No. 21 UCLA heads into Saturday’s trip to Autzen Stadium carrying a spotless record, a bruising ground game and a long losing streak in Eugene that it will try to finally snap against No. 13 Oregon.
The Bruins are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play, but the recent history in this matchup has leaned heavily the other way. UCLA has dropped its last five meetings with Oregon since 2018 and has not won in Eugene since a 34-26 result in November 2004. The Bruins are also winless in their last eight visits to Eugene.
For first-year UCLA coach Bob Chesney, the setting brings back memories of a different trip to Oregon. At the time of the Bruins’ last win there, Chesney was a special teams coordinator at Division III King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Oregon coach Dan Lanning was a freshman linebacker at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo.
“It was dark (because) it was a night game. It was cold, it was loud, it was all those things,” Chesney said of the Dukes' Dec. 20 game at Oregon, a 51-34 first-round loss.
“They did a great job there. Their fans were extremely involved.
They did everything the right way.”
Oregon returns home for the first time since Sept. 18 after a bye week that followed its 41-27 win at Southern California on Sept. 26.
The break gave quarterback Dante Moore more time to recover from a concussion suffered against the Trojans after a late slide drew a vicious hit. Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola stepped in and went 19 of 25 for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
“Dante was out there (at) practice with us today,” Lanning said in his Monday evening press conference. “We're going to continue to do what's best for Dante to move forward.”
Even with the quarterback situation still unsettled, Lanning knows exactly where the challenge starts for his defense. UCLA’s rushing attack has been one of the best in the country, and it comes to Eugene with real force.
The Bruins rank fourth in the FBS at 281.5 rushing yards per game. They also have 18 rushing touchdowns, tied for second nationally and just one behind LSU, which has played one more game.
“A few things that stand out on film are just how effective they are at running the football, (and) the quarterback (Nico Iamaleava) is operating at a really high level,” Lanning said.
Iamaleava adds 35.8 rushing yards per game to a backfield that rotates Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods and Javian Thomas. Knight leads the group with 111.3 rushing yards per game, while Woods averages 67.3 and Thomas 38.8.
Knight has been especially productive, scoring nine rushing touchdowns, tied for third in the nation, while averaging 9.1 yards per carry, second-best in the country.
Oregon’s defense has done plenty of damage against the run so far, allowing only three rushing touchdowns and 3.6 yards per carry. The Ducks shut down USC in their last outing, with linebacker Devon Jackson leading the effort with 11 tackles.
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