UCLA’s unbeaten run has already survived plenty of moving parts, and now the Bruins are asking the next layer of their offense to hold up again.
After a win at Minnesota that came with a physical toll up front, UCLA heads into Friday’s Rose Bowl matchup with Illinois with center Riley Robell sidelined and Harvard transfer Derek Osman stepping in. The Bruins are 9-0 overall and 6-0 in Big Ten play, and they’ll try to keep rolling on a short week against an Illinois team sitting at 6-3 and 4-2.
The line shuffle is nothing new for UCLA. The Bruins have already used 10 different offensive linemen this season, with Chesney leaning on a rotation built around each blocker’s strengths and the needs of the play call. That approach has kept the unit fresh while giving more players game experience, and now it’s being tested again with Robell out.
Offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy said the team’s depth has been part of the fabric all season.
“You’ve seen the flow of the season, and it’s been a multitude of guys,” Kennedy said. “You’ve seen different position groups.
You’ve seen it’s not just one person who has had to play. You look at receivers early on, you look at tight ends who it’s happened to, and you look at the quarterback position.
It’s everything. It’s the mindset we have to have.
Injuries stink, but it’s next man up. Part of it is how we practice.”
Illinois arrives with momentum of its own, having won four in a row. That stretch includes an overtime win over Michigan State, plus victories against Maryland, Oregon and Nebraska.
One of the biggest challenges for UCLA’s defense will be slowing Illinois receiver Collin Dixon, a 6-foot-1 target who has set a single-season school record with 12 touchdown catches. The Fighting Illini also have a physical runner in fifth-year senior Aidan Laughery, who is 5-foot-11, 200 pounds and averaging 6.2 yards per carry with two rushing touchdowns.
Defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler described Dixon as a nightmare to isolate.
“Colin is extremely productive as a receiver,” Hitschler said. “He’s unbelievable as far as the plays he’s been able to make throughout the year.
I don’t know if you can hone in on one skill when a kid is that productive. His catch radius is elite.
His ability to get open and create separation is elite. His ability to make contested catches is elite.
You have to play physical; you have to find ways to get multiple hats to him, but at the same time if you isolate him and bring too many hats, you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s the obstacle he presents, and they’re doing a hell of a job of creating mismatches.”
On the other side, quarterback Ty Dieffenbach gets another shot to build on the kind of performance that turned heads in his first road start. Against Oregon, he threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns on only eight completions, even while dealing with a fumble and an interception. That outing earned him Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
It was Dieffenbach’s fifth game since taking over for Nico Iamaleava against Oregon. Iamaleava is still out with a torn ACL.
“I’m proud of him,” Kennedy said. “Obviously the awards are great, and they’re all team awards in my opinion.
That’s an individual award, but at the end of the day, I’m just proud of him with the way he’s responded. At the same time, we pocket those reps, pocket the things he did well.
You hold onto it, and every game it’s all about the process of keep getting better.”
For UCLA, the formula hasn’t changed even as the bodies have. The Bruins have kept winning through injuries, line changes and a short turnaround, and Kennedy said the belief inside the program stays the same.
“We walk into every game, no matter who we face, believing we are going to win,” Kennedy said.
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The issue was hard to ignore at the Bruins last home game, when attendance dipped to a season-low 24,611. With Illinois, Michigan and USC still ahead, UCLA has a chance to keep turning its on-field momentum into something louder in the stands, but the gap between the teams results and its home atmosphere remains an uncomfortable part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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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.
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