The buzz around UCLA football has spilled well beyond Westwood, and a handful of Bruins alumni are leaning all the way into it. Former quarterback Brett Hundley is among them, and he isn’t backing off the idea that this team belongs in the national title conversation.
Asked by Kyle Odegard of Action Sports whether UCLA is a real contender, Hundley didn’t hesitate.
“I think they should be," Hundley said. "I truly think they deserve to be there.
With next week against Illinois, then at the Big House and finishing with USC - if we can get through that stretch undefeated, there is no question [UCLA can win the national title]. These are all tough, tough opponents.”
Hundley also singled out Ty Dieffenbach, his distant cousin on the Bruins quarterback family tree, and liked what he saw from the offense.
“It’s been awesome," Hundley said. "The one good thing they have is that they don’t put a bunch on the quarterback.
But Dieffenbach has been playing great. Last week alone, they were running the football, but they were throwing the football better than anything.”
If the offense has been driving the attention, the defense has only added to the confidence among UCLA’s former stars. That’s especially true for legendary linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr, who have both been vocal about what the Bruins are doing.
Barr has shown up on local news stations and podcasts to talk about UCLA football, and he has also repeatedly pushed Wayne Knight’s Heisman Trophy case.
“Not to overreact but UCLA is winning the natty and Wayne Knight winning heisman,” Barr posted on X.
Kendricks, his former Bruins and Minnesota Vikings teammate, agreed.
Former offensive lineman Scott Quessenberry has jumped into the celebration too.
“Bob Chesney.. real effin deal. UCLA real effin deal,” Quessenberry posted on X.
Hundley echoed that faith in UCLA’s head coach, and said the Minnesota game was the kind of performance he needed to see.
“That last game, I needed to see," Hundley said. "Minnesota is a great team at home, so everybody was probably going in thinking, ‘We’ll see how they stack up.
They beat Oregon but we’ll see what happens in this back-stretch.’ It was a dominant performance.
I was so happy to see that.”
Hundley said he sensed something different as soon as he got to fall camp.
“When I went up for fall camp, I said from the jump: With Chesney, something’s different," Hundley said. "The culture he had, the players. I didn’t expect them to do what they’re doing now, but I’m so happy, because the sky is the limit for this team.”
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