"Win, lose or get beat."
Bob Chesney's often repeated words seem to have resonated with the UCLA locker room. They've not only won first four games of the season, they've thoroughly outplayed each of their opponents, not even giving themselves a chance to get beat. Saturday's 54-3 bludgeoning of Maryland was no exception.
The Bruins dominated from whistle to whistle in College Park, Maryland. They outgained the Terrapins, 475-181, holding them to just 88 yards in the first half. The script was similar to how two of their first three wins played out:
1. A smothering defense that picked off Maryland QB Malik Washington four times – two of which were returned for pick-sixes – and had seven tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble for five total
turnovers on the day, and
2. A dominant run game, led by another 100-yard performance from running back Wayne Knight, that wore down the Terps defensive front in the fourth quarter.
"It's what we came here to do," Chesney said on the Big Ten Network postgame show. "We didn't come here to make excuses. We didn't come here to put limitations on ourselves. We came here to achieve and to grow every single day, and I love what our guys have done up to this point in time."
When UCLA has showed up has been just as impressive as how. The Bruins have outscored Cal, San Diego State, Purdue and Maryland by a combined score of 76-17 in the fourth quarter this season, imposing their will down the stretch just when their opponents start to slow down, allowing them to pull away for lopsided final scores.
Two conference games, 106 points. 📈 pic.twitter.com/2vItmebofW
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) September 27, 2026
It's all added up to a historic start to the Bob Chesney era in Westwood as he becomes the first head coach in school history to start 4-0 in his debut season since Red Sanders beat Oregon State, Iowa, Oregon and Stanford in 1949. Sanders led the Bruins to their most successful era the football program has ever seen, ultimately winning a national championship in 1954; to this day, it's UCLA's only national title in football. His .773 career winning percentage remains the best in program history.
Chesney's not interested in chasing ghosts right now; he's focused on winning the ballgames in front of him. But the energy around Westwood has felt different ever since he was hired away from James Madison after leading them to an undefeated regular-season record and the College Football Playoff. And since the season has started, that's only been amplified.
"It's a journey that you're on," Chesney told reporters. "I never really had major goals or aspirations of anything other than growing where I was planted and being the best I could be wherever that might be, and if things work out, they work out. But for me, it was never about putting limitations on myself or letting anybody put limitations on me."
UCLA was unranked in the previous USA TODAY coaches poll. Beating down a hapless Maryland squad that's lost 10 straight Big Ten games dating back to 2025 might not be enough to convince the voters, but the next two games on their schedule might. They'll take on No. 16 Oregon on Oct. 10, followed by a Wisconsin squad fresh off a dramatic 24-20 upset of No. 14 Penn State.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What UCLA's latest dominant win means as Bruins start 2-0 in Big Ten
