UCLA surges late to open Bob Chesney era with win

BERKELEY — Wayne Knight didn’t have any Power Four convention provides when he graduated from high college in Delaware. On Saturday, taking part in for a UCLA program with high expectations, he ran for three touchdowns.

During the first sport of the Bob Chesney era, UCLA’s run sport seemed dominant during a 45-24 highway win over Cal. Knight, one of 10 gamers who joined Chesney transferring from James Madison to Westwood, was the chief of a group that ran for six touchdowns.

“You always want to get on the big stage and show everyone that you can do it,” Knight said in the cramped visiting press room of California Memorial Stadium, barely rising above the noise of the locker room celebration exterior. “Right now, it’s very fulfilling, but we got a lot more to do.”

The evening was practically soured by a temporary injury scare to quarterback Nico Iamaleava, but by then the Bruins had successfully gained the sport by dominating in two areas in which they carried out poorly a season in the past — speeding and protection.

UCLA outscored Cal 21-0 in the fourth quarter off two interceptions from switch security Ta’Shawn James, who obtained his first choose when Cal sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s third-down go was tipped by his receiver. Knight ran for a 31-yard landing on the next play to help give UCLA a 31-24 lead with 8:46 left to go.

On the next Cal drive, Sagapolutele miscommunicated with a receiver he anticipated to cut and instead lofted a ball straight to James, who gathered it for the Bruins with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter. Soon after, Knight delivered his third landing on a four-yard run.

“It was like a movie,” said James, who earned the first interception of his profession during the win over Cal.

Anthony Woods broke free for a 53-yard landing run on the Bruins’ ultimate possession for his second landing of the sport and UCLA’s sixth — all on the ground. Last season, the Bruins ran for eight.

UCLA operating back Wayne Knight carries the ball during a win over Cal on Saturday evening.

(Godofredo A. Vasquez / For The Times)

Along with his three scores, Knight ran for 71 yards on eight carries during his UCLA debut. Iamaleava accomplished 14 of 22 passes for 184 yards, with an interception. He rushed for 29 yards and scored a landing. Woods completed with 118 speeding yards on eight carries.

“We got a lot of guys in there that can make plays,” Knight said. “It’s never going to drop off with any of us. That’s gonna be a huge testament for a lot games that we win this season.”

Since the demise of the Pac-12 in 2023, the Golden Bears (0-1) and Bruins (1-0) hadn’t met. Saturday still had all the emotions related with Pac-12 After Dark chaos.

Iamaleava left the sport with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter after a 10-yard rush left him unable to stand for a few minutes, limping into a sideline medical tent with an obvious left leg injury. His youthful brother, Madden, took over handing the ball off to full the UCLA scoring drive. Nico Iamaleava reentered the sport for UCLA’s ultimate possession.

Chesney said Iamaleava was dealing with a cleat hitting his calf before it cramped up.

“We’ve seen our potential out there with this first game and it’s on us to go out there and put in the work,” Iamaleava said.

UCLA coach Bob Chesney speaks with his gamers during pregame stretches on Saturday.

(Godofredo A. Vasquez / For The Times)

Before Iamaleava took that hit, Chesney had already tailored to the loss of beginning receiver Landon Ellis, who went down early in the third quarter. With the Golden Bears making use of strain, the Bruins began to rely on the ground sport.

“It’s amazing,” Knight said. “We got a lot of guys that can go and keep fresh legs. So any given chance in the moment, it’s your time to shine.”

It appeared both groups may gentle up the scoreboard early.

Cal started with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive, with UCLA promptly responding with a seven-play, 71-yard possession capped with a nine-yard landing run by Iamaleava.

The defenses then turned up strain and pressured a collection of punts.

In the second quarter, Woods bounced off of visitors and around the sting for a 31-yard sprint into the end zone to give the Bruins a 14-10 lead with 10:19 left.

Derrick Barksdale, one of the James Madison transfers, sacked Sagapolutele in the second quarter to end a drive before it started, setting the stage for another UCLA landing on Knight’s eight-yard run on third down.

But then, Cal pressured a momentum shift.

Iamaleava threw a red-zone interception with 51 seconds left in the second quarter. The Golden Bears responded with an 87-yard scoring drive spanning 38 seconds to cut the Bruins’ lead to 21-17. Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 38-yard area aim in the ultimate seconds to give UCLA a 24-17 halftime benefit.

Cal took its opening possession of the third quarter 85 yards in a 14-play drive that tied the rating 24-24. But the Golden Bears wouldn’t discover the end zone again, as UCLA’s protection pressured turnovers and its offense hit its stride in the fourth quarter.

“Honestly, it was good for our first game to play versus some very talented receivers, and it’s going to set the tone for us and for down the road,” James said. “Shout out to those guys. They went out there and played hard, made plays. But we went out there and made plays, too. So, honestly, I don’t see us stopping.”

The Bruins had the worst protection in the Big Ten a season in the past, permitting 33.4 factors per sport, and had been last in the nation in sacks (10). They also had the Thirteenth-ranked speeding offense in the convention.

Almost every thing Saturday was a drastic enchancment from last 12 months’s 3-9 season.

“We all came together with a lot of transfers and Coach Ches and we trust him,” said receiver Mikey Matthews (4 catches, 88 yards), who transferred to UCLA from Cal. “He’s leading us and we trust him with all of our hearts. So we just play for him and play extra hard.”

Both packages got here into the sport with larger expectations for this season. Like UCLA, Cal has a transfer-loaded roster and a new head coach, Tosh Lupoi. Led by Sagapolutele, the Bears have high hopes of revitalizing a program that hasn’t gained 9 video games in a season since 2008.

But in the first sport of a new era for the cross-state rivals, UCLA was forward of the curve.

“It was a lot of fun,” Chesney said with a grin. “That was a battle.”