Troy Aikman has seen enough of the empty seats at the Rose Bowl.
The UCLA great and Pro Football Hall of Famer took aim earlier this month at the Bruins’ thin home crowds, even as the unbeaten team keeps rolling under Bob Chesney in his first season. UCLA’s on-field surge has not translated into much buzz in Los Angeles, and Aikman said the numbers are hard to ignore.
“Little embarrassing that we were 7-0 going into last week’s game (against Nevada) and, they shoot it pretty low (on TV) so you can’t really tell when you’re watching the game, I’m told there was about 20 to 25,000 people at the game,” Aikman said recently on 96.7 The Ticket. “So when you have a stadium at the Rose Bowl that holds over 100,000, 25,000, it may as well be empty as opposed to some other stadiums that maybe hold 40,000.
“We’ve got to get people going to games; we’ve got to get them excited about it. And then you say, ‘Well, how do you get them excited?
If 7-0 doesn’t get them excited, what will?’ I don’t know the answer to that.”
The Bruins have kept winning anyway, even after losing quarterback Nico Iamaleava to a season-ending injury. Ty Dieffenbach and Wayne Knight have helped keep the offense moving, and UCLA’s defense remains one of the nation’s best as the team pushes toward a Big Ten Championship appearance and a College Football Playoff berth.
After Saturday’s win at Minnesota, Chesney said he wasn’t interested in getting caught up in the first College Football Playoff rankings.
“I told our guys, ‘Don’t worry about watching this four-week drama series that’s going to be this new show that they’re going to put out there,’” Chesney said. “That’s not what we’re here for.
No way slighted. No way honored.
Just totally neutral on whatever they might say. We’ve got to win our football games, and we did that today.”
Chesney had already addressed the attendance issue two weeks ago, saying the program needs more people around it to help build momentum.
“I don’t really turn around and look behind and see what’s really going on,” Chesney said. “We all got to do a better job of getting a little bit more involved and make sure our guys in classes are talking about this with everybody, making sure they can connect a story and face to this team, not just what this team is but ultimately the people on it. We’ve done everything we could as far as the tickets, the travel plans and the free access.
“Our administration’s doing a great job; we’ve just got to make sure everybody just keeps talking about it all the time, especially on this campus.”
UCLA’s last home win against Nevada on Oct. 31 drew a season-low crowd of 24,611. USA Today reported that FBS home game attendance on Halloween this season was 8.8% below those teams’ 2025 home game averages.
Duke and Stanford are the only other Power Four programs this season drawing less than half of their stadium capacity for home games.
The Bruins return to the Rose Bowl to face Illinois on Friday night, then head to Michigan on Nov. 21. Their Nov. 28 rivalry game against USC should bring a full house, with Big Ten and CFP implications attached.
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UCLAs Hot Start Is Being Driven By A Practice Battle Fans Will Love
UCLAs fast start against Minnesota had plenty of game-day highlights, but the Bruins energy has been building long before kickoff. In the 34-20 win, Ty Dieffenbach turned in a career-best passing performance and Aidan Mizell delivered the kind of explosive plays that can change a game in a hurry, connecting on a pair of long touchdowns that stretched the field and tilted the momentum. On the other side of the ball, Scooter Jackson helped steady things with an interception, giving UCLA another reminder that its playmakers are showing up on both sides.
Bob Chesney has pointed to the work behind the scenes as a big reason the Bruins are carrying that edge onto the field. The practices have been competitive, with players like Mizell and Jackson pushing each other in ways that have sharpened the roster and raised the standard. For a team trying to turn early success into something more durable, that sort of internal battle may be just as important as the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
UCLA Puts Its Perfect Season In Ty Dieffenbachs Hands
UCLA heads into its matchup with Illinois carrying a spotless 9-0 record and a growing sense that this stretch could tell us plenty about how far the Bruins can go. The No. 9 team in the country has been steady enough to keep winning while navigating a quarterback change, and now it gets a home test against an Illini team that has found its footing after a rough start and has won four in a row.
Ty Dieffenbach is the latest reason for confidence in Westwood, stepping into the starting role after Nico Iamaleavas injury and handling the job well in recent games. Illinois arrives with momentum and enough confidence to make this more than a routine tune-up, which is why the betting market has kept a close eye on it. For UCLA, the bigger question is whether the unbeaten run can keep rolling with Dieffenbach steering the offense through another meaningful conference-style test. [Read more 🡒]
UCLAs Ranking Surge Just Changed The Ceiling For These Bruins
A week into the season, UCLA has already changed the conversation around its ceiling. The Bruins jumped from No. 22 to No. 9 in the AP poll after knocking off No. 5 Arizona, and they now own the only victory over a top-five team this season. Add in the fact that they are averaging the ninth-most points among high-major teams, and the early profile looks a lot different than it did when the year began.
For a team still trying to establish its place nationally, the ranking surge matters beyond bragging rights. It gives UCLA a stronger platform in the NCAA Tournament picture and a little more room to dream about where this season can go if the offense keeps producing and the rsum keeps building. The bigger question now is whether the Bruins can turn one statement win into the kind of consistency that keeps their seed climbing. [Read more 🡒]