A season of monotony has played out with a numbing sameness on the interior of UCLA’s defensive line.
On almost every play, two or three offensive linemen converge on Jay Toia, massive bodies colliding in an attempt to neutralize the Bruins defensive tackle.
Taken in isolation, it might seem like a win for coaches committing nearly 1,000 pounds to counteract an otherwise unstoppable force. Halfway through the season, Toia has tallied just 12 tackles, half a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries.
Those might seem like meager numbers for a player widely expected to be selected in the NFL draft this spring until you consider the ripple effect.
All that open space created by Toia’s block hogging has benefited teammates. Lots of them. Carson Schwesinger leads the Big Ten with 47 solo tackles. Kain Medrano has notched five tackles for loss, spending enough time in the backfield to collect loyalty points. Oluwafemi Oladejo has become a fearsome edge rusher in part because he has fewer bodies to beat on his way to the quarterback.
“It just kind of shows you what type of person Jay is — he’s selfless,” UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said. “I’m sure he would like some one-on-ones so he could beat some guys and get some sacks and get some TFLs, but the situation that’s happening … he’s just doing a great job eating the blocks and letting the linebackers roam around and make plays.”
Expected to be a weakness, UCLA’s defense has emerged as its better half thanks largely to the 6-foot-3, 325-pound senior who has become a symbol for a team trying to persevere through a five-game losing streak. He’s content to keep working in the shadows, waiting for a breakthrough.
“Whatever I can do to help this team,” Toia said as the Bruins (1-5 overall, 0-4 Big Ten) prepared to face Rutgers (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. “I’ve just got to count on my teammates to make the plays.”
That’s something of a role reversal considering how much his team has leaned on him. He easily could be starring for top-ranked Texas after a springtime dalliance in which he was courted by the Longhorns during what he described as “a four-day vacation” in the transfer portal.
Showing his allegiance to Foster and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, Toia resisted overtures from one of the most deep-pocketed programs in college football, sold instead on his coach’s pillars of discipline, respect and enthusiasm.
“Going into the process, I told myself that I didn’t want to be bought — you know, I wasn’t going to go somewhere because of NIL,” Toia said. “It was culture and development over everything, which is the ultimate reason I decided to come back to UCLA.”
Amid fall training camp, Toia reinforced the respect aspect of that culture by buying popcorn and drinks for teammates during an outing to watch “The Fall Guy.”
The high-pitched Polynesian rallying cry he occasionally breaks out, which has been compared to something out of a Moana movie, reflected his enthusiasm.
And there’s no mistaking the discipline it takes to show up and pound the blocking sled every day when your team hasn’t won in more than 1½ months.
“I think we’re getting it together,” Toia said of the behind-the-scenes improvement, “we’re getting closer and closer every day.”
Doing whatever it takes could be considered his own mantra going back to high school. As a running back, guard and defensive lineman at Grace Brethren in Simi Valley, Toia became what coach Josh Henderson described as “a force of nature.”
“He played both ways, he played hurt,” Henderson said. “This is the kind of guy that you’re afraid that he’s injured, but he won’t come out of the game. Jay is all in to the end on every play, so he’s the kind of guy a coach has to protect because he will have no regard for himself, [play] with reckless abandon.”
A native of Tonga who moved to Southern California, Toia said he felt he was on a quest to be the best at everything he does.
“I don’t fear anybody but God and I just have a warrior mindset,” Toia said. “I just want to beat everybody, you know?”
His relentlessness helped him sack future UCLA teammate Ethan Garbers during a victory over Corona del Mar on the way to the 2018 state championship. Toia didn’t realize Garbers was the same guy he had walloped when Toia joined the Bruins for fall camp in 2021 until UCLA receiver Bradley Schlom, one of Garbers’ former high school teammates, brought it up.
Toia still might be trying to bring down Garbers had he stuck with his first college choice. After signing with USC during a recruiting process with visits limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, Toia showed his massive potential during spring practice with the Trojans before having a change of heart and announcing he would transfer across town.
The Bruins’ efforts to land Toia out of high school had paid off, just a little later than they had hoped.
“It was really 50-50 between USC and here,” Toia said of his mindset in high school, “the main part it being home — I’ve never been able to be far from home, especially from my parents, my mom, and it was always between the two.”
After going from a reserve role in his first year at UCLA to a full-time starter in 2022 who made a season-high 10 tackles against Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl, Toia understandably became a focus of opposing offensive coordinators.
Of course, every game plan that revolves around him leaves holes elsewhere.
“I know every time he’s in a three-on-one,” Oladejo said, snapping his fingers, “he’s going to spark, he’s going to shoot it and I can play fast behind him.”
UCLA’s defense could be set to pounce on a Rutgers offense that has generated just seven points during each of its back-to-back losses to Nebraska and Wisconsin. Regardless of the outcome, Toia said he felt good about his decision to remain a Bruin for his final season, a constant comfort in a season of heartache.
“Oh yeah, 1,000%,” Toia said. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. You know, it for sure is frustrating to be losing all these games but at the end of the day I’m here with my brothers, I’m here with who I want to be with win or lose — and that’s coach Foster and coach Malloe.”
