LOS ANGELES – UCLA football players gathered in the auditorium of the Wasserman Football Center on Sunday, Oct. 4 to begin its Week 6 preparation, and coach Bob Chesney started it by putting up a number
on the projector.
No. 21 — where the Bruins stand in the Associated Press Poll (they're No. 22 in the US LBM Coaches Poll).
He gave them a simple message about UCLA being nationally ranked.
“I said if you pay attention to this number, it will go away,” he said. “If you pay attention to what you did to get that number, and only focus on that and improve that, maybe the number even gets better.”
The chance for a better number — and a whole lot more — awaits UCLA when it travels to face No. 13 Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Not only has this suddenly become an important Big Ten game, it's also the first major test for Chesney's Bruins. A win would officially thrust UCLA into the national conversation and further cement one of college football's most remarkable turnarounds of 2026.
With UCLA's blazing start, you'd think the Bruins were responsible for the scorching temperatures in Tinseltown. The 4-0 record has been fueled by a dominant rushing attack averaging 281.5 yards per game, fourth-best in the FBS, while leading the nation at 6.95 yards per carry. The ground game is spearheaded by touchdown machine Wayne Knight. Defensively, the Bruins have been just as disruptive, forcing 12 turnovers and posting a plus-8 turnover margin, tied for the third-best mark in the country.
So how has the transformation happened so quickly? According to CBS analyst Charles Davis, who will be on the call for this West Coast showdown, UCLA is a team that "quickly figured out what it wants to be" under its new coach.
“Players buying in, bringing in enough players that as soon as they hit the locker room, they speak coach Ches,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “Like coach Boone said in ‘Remember the Titans’ about his playbook: it's like Novocaine, may take a while, but it works every time.
“Well, I don't know what coach Chesney's doing, but it's not Novocaine because it doesn't take a while. They get to it pretty quickly, and it's really impressive.”
It’s the type of revitalization you can’t help but compare to Indiana, especially since Chesney came from success at James Madison much like Curt Cignetti. Oregon coach Dan Lanning said UCLA “reminds me a lot of Indiana from last year.” Indiana not only beat the Ducks in Autzen Stadium, but also blew out them out in the CFP semifinals.
“It's nice I guess,” Chesney said of the comparison. “Ultimately, I know the work that still needs to be done at this moment.”
With Oregon, it’s the most work UCLA will have done.
For as impressive the Bruins are, the competition has been solid but not good; the four teams it beat are a combined 8-12. Oregon is still a College Football Playoff contender that validated it against USC.
Dylan Raiola is going to be behind center while Dante Moore still recovers from his concussion, and given how the backup led his squad to a win over USC, no drop off is expected in the offense.
“We prepare for both in a sense,” said UCLA defensive back Derrick Barksdale. “Both of them could really control the offense, run the offense very well, and it's going to be exciting to see who's out there.”
A team with no obvious weak spots, and one that’s owned UCLA’s number for decades.
Oregon has won five straight and 16 of the 19 meetings this century. UCLA hasn’t won at Autzen Stadium since 2004 and has never defeated a ranked Oregon team on the road.
“We don't have a magic potion to beat Oregon, but we definitely have ourselves, and we have the tools that we're going to use,” said offensive lineman Hall Schmidt.
Whatever concoction needed, a victory would arguably be the biggest in a longtime, and set up the opportunity for even more. Nothing is guaranteed, but as it stands, Oregon is the only ranked opponent UCLA faces until the crosstown showdown with the Trojans in the season finale.
"UCLA wins this game," said CBS play-by-play man Brad Nessler, "people are going to go, 'Oh my gosh, what has (Chesney) created at UCLA?"
“I will guarantee you, if they win Saturday, all of us who are in the media business — come Sunday and Monday — will be talking about ‘Hey, UCLA has to be talked about as a College Football Playoff team,’” Davis said. “Winning Saturday is paramount to that discussion.”
Nothing like a program defining moment in the fifth game in your tenure. From his arrival in Westwood, Chesney hasn’t put a bar or litmus as to what success looks like in year one. He still isn’t doing it with this massive opportunity awaiting his team, where he could become UCLA's first head coach to start their tenure 5-0, insisting it’s just the next step of the process.
If eight claps are ringing out of Eugene, it won’t just be one small step, but one giant leap for the Bruins.
“What would it mean?” Chesney said. “It means that we're continuing on the path that we felt like we could be on.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UCLA has been one of college football's biggest surprises. Now comes its biggest test
