2018 UCLA Bruins football team

The 2018 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bruins were led by first-year head coach Chip Kelly and played their home games at the Rose Bowl. UCLA was a member of the Pac-12 Conference in the South Division. They began the season 0–4 for the first time since 1971, and 0–5 for the first time since 1943, before finally winning their first game, in dominating fashion, against Cal. However, despite failing to improve upon their previous season's output of six wins and seven losses and failing to qualify for a bowl game, the Bruins later defeated the USC Trojans to end a three-game losing streak in their crosstown rivalry. The Bruins finished 3–9 overall, their worst record since 1971. They went 3–6 in Pac-12 play, finishing fifth in the South Division, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined score of 409 to 295. UCLA's average home attendance of 51,164 was the school's smallest since averaging 49,825 in 1999.

The Bruins had five individuals selected in the 2018 NFL draft.

Listed in the order that they were released

The 2018 Pac-12 media day was July 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California. The Pac-12 media poll was released with the Bruins predicted to finish in fourth place at Pac-12 South division.

The Bruins signed a total of 27 recruits.

Sources:

 3 Wilton Speight – Graduate Transfer  7 Dorian Thompson-Robinson – Freshman 12 Austin Burton – Freshman 15 Matt Lynch – Sophomore 17 Josiah Norwood – Freshman 18 Devon Modster – Sophomore Running back

 1 Soso Jamabo – Senior  4 Bolu Olorunfunmi – Senior 19 Kazmeir Allen – Freshman 20 Brandon Stephens – Junior 22 Kenroy Higgins II – Freshman 26 Martell Irby – Freshman 27 Joshua Kelley Junior 28 Cole Kinder – Freshman Receiver

 2 Kyle Philips – Freshman  6 Stephen Johnson III – Junior  9 Dymond Lee – Sophomore 10 Demetric Felton – Sophomore 11 Audie Omotosho – Sophomore 14 Theo Howard – Junior 17 Christian Pabico – Senior 21 Michael Ezeike – Freshman 23 Chase Cota – Freshman 25 Antonio Brown – Freshman 29 Delon Hurt – Freshman 39 Ethan Fernea – Junior Tight end

33 Drew Platt – Freshman 81 Caleb Wilson – Junior 82 Matt Alaimo – Freshman 83 David Priebe – Freshman 85 Greg Dulcich – Freshman 86 Devin Asiasi – Sophomore 87 Jordan Wilson – Sophomore 88 Connor Beadles – Freshman | | Offensive lineman

55 Michael Alves – Sophomore 56 Josh Wariboko-Alali – Junior 57 Jon Gaines II – Freshman 60 Zack Sweeney – Freshman 61 Bryan Weitzman – Sophomore 64 Sam Marrazzo – Freshman 65 Stephen DeFranco – Freshman 66 Mohamed Khalil – Freshman 70 Alec Anderson – Freshman 71 Baraka Beckett – Freshman 72 Zach Cochrun – Freshman 73 Jake Burton – Sophomore 74 Justin Murphy – Graduate Transfer 75 Boss Tagaloa – Junior 76 Christaphany Murray – Freshman 77 Andre James – Junior 78 Lucas Gramlick – Freshman Defensive lineman

44 Martin Andrus – Sophomore 50 Tyler Manoa – Freshman 51 Martin Andrus – Sophomore 53 Winston Polite – Freshman 55 Steven Mason – Junior 56 Atonio Mafi – Freshman 85 Moses Robinson-Carr – Sophomore 90 Rick Wade – Junior 91 Otito Ogbonnia – Freshman 92 Osa Odighizuwa – Sophomore 93 Chigozie Nnoruka – Junior 95 Marcus Moore – Sophomore 97 Odua Isibor – Freshman | | Linebacker

 2 Josh Woods – Senior 11 Keisean Lucier-South – Junior 12 Rahyme Johnson – Sophomore 14 Krys Barnes – Junior 15 Jaelan Phillips – Sophomore 25 Tyree Thompson – Junior 26 Leni Toailoa – Sophomore 32 Mique Juarez – Sophomore 33 Bo Calvert – Freshman 41 Jayce Smalley – Freshman 43 Je'Vari Anderson – Junior 46 Donovan Williams – Freshman 48 Winston Anawalt – Freshman 52 Lokeni Toailoa – Junior Defensive back

 1 Darnay Holmes – Sophomore  3 Rayshad Williams – Freshman  4 Stephan Blaylock – Freshman  6 Adarius Pickett – Senior  7 Morrell Osling III – Sophomore  9 Elijah Gates – Freshman 10 Colin Samuel – Junior 19 Alex Johnson – Freshman 22 Nate Meadors – Senior 23 Kenny Churchwell III – Freshman 24 Jay Shaw – Sophomore 27 Patrick Jolly – Freshman 29 Ryan Parks – Freshman 30 Elisha Guidry – Freshman 31 Zack Huffstutter – Freshman 35 Rahjae Johnson – Freshman 37 Quentin Lake – Sophomore 47 Shea Pitts – Freshman Punter

