PASADENA, Calif. – The No. 4 UCLA football team secured a 22-14 win over Illinois in a Big Ten contest at Rose Bowl Stadium on Friday night, helping the Bruins improve to 10-0.
The win over Illinois (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) propelled UCLA to a 10-0 start for the third time in program history, the first time since the 1998 season. The Bruins (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) have now totaled 10 wins in the regular season three times – this season, in addition to 1946 and 1988.
Bruins’ wide receiver Aidan Mizell set career highs with six receptions and 176 receiving yards, including a 54-yard touchdown catch. He has hauled in eight passes for 326 yards and three scores across the past two games. Quarterback Ty Dieffenbach completed 13 of 20 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
UCLA’s defense limited Illinois to 240 yards, picking up a safety on the Fighting Illini early in the third quarter. The Bruins recorded three interceptions, with Scooter Jackson responsible for two of them.
“I think that the way those guys went about this, they just did not waver,” said Bob ChesneyThe Angelo M. Mazzone III UCLA Head Football Coach. “It wasn’t pretty. There was a whole drive of mistakes happening out there. Then we got the ball back on offense, and more mistakes happening out there, and they come away with the win. It’s something we’re really proud of, but they just don’t give up. They just don’t. They just believe that they have a shot to win every game and that they’re going to find a way.”
After Illinois had reduced UCLA’s cushion to 12-7 late in the third quarter, UCLA answered swiftly with a touchdown pass from Dieffenbach to Morgan seeds. That touchdown put the Bruins ahead 19-7. UCLA’s eight-play, 75-yard drive was highlighted by Morgan’s 26-yard touchdown catch with 11:38 left in regulation.
Illinois followed with a 12-play drive, covering 75 yards, to score a touchdown with 7:14 remaining in the contest and cut UCLA’s advantage to 19-14. The Fighting Illini drove past midfield with under five minutes remaining, but Jackson put an end to the threat with his second interception of the game and conference-leading fifth of the year. Mateen Bhaghani would subsequently drill a 37-yard field goal to push the Bruins’ lead to eight.
UCLA led 10-0 at halftime, taking advantage of a first-quarter touchdown followed by a field goal, kicked just before halftime.
The Bruins claimed a 7-0 lead on a 54-yard touchdown strike from Dieffenbach to Mizell with 12:37 to play in the first quarter. Mizell registered his third touchdown in the Bruins’ last two games, having hauled in two touchdown receptions of 75 yards each in a win at Minnesota last Saturday.
Bhaghani nailed a 20-yard field goal with 1:28 left in the second quarter, helping send UCLA into the locker room at halftime ahead 10-0.
Early in the third quarter, the Bruins’ defense netted a safety to push UCLA’s advantage up to 12-0. Defensive lineman Aiden Gobira sacked Illinois quarterback Katin Houser in the end zone for a safety, tacking on two points for UCLA.
UCLA has two games remaining on its regular-season schedule. Next Saturday (Nov. 21), the Bruins will play at Michigan in UCLA’s first trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., since the 1996 season. The game time has not been determined. Following next Saturday’s contest, UCLA will close its regular-season schedule against USC on Saturday, Nov. 28, at the Rose Bowl (game time to be determined).
UCLA’s 10 wins this season have helped the program record its largest year-over-year win improvement, now seven wins better than last year’s 3-9 overall record.
In addition, Chesney has become the first UCLA coach to ever start his tenure with a 10-0 record. Previously, he was the first UCLA coach to open 5-0, or better. Chesney, in his first season at UCLA, has helped his teams to 20 consecutive regular-season wins dating back to the 2025 season (at James Madison).
Source: uclabruins.com
