UCLA Upends Oregon Streak

(News4usonline) – Beating No. 13 Oregon is a pretty big deal for the UCLA football program. A real big deal. The Bruins’ 17-15 road win was the first time that UCLA managed to topple the Ducks in Eugene since 2004. 

That’s a long stretch of games. This was also the first time that a UCLA squad had defeated a ranked Oregon team at Eugene. Making the win even more remarkable is the fact that UCLA’s victory was the first time since 2014 that the Bruins had defeated an AP Top 15 team on the road. 

It was an audacious win by the new-look Bruins under head coach Bob Chesney. After taking down the Ducks, Chesney and the Bruins are 5-0 to start the season. It’s the first time since 2022 that UCLA has begun the season so hot. 

“I think it was a tight game against a phenomenal opponent, as we know,” Chesney said afterward.    

UCLA won this game because of its defense. The Bruins came out and punched Oregon right in the mouth. The Ducks, upset winners over the USC Trojans in the final weekend in September, were not able to respond. 

That’s because UCLA was all over Oregon defensively. The Bruins pressured the Ducks into a total of seven turnovers, including five fumbles. Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola, the hero for Oregon in the Ducks’ primetime win against the Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 26, was absolutely horrid against UCLA. 

The Bruins put the heat on Raiola. And the Nebraska transfer found the kitchen too hot, completing just 6 of 19 passes for a total of 43 yards with two interceptions. Raiola was eventually replaced by Brock Thomas, who had much better success at handling UCLA’s defensive front. 

By then, it was too late. UCLA’s defense had put its stamp on the game, and Oregon suffered its second loss of the season. Meanwhile, the Bruins remain undefeated. 

“I thought we did a really good job of frustrating the quarterback,” Chesney said. “\You guys asked the question, they haven’t thrown an interception or had a turnover all year. I think we

walked out of here today with seven of them, and I think that’s a pretty big deal for what we are able to do. We just played physical; we played tough. I thought our front did a good job. I thought our coverage did a good job.”

Statistics can be misleading sometimes. Sometimes it bears out the truth. In the case of UCLA’s upset win against No. 13 Oregon, the numbers mattered. Especially on the scoreboard. That is what matters most to UCLA head coach Bob Chesney. 

Raiola, who stepped in as Oregon’s starting quarterback for an injured Dante Moore, looked every bit of a signal-caller who didn’t belong on the same field as UCLA or his teammates. 

He looked confused most of the time and could not figure out the pressure that UCLA was putting on him and the Ducks offensive backfield. As a result of Raiola’s ineptitude for most of the game, Oregon’s high-powered offense stalled into a jumbled mess. UCLA’s defense had a lot to do with that. 

To go along with the seven turnovers they created, the Bruins held Oregon to just 12 first downs and 73 yards net rushing the entire game. They rendered Raiola useless for most of the afternoon. That’s the type of dominance that Chesney wanted.  

“I do like the game plan we had going in,” said Chesney. “I think it was really good, obviously, and it worked against a lot of things, but when you don’t have to blitz and put yourself at too much risk because you’re winning at the D line, that’s a big deal, and that’s what we did today.”

Cover Art: Photo courtesy of UCLA