20 Stefan Flintoft – Senior 49 Colin Flintoft – Freshman Kicker

15 Andrew Strauch – Junior 17 JJ Molson – Junior 21 Quintin Wallace – Freshman Long snapper

30 Johnny Den Bleyker – Junior 58 Alex Michaelsen – Freshman 58 Koby Walsh – Sophomore | | Sources: [1] | | | | |

Although favored by two touchdowns over the Bearcats, the Chip Kelly era at UCLA got off to a disappointing start with the loss vs. Cincinnati. Despite jumping out to an early 10–0 lead after one quarter of play, UCLA was slowed by the Bearcats for most of the remainder of the game. There was some brilliance rushing the ball by freshman running back Kazmeir Allen, who scored a 74-yard touchdown in the 3rd, but the pass game never seemed to click (with only 162 yards in the air and no touchdowns passing), several receivers dropped critical passes, and the offense struggled for the majority of the game. Additionally, starting quarterback Wilton Speight suffered a back injury in the 2nd quarter and had to be replaced with true freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

A fumble by Thompson-Robinson deep in UCLA's own territory in the 4th quarter led to a costly safety, which ultimately swung the game in favor of Cincy. Meanwhile, Cincinnati's offense, led by a freshman Desmond Ridder at quarterback after starting signal-caller Hayden Moore went off with an early injury, had fewer total yards (304 against UCLA's 306) than the Bruins but dominated time of possession. The "nail in the coffin" for UCLA was perhaps a penalty for 12 men on the field against the Bruin defense, which came on 4th down during a critical goal line stand; this allowed Cincinnati to eventually score a touchdown rather than kick a field goal.

In all, the UCLA team was too inconsistent on the day and made too many crucial blunders to get the win against a talented Bearcats team that, though initially projected at the beginning of the year to be rather weak, would actually go on to win 10 games. After the game, Coach Kelly said in an interview that he intended to remain positive despite the loss.

Yet another disappointing Bruins loss led to UCLA equaling their worst start (0-4) since 1971, despite signs of improvement in the 1st half. Another lackluster performance by starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson led to many calling for the true freshman to be benched by Coach Kelly.

UCLA came close to upsetting the #10-ranked Huskies, but ultimately fell short as they started a season winless through 5 games for the first time since 1943.

Giving reason for optimism to both players and fans alike, the Bruins finally earned their first victory of the season by manhandling Cal on the road, 37–7. Digging in, UCLA's defense was stout, forcing 5 turnovers (on 2 interceptions of Cal quarterback Brandon McIlwain and 3 fumble recoveries, including one that was run back for a touchdown by Keisean Lucier-South) while not surrendering any turnovers on offense themselves. Bruin running back Joshua Kelley also had a tremendous game, continuing his hot streak by scoring 3 touchdowns while rushing for an impressive 157 yards on 30 carries.

A Bruin victory at California Memorial Stadium also marked UCLA's first true road win in over two years, dating back to their 17–14 triumph over Brigham Young in 2016.

Joshua Kelley ran for 289 yards and 2 TDs, leading the Bruins to a 34-27 victory. His 289 yards comprised the third-highest single-game tally in UCLA history, and the most rushing yards by a Bruin in a game against their crosstown rival USC. After a back-and-forth game, Kelley scored a 55-yard touchdown with 10:39 remaining in the 4th quarter to give UCLA the lead, which they were able to maintain. With the win, UCLA were able to finally reclaim the rights to the coveted Victory Bell for the first time in four years.

The Bruins had possession of the ball twice in the final .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}3+1⁄2 minutes of the game, but failed to go ahead or even the score on both drives in a 49–42 defeat to Stanford. Cardinal quarterback K. J. Costello threw a career-high five touchdowns, including three to receiver J. J. Arcega-Whiteside. UCLA had scored 15 unanswered points to briefly take the lead in the fourth quarter but ultimately suffered their 11th straight loss to the Cardinal.

Speight threw for a career-high 466 yards in his final collegiate game, and despite the loss, the Bruins accumulated a season-high 528 yards of total offense. Tight end Caleb Wilson added 184 yards receiving. The Rose Bowl attendance of 38,391 was the Bruins' smallest home crowd since 1997. UCLA finished the season with a 3–9 record, their worst since going 2–7–1 in 1971.

• August 30, 2018 – Wilton Speight named starting quarterback for the Bruins for the season opener vs. Cincinnati.
• September 21, 2018 – Sophomore QB Devon Modster announces his intentions to transfer from UCLA.
• October 15, 2018 – Keisean Lucier-South named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
• November 19, 2018 – Joshua Kelley named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week.