive play during a loss to Trojans Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
It was the sort of moment that can forge a legacy.
With a chance to go 2-0 as a starter in the rivalry game while keeping the Victory Bell painted blue, Garbers stepped to the line of scrimmage at his own 25-yard line with 2:09 left and his team needing a touchdown to win.
He had already thrown for 156 yards and a touchdown in the second half while completing all 11 of his passes.
The next four plays: incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, incompletion. A few of the throws weren’t even close to connecting with their targets.
“Just hard to find a rhythm,” Garbers said of his struggles on the final drive.
UCLA’s offense gained 376 yards but couldn’t make plays in crucial moments. The Bruins converted only three of 11 third downs and went 0 for 3 on fourth downs.
The game film should be cataloged in the horror section for anyone associated with UCLA.
The longest yard
Having long expressed his belief in his team’s ability to get a yard, Foster went for it on fourth and one at the UCLA 34-yard line with five minutes left and the Bruins trailing by three points.
It wasn’t the most imaginative play call, Foster saying it was his decision — and not offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s — to run a quarterback sneak.
“I thought it was a good call and every call that’s made in certain situations — I am making those,” Foster said.
Garbers was stopped for no gain, but both Foster and his quarterback said the play was blown dead prematurely.
Said Foster: “That was the first time I’ve seen a quarterback sneak get called dead, you know? They usually let that play roll; they stopped it, they blew the whistle, so who knows where we would have ended up.”
Said Garbers: “I was looking at the marker and I thought I was past it. But I guess they blow the forward progress dead early. So, can’t control that.”
Here’s something indisputable: UCLA will need to fortify its offensive line through the transfer portal to ensure it can pick up one yard in similar situations next season.
Same old story
UCLA coach DeShaun Foster argues with a referee during his team’s loss USC at the Rose Bowl Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Nearly every week, Foster has said he’s going to fix his team’s discipline issues.
Then the next game comes and it’s more of the same slop on the field.
The low point Saturday came going into halftime, when UCLA wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, safety Bryan Addison and an unspecified assistant coach were called for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as both teams made their way toward the locker room while jawing at one another.
Foster said he was told the brouhaha was precipitated by a USC player punching Gilmer, leading him to retaliate. As a result of the penalties, UCLA was forced to kick off from its own five-yard line to start the third quarter.
The Bruins also compounded giving up a 41-yard kickoff return with a late hit by Evan Thomas. It was just one of the eight penalties they committed for 70 yards.
“That’s why that’s my first pillar; I didn’t pull it out of nowhere, it was my first pillar for a reason,” Foster said of discipline. “I felt that that was something that we were lacking and missing and we’re still missing it, so we’re going to just continue to strive in the direction of discipline and eventually it’s going to get fixed.”
Lost opportunity
UCLA receiver J.Michael Sturdivant catches a long pass between USC cornerback Jaylin Smith (2) and safety Bryson Shaw (27) during the second half at the Rose Bowl Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
With a win over the Trojans, Foster wouldn’t have had to do any convincing when it comes to the narrative of his first season.
He would have beaten USC counterpart Lincoln Riley, who has taken multiple teams to the College Football Playoff and makes more than three times his salary.
He would have significantly enhanced his team’s name, image and likeness fundraising efforts that will be critical to upgrading the talent on his roster.
He would have given the hundreds of high school recruits at the game another reason to give a commitment. (Kenneth Moore III, a wide receiver from St. Mary’s High in Stockton, actually did commit to the Bruins before the game.)
Now there’s going to be more spin needed to sell recruits. One possible pitch: Come help us finish these games.
“All of these losses have come to pretty much us letting it slip through our hands,” Foster said. “You know, we gotta find a way to finish games and, you know, just keep coming after half and play better, finish the games. Just really put our stamp on the end of it.”
What now?
UCLA tight end Moliki Matavao beats USC safety Bryson Shaw to reach the end zone in the third quarter at the Rose Bowl Saturday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Given what happened Saturday, there won’t be much at stake in UCLA’s final game of the season against Fresno State next weekend at the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins will try to send their seniors out as winners while continuing to show resolve. A win over the Bulldogs (6-5) would help UCLA finish the season with four victories in its final six games.
“They kept rebounding this whole season,” Foster said of his players, “so they’re gonna continue to be resilient and continue to be the type of football players that I know that they are.”
A warning for the Bruins: The Bulldogs have won the last four games in the series.
A warning for Foster: Fresno State has been especially hard on new UCLA coaches, beating Chip Kelly, Rick Neuheisel and Karl Dorrell in each of their first years on the job in Westwood.
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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