UCLA might be back. Welcome to the Bob Chesney era. The Bruins beat down on Cal 45-24 on Saturday, scoring a late touchdown to stretch that lead to 21 and making a loud statement in their season opener.

And this is why I had UCLA winning this game. As much as I am a huge fan of Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, and he is lightning in a bottle, he’s one of the most intriguing quarterback prospects for the NFL in quite a long time. He is clearly the best quarterback coming from that respective class. But, he wasn’t enough for the Bruins in Week 1.

It’s clear after this game that UCLA’s formula to win football games is going to have them competitive in a ton of Big Ten matchups, and that formula starts on the ground.

The rushing attack changes everything for the Bruins’ offense

Nico Iamaleava and running back Wayne Knight, the transfer from JMU, are legit. I think this rushing attack is fantastic. The duo combined for 100 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, not to mention a 118-yard game from Anthony Woods who added two more rushing touchdowns. That ground game is going to put this offense in so many competitive spots, especially once they get to conference play.

When you can run the football like that in the Big Ten, you control the clock, you keep opposing offenses off the field, and you give your defense a chance to stay fresh. That’s the kind of identity that wins you six, seven, eight games in this conference.

And then defensively, UCLA made the plays that mattered. JKS was always going to have his flashes for Cal’s offense. He’s always going to be able to do that, especially with the weapons the Bears had around him. But at the end of the day, the Bruins created some key turnovers and put themselves in a fantastic position to win this game by multiple touchdowns. The exact outcome that’s to be expected when you can run the ball that way and be opportunistic on defense.

The fourth quarter told the whole story for UCLA and that’s what sent the real message

This was a close game for the majority of it. But in that fourth quarter, UCLA completely flipped the switch, scoring 21 unanswered to end the game. The Bruins stayed on the gas for all four quarters and turned a competitive game into an emphatic victory in what was an incredible start to the Chesney era.

And you may say, Tegan, it’s one game against Cal. Relax. But I had UCLA in the upper half of the Big Ten in my preseason rankings, and I’m feeling pretty good about that right now. The rushing identity is real, the defense made plays when it counted, and Chesney has this program pointed in the right direction again.

If this is what the floor looks like for UCLA in 2026, the ceiling could be really good. But, we still have to see if this kind of showing holds up against some Big 10 top competition, something the Bruins won’t have to face until October.