Bob Chesney is part coach, part revitalizer, part historian.
In the midst of reviving UCLA’s inanimate football program in just a handful of games, he also put the transformation in its proper context.
“You raised the standard,” Chesney told his players last week, “of what it means to play football here – the physical nature, the disciplined nature, the tough and nasty f—ing nature that will play all the way to the whistle on every single play.”
That means no more of the soft, just-happy-to-be-here rubbish that has plagued this place for most of the last quarter century.
Fall behind early? No problem. We’ll roll off the next 28 points.
Two first-half fumbles? No biggie. We’ll force three turnovers ourselves.
Chesney’s message was captured on one of the team’s epic weekly videos that’s released a few days after each game.
The good times continue to roll for the seventh-ranked and unbeaten Bruins (7-0), with no end in sight, heading into a rare midseason nonconference game against Nevada (3-4) on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
Here are five things to watch in a game that kicks off at 1:15 p.m. PDT on the Big Ten Network as the Bruins seek to enhance their chances of making the College Football Playoff:
Start me up
Slow starts have plagued the Bruins in multiple games now.
They fell behind against California, couldn’t score in the first half against San Diego State and gave up a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage against Purdue.
But nothing could match the list of problems that plagued them last weekend in the first half against Michigan State.
There were two lost fumbles, two dropped passes and two holding penalties.
While the Bruins rallied to beat the overmatched Spartans, that kind of start could doom them against a better opponent.
“You can’t do it, you just can’t do it if you want to win really close games,” Chesney said. “We’re taking three, four touchdowns off the board by doing that. Never going to let this happen again.”
Ty the King?
The stats tell only a small part of the story.
What might be most impressive about Ty Dieffenbach since he’s taken over as UCLA’s starting quarterback is his demeanor.
“If you watch him at practice, he’s walking around like he’s the king, which he is, right?” offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy said. “That’s how you’ve got to do it at the quarterback position and that’s such a huge piece is his confidence, and it bleeds into other people.”
Dieffenbach won a new army of admirers last weekend when he turned into a willing defender after the Bruins’ two turnovers, preventing a touchdown by getting in the way of a Michigan State player trying to score on a fumble recovery. That provided the extra second teammates needed to arrive and make the tackle.
Dieffenbach also continued to show confidence in guiding the offense, completing 18 of 31 passes for 198 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions.
UCLA Three-headed attack
Nevada has an unusual offensive approach that could involve using as many as three quarterbacks.
One of them has already thrown passes at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA transfer Luke Duncan led the Wolf Pack to a 28-13 victory over San Jose State last weekend, completing 18 of 29 passes for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception.
The other quarterbacks who could play are Carter Jones and A.J. Bianco.
“We’ve got to have different plans ready for each one,” Chesney said, “and not schematically crazy different plans, just the intent of how we’re going to play within those calls of, is this quarterback a runner or is he not?”
Bianco is the best runner of the trio, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
The late show
If the game is tight going into the fourth quarter, then the Bruins might have the Wolf Pack exactly where they want them.
UCLA has dominated the fourth quarter this season, outscoring opponents, 90-29.
Nevada? The Wolf Pack haven’t had much bite late in games, getting outscored, 57-55, in the fourth quarter.
Injury report
With UCLA playing a nonconference opponent, the Bruins did not submit availability reports required for Big Ten games.
Chesney said running back Wayne Knight, who left the game against Michigan State after taking a shot to the side of his body, wanted to come back against the Spartans and probably could have.
If Knight is unable to play against the Wolf Pack, the Bruins will lean on running backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas, who combined for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground last weekend.
