Bob Chesney isn’t interested in letting UCLA savor the Cal win for too long.
After the Bruins opened the season with a road victory over Cal, Chesney made it clear Monday that the performance meant something - but only if it leads to the right response this week. He pointed back to a similar moment from his time at James Madison, when his team had just knocked off North Carolina 70-50 and then had to prove it could handle the attention that came with it.
“I put up us at JMU beating UNC 70 to 50 and I had a question mark next to it: how are we going to handle that, that little bit of success that we just had? And we ended up winning the next game 64 to 7 or whatever it might have been; they responded to it,” Chesney said.
That’s the standard he wants at UCLA now. The Cal result was a strong one, especially on the road, but Chesney said the Bruins still have plenty to sharpen before their next game. He stressed that the team has to clean up a number of issues and keep pushing itself, with the coaches, captains and players all responsible for maintaining that edge.
“Our thing here was that same mentality of, you know, this is a win against a team that was a really good football team... They got to clean up a whole bunch of stuff before they get to this Saturday.
It's in their hands to just hold each other to the standard. I know our coaches will not relent.
I know our captains will not relent, and I really know the players won't relent. They know that they left a lot out there, and there's a whole lot more that they got to do to play their best football.”
The concern now is simple: don’t let a good start turn into a letdown. San Diego State is not a bad team, even if it looks like one of the more manageable games on UCLA’s schedule in the Big Ten.
For now, the Bruins have every reason to feel good about where things stand under Chesney. The opener went the right way, and the tone around the program sounds steady. But the message from the head coach is unmistakable - enjoy the win, then move on fast.
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UCLA Left One Costly Red Zone Mistake That Better Teams Will Punish
UCLA opened Week One with a 21-point win and, for the most part, looked efficient when it got inside the red zone. The Bruins turned most of those chances into touchdowns and kept control of the game, which made the overall offensive showing feel encouraging even if there were a few early-seasons rough edges to clean up.
One empty trip still loomed large because it came just before halftime, when a short Nico Iamaleava pass was intercepted in the red zone and Cal quickly answered with a touchdown to trim the lead to 21-17. UCLA steadied after that and allowed only seven second-half points, but better teams are far more likely to punish that kind of wasted scoring chance. [Read more 🡒]
UCLA Gets Its First Real Chance To Prove Week 1 Was Real
UCLA gets a cleaner read on itself Saturday when it hosts San Diego State at Rose Bowl Stadium, a follow-up that should say more about the Bruins than the season opener did. The 4:15 p.m. kickoff comes after a win over California that gave first-year head coach Bob Chesney and his team an encouraging first step, with running back Wayne Knight and defensive back TaShawn James among the players who helped set the tone.
Chesney arrived with a proven track record, and his first game in charge suggested the Bruins may have more immediate traction than some expected. But Week 1 can only tell you so much, and this home game offers UCLA a chance to see whether its fast start was a one-night burst or the beginning of something sturdier as the schedule starts to sharpen. [Read more 🡒]
Bob Chesney May Have Found UCLAs Best Way To Win
For one afternoon, UCLA looked like a team that knew exactly where its advantage was and kept leaning into it. The Bruins rolled past Cal with a ground game that controlled the tempo, and the offense never seemed to need much from the passing attack while the backs took turns wearing down the defense.
Anthony Woods provided the burst with 118 yards on just eight carries, and transfer back Wayne Knight kept finding the end zone as the rotation stayed fresh and productive. The bigger question now is whether this was simply a favorable matchup or a sign that UCLA has found the kind of weekly identity that can travel. [Read more 🡒]