A year ago, UCLA was on the verge of Hawaiian humiliation in its season opener.
The offense plodded. The defense was a blooper reel, committing three penalties on the same play. The special teams failed to put enough players on the field, leading to a busted punt coverage.
Shakiest of all might have been the coach.
Having starred as a running back and assistant coach, DeShaun Foster stumbled in his head coaching debut. Appearing as disorganized and unprepared as his team, Foster didn’t know the proper way to address reporters after his team rallied to beat Hawaii, asking a media relations staff member for help.
Yeah, you could say he was a mess.
A year later, on the verge of his second season, Foster acknowledged as much.
“Oh, I was scared, you know?” Foster said this week. “An