UCLA’s climb into the AP top 25 has brought some shine, but Bob Chesney is treating the Bruins’ No. 21 ranking like a warning label, not a reward.
A day after the Associated Press slotted UCLA at 21 following Week 5, the Bruins gathered for a Sunday team meeting during their bye week. Chesney made sure the message landed immediately: the number only matters if the team stays locked in on the work that produced it.
“If you pay attention to this number,” Chesney told his players, “it will go away. If you pay attention to what you did to get that number, and only focus on that, and improve that, maybe the number even gets better.”
UCLA is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, and this is the first time the Bruins have been ranked in consecutive weeks since 2022. Chesney said the program is essentially at the midpoint of its season, with eight weeks behind it - four of fall camp and four games - and at least eight regular-season games still ahead. His point was clear: the ranking is a snapshot, not a destination.
“Just like you walked in on Day 1 of camp and you were committed to the cause and committed to what you were going to do, with eight weeks left, we have to recommit to that same process, that same mentality,” Chesney said at his Monday media availability. “The same way we went into the season is the exact same way we should be entering the second half.”
So far, UCLA has earned the attention by winning in four different ways. The Bruins opened with a road win at former Pac-12 rival Cal, leaning on a run game that produced four touchdowns and 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
In Week 2 against San Diego State, the defense carried the load through a scoreless first half before the offense found its rhythm in a 28-10 win. Then came the best offensive showing yet, a 52-38 victory over Purdue in the Big Ten opener, when Nico Iamaleava threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns.
Before the bye, UCLA delivered its most complete performance of the season. The Bruins rolled past Maryland 54-3, piling up 475 total yards, forcing five turnovers and scoring two defensive touchdowns. Chesney called it “complementary football.”
That’s the standard now. Chesney said staying in or climbing higher in the rankings will require the Bruins to keep all three phases working together.
“You can’t go out there and lay an egg on offense, and expect to win on defense or special teams,” Chesney said. “You have to be buttoned up, and we have to make sure we’re 100% locked in on what our jobs are, what the intent of every single play is, and how we’re going to execute it.”
The bye week, Chesney said, was not about enjoying the break. After the Maryland win and the undefeated start, nobody “wanted time off.”
Instead, the Bruins used the pause to “cure” some weaknesses, study film and look for areas opponents might try to attack. They searched for “tendencies” and tried to “put ourselves in a position to use those in a positive way.”
UCLA took Friday and Saturday off physically and will return to its normal practice schedule for Saturday’s game against No. 13 Oregon, which is 3-1 and 1-0 in the Big Ten.
On Tuesday, Oregon coach Dan Lanning compared UCLA to last year’s Indiana team, which went perfect all the way through, beating Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship. Lanning pointed to the James Madison influence and the continuity within the coaching staff as similar traits. Chesney, though, said UCLA is “not there yet.”
The Bruins are no longer hiding, and with a ranking beside their name, they won’t catch many teams by surprise. Still, defensive back Derrick Barksdale said the approach can’t change.
“Being ranked, it definitely can skew you,” Barksdale said Monday. “You can’t pay too much attention to it. You got to go into the preparation of each week just like you did the past one.”
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