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UCLA will be without its quarterbacks coach and defensive coordinator when it faces Boise State in the third LA Bowl Dec. 16 at SoFi Stadium.
Quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson has been hired as offensive coordinator at Oregon State, his alma mater, filling the vacancy created when Brian Lindgren joined coach Jonathan Smith in accepting similar positions at Michigan State, UCLA coach Chip Kelly said in a conference call Sunday following the team’s LA Bowl invitation.
“It’s an opportunity for Gundy to move up to call plays and be a coordinator,” Kelly said. “We’re always happy when our coaches get an opportunity to move up in advance and so Gundy will not be available for the bowl game. He’ll be recruiting on Oregon State.”
USC announced Friday the hiring of D’Anton Lynn as its defensive coordinator to replace Alex Grinch who was fired Nov. 5 after the Trojans allowed at least 41 points in five of their previous six games. In his one season as the Bruins’ defensive coordinator, Lynn elevated its defense from ranking No. 87 in 2022 to finishing the 2023 regular season ranked No. 11 among Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
Kelly said “our whole defensive staff will put together a game plan” for the LA Bowl.
“We’re all on our way, on the road, to go recruiting right now and then we’ll meet at the end of the week and then sit down as a staff, but we’re not bringing in anybody new from the outside,” Kelly said.
The LA Bowl has the fifth choice among Pac-12 teams after the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six games and selected UCLA (7-5) after the Sun Bowl selected Oregon State with the fourth choice.
UCLA tied California for seventh in the conference with 4-5 records.
The Broncos earned their berth by upsetting UNLV, 44-20, in the Mountain West Championship Saturday in Las Vegas, with Spencer Danielson becoming the first interim coach to lead his team to a victory in a conference championship game in Football Bowl Subdivision history.
Boise State (8-5) has won four consecutive games, including three since Danielson replaced the fired Andy Avalos Nov. 12.
Director of athletics Jeramiah Dickey announced Sunday that Danielson had the job on a permanent basis, subject to approval by the Idaho State Board of Education.
“I value process over results,” Dickey said in a statement. “As exciting as it was to win the last three games and reclaim the conference championship, from the standpoint of hiring a head coach, it was more exciting to me to hear Spencer’s vision for the future and how he is going to approach the job full time.
“I am extremely confident Spencer is an elite leader, a man of great substance and a rising star in the coaching profession who will lead Boise State football to great heights.”
Danielson, who turned 35 Nov. 11, played linebacker at Azusa Pacific from 2009-11. He began his coaching career in 2013 as a graduate assistant with the Cougars and was their linebackers coach from 2014-16.
Danielson was hired by the Broncos as a graduate assistant in 2017, promoted to an assistant coach in 2018, coaching stand up defensive linemen, was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach from 2021 until his promotion to coach.
The teams have one common opponent — San Diego State. The Bruins defeated the Aztecs, 35-10, Sept. 9, while Boise State was a 34-31 winner Sept. 22.
This will be the second meeting between the teams. UCLA was a 38-7 winner in 1999.
Oddsmakers have made the Bruins a 2 1/2-point favorite. ESPN Analytics gives UCLA a 58.2% chance of winning.
The Mountain West Conference representative has won both of the previous two games.
The game is officially known as the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk under a naming rights agreement announced Friday.
Starco Brands bills itself as a “21st century consumer goods company,” with brands including the vodka-infused whipped cream Whipshots; the body care brand Art of Sport designed for athletes co-founded by the late Kobe Bryant; the first indulgent theater-popcorn spray Winona; the hypoallergenic fragrance Skylar; and the non-dairy nutrition brand Soylent.
Retired star NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski will be the game’s host, and make a “specialized grand entrance, preside over the coin toss and close out the night with the trophy presentation,” presenting the winning team with a championship belt.
The game was known as the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl for its first two editions.
The game is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised by ABC.
USC to play Louisville in Holiday Bowl
USC will face Louisville in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in San Diego on Dec. 27, officials announced Sunday.
The Trojans will bring a disappointing 7-5 record into the game after losing five of their last six contests and finishing tied for fifth place in the Pac-12 Conference.
The Cardinals finished 10-3 and lost Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game to Florida State, 16-6.
The official name of the game is the 44th DIRECTV Holiday Bowl.
The two schools have never met on the football field, but the Trojans have played in three previous Holiday Bowl games. They beat Nebraska in 2014, 45-42, fell to Wisconsin the following year, 21-23, and lost to Iowa 24-49 in 2019.
Louisville has never played in the Holiday Bowl.
The game will kick off at 5 p.m. and be televised by Fox.
More information can be found at holidaybowl.com.
