Bob Chesney is heading back to Autzen Stadium with a very different UCLA team than the one Oregon saw from him in January.
Back then, Chesney was still at James Madison, and the Ducks knocked off the Dukes 51-34 in the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff. Afterward, Chesney stood in the end zone leading to the visitors’ locker room and greeted and hugged players, aware it was his final game at JMU and that UCLA was next.
Now he returns as the coach of a 4-0 Bruins team that has already topped its 2025 win total of 3-9 and has Big Ten wins over Maryland and Purdue. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
Saturday at Autzen Stadium, where No. 13 Oregon will try to keep rolling against a UCLA group that has been far more dangerous on both sides of the ball than the version that finished last season.
The matchup is No. 13 Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) vs.
No. 21 UCLA (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten).
CBS will televise the game, with the Oregon Sports Network on the radio. Oregon is an 11.5-point favorite.
UCLA’s biggest transformation has come on offense. The Bruins averaged just 18.2 points per game last season, but this year they’re up to 44.8, which is second in the Big Ten behind Oregon’s 47.5. The run game has driven that surge, with UCLA averaging 281.6 rushing yards per game, fourth nationally.
The schedule has been soft, but the production has been real. UCLA has beaten California 45-24, Purdue 52-38 and Maryland 54-3.
Wayne Knight has been the engine. The running back has piled up 445 yards at 9.1 yards per carry, and his 111.3 rushing yards per game ranks second in the Big Ten.
He also leads the conference with nine rushing touchdowns. The 5-foot-7, 193-pound JMU transfer rushed for 110 yards on 17 carries in the loss to Oregon last season, and he led the Dukes with 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024.
The Bruins’ defense has its own difference-maker in Sammy Omosigho. The Oklahoma transfer leads UCLA in tackles with 40, tackles for loss with seven, sacks with three and forced fumbles with four. He turned in 12 tackles and two sacks against Purdue, and his 10 tackles per game are second-most in the Big Ten.
UCLA has also gotten steady work from Semaj Morgan, who has quickly become the Bruins’ top target. The Michigan transfer leads the team with 14 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns. During his three seasons with the Wolverines, he averaged 23 receptions and 188.7 yards per season.
At quarterback, Nico Iamaleava has mostly played in support of the ground game, but he has still completed 62.6% of his passes for 820 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Chesney’s rise to this point included stops at Salve Regina, Assumption University and Holy Cross before he took over at James Madison in 2024, replacing Curt Cignetti after Cignetti left for Indiana. Chesney went 21-6 at JMU.
The series still leans Oregon’s way in recent years. UCLA leads the all-time matchup 40-33, but the Ducks have won five straight and 11 of the last 12.
UCLA’s last win over Oregon came in 2017, a 31-14 result in Pasadena. The Bruins’ last road win in the series was in 2004, a 34-26 victory.
Oregon won the most recent meeting, 34-13 at UCLA in 2024.
For all the progress UCLA has made, the challenge Saturday is a different level. Oregon has the offense, the home crowd and the edge in the matchup, and the Bruins have not yet seen anything quite like what awaits them at Autzen.
Early prediction: Oregon 37, UCLA 17.
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