BATON ROUGE, La. — First-year UCLA coach DeShaun Foster can only envy the problems LSU coach Brian Kelly has right now.
Kelly was on the defensive this week, answering questions about sloppy play the 16th-ranked Tigers narrowly overcame in a 36-33 victory at South Carolina — a result not sealed until a Gamecocks field goal attempt went just wide as time expired.
“We beat South Carolina on the road in a sold-out stadium in the SEC, against a team that beat the pants off of Kentucky, who played (No. 2) Georgia right to the end,” Kelly said. “So, if we want to do that game, I guess we’re going to beat Georgia by a lot.”
LSU doesn't have Georgia on its schedule this season, but that’s beside the point.
The Tigers (2-1) have the luxury of working on their shortcomings while still having an unblemished Southeastern Conference record. The Bruins (1-1), by contrast, are coming off of a humbling Big Ten debut — a 42-13 loss to Indiana in Rose Bowl Stadium.
The Bruins dug themselves an early hole in that game when quarterback Ethan Garbers fumbled the ball away inside the UCLA 20-yard line.
Foster said the Bruins must "stop beating ourselves.”
“Let the game come to you," he added. “Don’t play out of character.”
Now UCLA visits famously raucous Death Valley for the Bruins' first game in Louisiana. The forecast calls for a hot, humid mid-September afternoon in the Bayou State.
Foster, a former star UCLA running back before his six-year NFL career, wants the Bruins to embrace the challenge.
“These are the games you come to coach," Foster said. "You don’t get these atmospheres in the NFL.”
LSU's lowlights last weekend included giving up two touchdown runs longer than 65 yards, a failed fourth-and-goal play, a blocked punt and LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier throwing an interception near the Gamecocks' goal line. But the Tigers also had to do some things right to overcome an early 17-0 deficit.
“To win games like that, you have to understand, habits have a lot to do with it,” Kelly said. “Winning's a habit and losing’s a habit. And if you have losing habits, you can’t win those games. This group has the right habits.”
LSU defensive end Bradyn Swinson, who transferred from Oregon last offseason, is coming off the best game of his career.
Swinson had three sacks at South Carolina and forced a drive-ending fumble, earning him SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“I haven’t had a performance like that ever," Swinson said. "My teammates really set me up though. It wasn’t just me out there going to get it. They had (the quarterback) caged in.”
Swinson said his inspiration has been the memory of his maternal grandmother, who passed away during LSU's season-opening loss to Southern California in Las Vegas on Sept. 1.
Eric Bieniemy has had a tough learning curve as UCLA’s offensive coordinator.
Garbers has completed just over half of his passes, with one touchdown and three interceptions. The run game has averaged a lackluster 3.6 yards per carry, with Garbers as the team’s leading rusher.
“I’m not taking anything away from Indiana because they did a hell of a job," Bieniemy began, but added, "A lot of times, we didn’t do our part. ... I would like to see us line up and play against the opponent on a consistent basis rather than stub our foot.”
LSU freshman running back Caden Durham had breakout performance last week with 98 yards and two TDs on 11 carries.
Kelly said it would be premature to call Durham “the guy,” and emphasized that LSU would continue spreading carries among a rotation of backs.
But Durham impressed coaches with his vision and patience as he found room to run outside.
“You can’t teach that, right?” Kelly said. “You can say, ‘This is what you need to do,’ but you got to just naturally see it. And so the vision, the wherewithal to do that in-game obviously is a positive for him moving forward.”
The game against LSU starts a three-game stretch for the Bruins against teams currently ranked in the top 16 in the nation.
After facing the Tigers, UCLA hosts No. 9 Oregon on Sept. 28 before heading to 10th-ranked Penn State on Oct. 5.
Foster planned to take his team to Tiger Stadium on Friday so the Bruins could get a feel for 102,000-capacity Death Valley — and the humidity — a day before the game.
The match-up marks the end of a home-and-home agreement that began in 2021, when UCLA beat LSU 38-27 in Rose Bowl Stadium.
Both teams have had lots of turnover since — not just on the roster.
LSU's coach in the first meeting was Ed Orgeron, who resigned that season. UCLA's coach in 2021 was Chip Kelly, who stepped down after last season.
