UCLA braces for first Big Ten test of Bob

While Purdue isn’t projected to be a Big Ten juggernaut this season, UCLA coach Bob Chesney and his crew count on to be challenged during their first recreation against Big Ten competitors on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The Boilermakers’ defensive position options 5 high-impact gamers that are at least 6-foot-3, and a nostril sort out who weighs in at 301 kilos and anchors a defensive entrance that ranks second in the Big Ten with 17 tackles for loss.

“They’re talented in who they’re as individual players, there are some game-wreckers in there,” Chesney said. “They are as vertical as can be, they jump out of their stances, they’re jumping snap counts and they’re violent. They pose a giant problem, and we are not going to be able to push them around, and we are not going to be able to find ourselves in a spot where they tire. This is going to be a battle on the inside throughout the entire course of that game.”

While UCLA’s ground assault has dominated through the first two video games of the season — dashing for 277 yards and six touchdowns against California and 214 yards and 4 scores against San Diego State — it may be more durable for the Bruins’ operating backs to have their approach against the Purdue protection.

Purdue held both Indiana State‘s and Wake Forest’s beginning operating backs to less than 4 yards per carry, and has conceded just two dashing touchdowns to those starters this season.

“There’s some things that I think Purdue does a really good job defensively, in terms of getting off the ball,” said UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy. “They have got a lot of length. They’re a very, very big team, it will probably be one of the biggest teams we will face, so we have to be prepared for that.”

However, the Boilermakers have struggled to stop quarterbacks on the run — permitting Indiana State’s Elijah Owens and Wake Forest‘s Gio Lopez to combine for 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns — giving Bruins senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava the opportunity to rely on his legs.

While Iamaleava should have wide receivers Landon Ellis and Brian Rowe Jr. back to full strength, fortifying the aerial attack, the signal-caller will be without Mikey Matthews, after the slot receiver went down with a lower-body injury against San Diego State.

“There’s a superb line. Understanding what the coverage is doing, when is it time to take off and go,” Kennedy said. “If you are going through your read, from a clock standpoint, and it’s not there, it’s a great time to take off and go. It’s our job as an offense to create explosives, whether it’s him taking off or it’s him creating a scramble drill. We look at scramble drills, that we have to create explosives, and that’s something we have to do a better job of.”

Defensively, the “Bruin Bullies” will likely be tasked with stopping operating back Fame Ijeboi, who has run for 201 yards and 4 touchdowns on 5.3 yards per carry this season. Chesney said that Ijeboi has a “Wayne Knight” feeling to him, where he performs low to the ground, shows proficient physique stability and leg drive, permitting him to be influential in the passing recreation and break tackles.

While UCLA has already confronted formidable rushers in Cal’s Adam Mohammed and San Diego State’s Lucky Sutton, Ijeboi might be the most impactful yet. And no one is aware of that more than Bruin defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler, who went to the same high college as the Boilermaker operating back.

“It’s been fun to watch his growth, following him through high school, and watching him earn those scholarships and opportunities,” Hitschler said. “Those first two games, he jumped off the tape. He’s got great potential and he’s going to go a long way. We have to do a good job putting a physical shoulder on him and knocking him down because he’ll run through contact and does a great job of finding the edges.”

If Ijeboi is unable to get it going, it can have to be up to Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne to generate offense.

While the signal-caller struggled last season — throwing 9 touchdowns with 10 interceptions — Browne has appeared like a new participant in 2026, passing for 646 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Browne has benefited from the addition of two premier slot receivers in Florida Atlantic switch Asaad Waseem and Iowa State switch Xavier Townsend. They have mixed for 25 receptions, 277 yards and one rating.

“What makes them unique is there are a lot of them,” Hitschler said. “When you have 10 personnel and that many receivers that can catch the ball, it can create mismatches, and we play a lot of man, so who’s going to fold first?” Hitschler said. “Are we going to be able to man them up or are we having to play more zone? Those are questions that will play out as the game dictates by who’s winning the one-on-one matchups. It’s the chess match that always happens in any game.”

The Bruins’ protection will look to power turnovers,
but that is no simple feat as the Boilermakers have yet to flip the ball over this season.