For nearly the past nine months, the hype surrounding coach Bob Chesney’s debut season in Westwood has grown by the day.
Now comes the first opportunity to assess whether all that optimism has truly been warranted or may have simply been that – hype.
Taking the helm for his first game donning the blue and gold, Chesney will lead UCLA football as the squad heads to Berkeley to kick off the 2026 season Saturday night against California at California Memorial Stadium. The matchup marks the 95th edition of the Bear Bowl – with UCLA claiming 58 of the past affairs – and the first time the in-state rivals will go head-to-head since both left the Pac-12 following the 2023 season.
“I really like where we’re sitting,” Chesney said after the Bruins’ Friday practice. “We cleaned up so much of the procedural things, we cleaned up so much of the situational awareness and we’re in a spot where we’re competing really hard and pushing past our breaking points.”
A point of emphasis for the Bruins ahead of the coming campaign has been their defense, which conceded 190.4 rushing yards and 387 total yards per game last season – the former ranking second-to-last in the Big Ten.
Now, after undergoing deep roster reconstruction this past offseason, UCLA possesses a key piece who is no stranger to the Golden Bears’ offensive schemes.
Fifth-year defensive tackle Tyson Ford enters his first year in Westwood after spending last season at Cal, where he saw action in seven games, totaling three tackles. Ford is likely to step up as a starting tackle this season, and brings knowledge of his former Bay Area squad to the week one matchup.
“I know a few of the guys (at Cal),” Ford said after the team’s practice Thursday. “I’ve been using some of the keys that I learned from certain guys, doing film study on how guys shoot hands and what type of setters they are, more so on the interior o-line.”
Fortifying the trenches alongside Ford will be junior defensive end Sahir West and senior tackle Darold DeNgohe.
West – the 2025 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year at James Madison – had a breakout year last season, recording 45 tackles, including 14 for loss, alongside seven sacks and four pass breakups. DeNgohe is also expected to step up to a starting role next season after seeing action in just four games with Rutgers last year.
Meanwhile, questions remain regarding the Bruins’ starting linebacker core for week one following 2025 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Trent Hendrick’s transfer to the Westwood squad Aug. 23. Securing a temporary restraining order against the NCAA that allowed him to play for UCLA after appearing in two NFL minicamps, the fifth-year linebacker comes to Los Angeles after posting an 106-tackle season to go with three sacks and two forced fumbles at JMU.
[Related: The Chesney train rolls on, adding Trent Hendrick to the JMU-to-UCLA pipeline]
Hendrick will be joined in the middle by senior Sammy Omosigho, who played three seasons at Oklahoma and recorded 50 tackles – including three games with six or more – last season in Norman.
The Bruins’ defense will be met by a Cal offense that will likely have a healthy balance of run and pass options – and it all begins with the defensive line. Luckily, Ford says he and DeNgohe have built the required chemistry to succeed.
“We make each other better,” Ford said. “He plays the nose, I play the tackle and he eats up the middle. As long as we can stop the run together, we’re good.”
[Related: 2026 UCLA football position preview: Defensive line]
Stopping that run will mean containing Washington transfer Adam Mohammed and UC Davis transfer Carter Vargas. The former posted 523 rushing yards and five touchdowns last year with the Huskies, including his first-ever 100-yard rushing game in a 48-14 routing of the Bruins at the Rose Bowl. The latter added 445 yards and five touchdowns of his own up north, and the pair should be a formidable challenge for the Bruins.
The focus will be on Cal quarterback Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, though. The Ewa Beach, Hawaii, local completed 316 passes for 3,454 yards and 18 touchdowns in his true freshman campaign last season, leading the ACC in completions per game and placing fifth nationally in that mark.
Becoming the first Power Four player to start his collegiate career with 13 consecutive games of at least 200 passing yards, Keawe-Sagapolutele was named to the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award watch lists ahead of the 2026 campaign. He will have a deeper receiver core this time around, with Rutgers transfer Ian Strong and Ohio transfer Chase Hendricks projected to be his top options.
But the Bruins have some offensive weapons of their own.
Senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava returns for his second season in Westwood after passing for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns last year on a 64.4% completion rate, all while leading the Bruins with 505 rushing yards. Iamaleava will see the return of just one of his triple-digit receivers from last season in senior Mikey Matthews.
Yet the Bruins are welcoming elite receiver talent from the transfer portal, including senior Landon Ellis from JMU. Named to the 2025 All-Sun Belt Third Team, Ellis tallied 624 receiving yards and five touchdowns across 11 starts with the Dukes. He will be joined by two SEC transfers in sophomore Brian Rowe Jr. from South Carolina and senior Aidan Mizell from Florida – both of whom played limited roles with their former squads last season but could be elevated to primary options following their fall camp performances.
Iamaleava will have another option in senior tight end Josh Phifer, another former Duke. Tallying only four catches for one touchdown last season, Phifer will be an integral blocker for the run game but should also be expected to be used more through the air.
Phifer bolsters the incoming tight end room alongside fifth-years Brayden Loftin from Kansas State and Harry Lodge from Wake Forest.
[Related: 2026 UCLA football position preview: Wide receivers, tight ends]
“With Harry and Brayden, they’re fifth-year guys that came in and really understood the offense well,” Phifer said after practice Thursday. “In the meeting room, we really talk together if we see something similar or different. On the field, we’re making sure we communicate and know our assignments and execute them well.”
Add fifth-year running back Wayne Knight – who led the Sun Belt in 2025 with 2,039 all-purpose yards at JMU alongside nine rushing touchdowns – and Iamaleava has an abundance of elite pieces at his disposal.
And with preseason coming to a close, Chesney is now channeling all the built-up hype into motivation for his squad as they hit the road to Berkeley.
“As I watched it today, this was the moment where we hit many breaking points,” Chesney said. “Our guys fought through them, and this is a moment where they’d usually fracture, but not today. That’s a really good sign going into this final week.”
Comments are closed.