On Sun, Sept 27, the Associated Press released its Week 5 rankings for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and there were some new programs who had broken into the Top 25. Joining the likes of Texas(#1), Georgia(#2), Notre Dame(#3), Ohio State(#5), Indiana(#6), Alabama(#7), Florida(#8), Ole Miss(#9) and LSU(#11) were the Boise State Broncos(#22), Kentucky Wildcats(#24) and the UCLA Bruins(#23). Under head coach Bob Chesney, the Bruins have won their first four games of the season with a high-scoring offense and turnover-hungry defense. UCLA is in the Top 25 in the AP Poll for the first time since Oct 29, 2023 and they have now won more games this season than in the 2025 season. With a powerful offense spearheaded by QB Nico Iamaleava and a strong running back trio of Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods and Jaivian “Jet” Thomas, UCLA is using the ground game to run through the heart of opposing defenses so far in the 2026 season. The defense, as coordinated under new DC Colin Hitschler, has forced 12 turnovers and they even scored on two Pick Sixes in a 54-3 blowout win over the Maryland Terrapins on Sat, Sept 26.
The Bruins have gotten off to a strong start in their Big Ten schedule with wins over the Purdue Boilermakers and Maryland. As the sixth Big Ten team in the Week 5 rankings along with Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa and USC, UCLA is making an early case to potentially be a CFP contender for the first time in program history. The Bruins will have a ranked matchup on their hands after a Week 5 bye week as on Sat, Oct 10, they will play against the 15th-ranked Ducks in Eugene, Ore. This game will be a redemption game both for UCLA and their head coach in Chesney, whose final game as the head coach of the James Madison Dukes came in a CFP First-Round 51-34 defeat to Oregon at Autzen Stadium. A high load of JMU players who followed Chesney to Westwood played in that game, including Knight, Sahir West and Landon Ellis. The Bruins have not won a game on the Ducks’ home field since Nov 13, 2004 and they will have to face an Oregon squad that will also be coming off a bye week and a victory over the Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by a final score of 41-27.
But the Ducks lost their starting QB in former UCLA recruit Dante Moore to a nasty concussion sustained in the first quarter of the win over USC and backup QB Dylan Raiola led Mighty Oregon to victory. Moore’s status for the game against the Bruins is uncertain, but there will be an update in due time. The game against the Ducks will be the toughest test that the Chesney-led UCLA program has faced thus far in this season, but there will be other games with high stakes as well against Big Ten opponents. After the Oregon game, the Bruins will play three straight home games at the Rose Bowl, with two of them being conference games and one of them being a non-conference showdown against Nevada. In November, UCLA will travel north to play against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Michigan Wolverines while also playing two big games in Pasadena against the Illinois Fighting Illini and USC.
Chesney joined Red Sanders in 1949 as the only Bruins head coaches to start their first season leading the program at 4-0. Sanders led UCLA to an AP Poll awarded national championship in 1955 and now Chesney has the chance to do that in his first season. Only two wins away from being bowl-eligible is good, but the Bruins seek to aim for higher goals under a coach who has created winning programs at every school he has worked at thus far. With plenty of support from his family and friends from his hometown of Kulpmont, Pennsylvania this past week at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, Chesney will seek to keep the Bruins in the polls and also look good in the eyes of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in one month’s time.
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