In his first year with the UCLA Bruins, Bob Chesney hasn’t been afraid to call out the home crowd at the Rose Bowl. Chesney has UCLA at No. 4 in the country and owns a perfect 10-0 record. Chesney was more positive when speaking about the crowd Friday night.
The Rose Bowl attendees had a couple of legit crowd pops, which have been a rarity for UCLA in Pasadena in recent years. When quarterback Ty Dieffenbach returned to the field in the third quarter, the crowd made sure everyone knew, going ballistic for Dieffenbach’s return. When UCLA forced the game-ending turnover on downs, the crowd erupted again.
“Let me just start by talking about this crowd that was here. The willingness and the support to stay in the rain and stay the whole time,” Chesney
said. “When Ty walked in, the noise, I didn’t know what it was and then I saw up on the screen him coming down the sideline.”
A little rain couldn’t keep @UCLAFootball fans from the Rose Bowl tonight 😤 pic.twitter.com/safGsumk3z
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 14, 2026
UCLA needed the crowd on Friday, making a stand on Illinois’ final drive of the game to prevent a potential game-tying score. Chesney was appreciative of their efforts, as everything seems to be breaking UCLA’s way in 2026 under their new head coach.
“I think in general, the fans were impressive. To show up, they stayed and to be present the entire time,” Chesney said. “We walked out there, I was like ‘Damn.’ I knew we were on the brink of it and you were worried about the weather but ultimately, what a great job by them. Really proud of the way they showed up.”
Winning cures all, with Chesney and the Bruins bringing back out the crowd to the Rose Bowl. Friday night’s game had a reported attendance of 45,800.
“I appreciate them as much as they appreciate our program.” Chesney said.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: 'Really proud of the way they showed up' Bob Chesney on the UCLA crowd
