It’s year two of the DeShaun Foster era for the UCLA Bruins and things aren’t off to a good start. The Bruins are 0-2 and looked lifeless for much of the two games but perhaps Foster and the rest of the program just need more time to gel.
“I have a lot of new people. I’m not somebody that’s going to come up here and give you guys excuses or anything but I have a lot of new people,” Foster said after the Bruins 30-23 loss to UNLV. “We’re still finding ways to come together.”
After the 0-2 start, it’s certainly time to recalibrate the expectations for the Bruins this year, so let’s go through and predict the rest of their season for UCLA.
Week 3: Home game versus New Mexico
UCLA showed signs of life in the second half against UNLV and will remain favorites against New Mexico even if the Bruins have been awful to begin the season. Thanks to the favorable matchup, UCLA gets their first win of the season.
Week 5: Road game versus Northwestern
Northwestern is accompanied by UCLA as the weakest programs in the Big Ten and even though the first two weeks of Bruins’ football has given me nothing to believe in, I still believe that UCLA can go into Northwestern’s temporary field and leave at .500 with a second-straight victory.
Week 6: Home game versus Penn State
Penn State will thrash UCLA around the field for 60 minutes and remind Bruins’ fans of the sorry state of their football program. UCLA has been manhandled by Utah and UNLV, Penn State will do serious damage against the soft Bruins.
Week 7: Road game versus Michigan State
The Spartans are 2-0. Neither win has been particularly impressive but they’ll still remain above the bottom-feeders of the Big Ten. While this may be a game that the Bruins can keep close, they’ll head back to California with another loss.
Week 8: Home game versus Maryland
While I don’t have high expectations for Maryland this year, I do expect them to beat UCLA. The Terps will travel across the country and give the Bruins another loss. A loss against Maryland would have UCLA at 2-5, which sounds right.
Week 9: Road game versus Indiana
Another loss for the Bruins. Tino Sunseri will return to Indiana and likely wonder why he ever left in the first place. Success at this part of the season may just be an engaged team, rather than eyeing the transfer portal for potential openings.
Week 11: Home game versus Nebraska
Dylan Raiola, the Patrick Mahomes cosplayer, heads to the city of a Mahomes’ AFC West rival. Raiola must replicate Mahomes’ dominance over the cities of Denver, Oakland/Las Vegas and Los Angeles. While Raiola isn’t quite Mahomes, he’ll still be able to beat UCLA in the city of angels.
Week 12: Road game versus Ohio State
Ohio State will win this one by a bunch. Perhaps the best example that video games aren’t realistic is that EA Sports’ College Football 25 had the Bruins winning this game during a sim of the Bruins’ season back in July.
Week 13: Home game versus Washington
After getting demolished by Ohio State, UCLA will return to the Rose Bowl for their final home game of the season. Perhaps the Huskies will seem a bit better fresh after facing the Buckeyes but Washington is still able to pick up the road win, dropping UCLA to 2-9.
Week 14: Road game versus USC
As bad as the Bruins have looked through two games this season, USC has looked incredible. Rivalry game upsets can happen, but not when the talent disparity is this stark. USC gets to be the final antagonist in UCLA’s season from hell.
Overview
Is 2-10 too pessimistic for the Bruins this season? Perhaps, but after watching their first two games it’s hard to expect much out of this group. Games against Maryland, Washington and Michigan State could result in UCLA wins but there’s also a chance that the situation continues to worsen for the Bruins.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Predicting the remainder of the 2025 football season for UCLA
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
