Sep 12, 2025; Pasadena, California, USA; An UCLA Bruins fan looks on during the second half against the New Mexico Lobos at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

This is becoming a nightmare reality for the UCLA Bruins, who are now 0-3 after the 25-point loss to New Mexico under the Friday night lights.

The Bruins, under second-year head coach DeShaun Foster, have been outscored 108-43 already this season with two losses of 25+ points. Many believed that perhaps they would ride the wave of momentum after landing former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava in the transfer portal. However, he is averaging just over 200 yards per game passing with three touchdowns to three interceptions. It hasn't been great.

What might be worse for the Bruins is how much they paid the New Mexico Lobos to come to the Rose Bowl for this nonconference matchup aired on national television.

How much did UCLA pay New Mexico?

According to a report from Brett McMurphy of On3, UCLA wrote a check for $1.2 million to New Mexico. That is quite a huge amount to watch your home team take a loss, in which the Lobos ran away from the Bruins with a three-touchdown fourth quarter.

What's next for the UCLA Bruins

UCLA will have an open week to allow the team to lick its wounds before it hits the road to open Big Ten play against Northwestern and will return home to host No. 2 Penn State on Oct. 4. The team needs to do plenty of self reflection to figure out where they can improve before getting into the meat of the Big Ten schedule in the coming weeks.

What does this mean for DeShaun Foster?

This felt like a forced hire to begin with. The Bruins lost head coach Chip Kelly, who left to become the offensive coordinator with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Foster was an alum, but was he really the best man for the job? Likely, it was the best they could do at the time. Teams usually hire the next head coach in November to get on the recruiting front as quickly as possible. With his hire on Feb. 12, 2024, it feels like he was always on borrowed time unless he really made an impact.

Foster has only coached 15 games, but given that the team is on a bye, this might be the right time to make the move and start the process of finding the next head coach.

This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: UCLA's loss to New Mexico stung on two different levels with the check they wrote for it

Reporting by Patrick Conn, College Sports Wire / College Sports Wire

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