UCLA football may have solved its kicking woes amid offensive struggles
UCLA football special teams analyst Tucker Meyer had spent fall training camp at full volume.
“This is what happens when you wake up hydrated,” he’d shout at the specialists as he hurled a football to a long snapper with so much force that it was a wonder he didn’t tear a labrum.
He brought the same energy to special teams periods, scampering around the field with hair flaring out of his visor, shouting instructions at 100 decibels.
And yet when sophomore kicker Mateen Bhaghani took the field for what would be the game-winning field goal against Hawai’i on Saturday, he saw and heard nothing.
“Every time I go out there – it sounds weird – but you kind of just black out and you just rely on your training. And not as much focus on the result but the process of it,” he told reporters after the game.
The Cal Berkeley transfer drilled a 32-yard field goal with 56 seconds remaining in the game to seal a 16-13 win over the Rainbow Warriors and earn DeShaun Foster his first win as a head coach.
It was the first game-winning field goal of his career and possibly could signal the end of the kicking woes that plagued UCLA last season.
The Bruins had made only 8 of 17 field goal attempts last season compared to their opponents, who made 22 out of 26 attempts.
First-year head coach DeShaun Foster, special teams coordinator Kodi Whitfield and Meyer have put in noticeable effort to change that.
“Coach Foster, Coach Whit and our special teams analyst coach Tucker Meyer have been making sure all the kickers have been put in situations where they can replicate that type of pressure,” Bhaghani said. “Coming out here feels amazing to do that for Coach Fos. The whole coaching staff, they’ve been working super hard.”
The kicker had scored all of UCLA’s points in the fourth quarter and had also hit a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter as the Bruins offense struggled to find its footing.
UCLA manufactured only one touchdown in the game when quarterback Ethan Garbers connected with Rico Flores Jr. on a 39-yard pass in the third quarter. The Bruins had only 69 passing yards in the first half and Garbers had two interceptions.
The ground game had not fared much better and only put up 25 yards in the first half — which included just 1 net rushing yard in the second quarter.
“I think everyone was trying to do too much instead of sticking to their job, including me,” Garbers said. “Trying to make plays and push stuff that wasn’t really there. I’ve got to be smarter. I’ve got to be more calm and more collected back there.
“In the second half, we went back to what we’ve been doing all fall camp. Everyone just doing their job and taking it one day at a time.”
Bhaghani, who was the No. 6 kicker in his high school class according to the Chris Sailer rankings, said that the competition for kicker is ongoing. He was listed as the starter for kickoff and placekicker on UCLA’s two-deep depth chart going into the Hawai’i game followed by redshirt senior Blake Glessner.
Glessner missed a 52-yard field goal in the first quarter but hit the PAT after Rico Flores Jr.’s touchdown. He also handled two kickoffs for 113 yards and a touchback.
“We both knew that we were going to kick,” Bhaghani said, “but Blake knows that I have his back just as much as he has mine. It’s always friendly competition. You’re competing against yourself at the end of the day.”
Special teams confidence is a good start, but UCLA will have a bye week to shore up some of its struggles on offense before hosting Indiana on Sept. 14 in its Big Ten opener at the Rose Bowl.
“There are most definitely concerns,” Foster said, “but I’m glad that we have a bye week.”