Bob Chesney is something special. A season after the UCLA Bruin football program was a punchline, racking up a 3-9 record, UCLA has matched a single-season record for wins with 10 and the team will have several chances to break that record.
BRUINS WIN!!
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) November 14, 2026
UCLA TIES A PROGRAM RECORD WITH 10 WINS!! pic.twitter.com/YDMgiBJQPC
A Bruin football team has never won 11 games, in fact only 10 UCLA teams have ever won 10 games, with it happening most recently in 2014 under Jim Mora. UCLA will have at least three chances to capture their 11th win, with two more regular season games and at least one postseason game. The Bruins are also likely to be in the final Big Ten Conference championship game, which would give the team a fourth chance to break the record.
Chesney’s effect was on full display in the rain Friday night against Illinois, holding on for a 22-14 win at home. Linebacker Sammy Omosigho spoke about the program’s turnaround after Friday’s win.
“It’s turned into belief. From the players, belief from the coaches, belief from the strength staff, the nutrition and belief from everybody else,” Omosigho said. “You got to make them believe because no one believed that UCLA would be 10-0 this year, no one in the country.”
2025 was a lowpoint for the UCLA football program but the night was darkest just before dawn, as Chesney flipped those struggles into triumphs, immediately producing one of the best teams in program history and easily the most surprising.
Now the Bruins will close out the regular season by going on the road to Michigan to play in the Big House before hosting No. 18 USC to close out the regular season. A win in either of those two games will ensure that UCLA has a spot in the Big Ten title game, the first title game appearance for the Bruins since joining the conference in 2024.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA matches single-season win total with their 10th win of the year
