Pain, eventual gain? DeShaun Foster wants UCLA to use horrid loss as motivation

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster walks off the field following UCLA’s blowout loss to Indiana at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Foster hopes the loss to the Hoosiers will serve to motivate the Bruins against Louisiana State on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Embrace the hurt. Sit with the discomfort. Marinate in the misery.

That was the essence of UCLA coach DeShaun Foster’s message to his team after the Bruins on Saturday absorbed their worst loss in a home opener since a 35-0 beatdown by Stanford in 2010.

“I just told them to keep that feeling that you had as soon as the game was over,” Foster said Monday, referring to the Bruins’ 42-13 loss to Indiana at the Rose Bowl. “Bottle it up and have it out here every day this week and find a way to just not have that feeling.”

Read more: UCLA’s Big Ten era begins with an ominous blowout loss to Indiana

The Bruins might have felt a little too down Monday based on their subdued start to practice. During the roughly half hour of the session open to reporters, players ran through drills in a perfunctory manner. Normally chatty coaches were quiet.

Running back T.J. Harden said the mood eventually lightened as players realized they couldn’t drag their way to success as the Bruins (1-1) started preparations for a nonconference game against No. 16 Louisiana State (2-1) on Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

“We can’t just hang our heads low about last game,” Harden said. “We gotta move forward to this one.”

There was a lot to process two days after that stinker of a home opener. Defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi said things got “a little emotional” in the locker room, though fellow defensive lineman Jay Toia was among the players who rallied teammates by speaking about necessary changes.

“He really just said like we’ve just got to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pain-eventual-gain-deshaun-foster-221744792.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-09-16 22:17:44

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