UCLA football defeated San Diego State 28-10 as the Bob Chesney era is underway in Westwood. 

Running back Wayne Knight was once again the most productive player with another 3-touchdown performance in his Rose Bowl Stadium debut.

The Bruins and Aztecs faced off in front of a crowd of 31,975. Head coach Bob Chesney wanted his team to soak in the experience of playing in such an iconic stadium.

“It was cool to walk through the tunnel. I showed our team a little video about the Rose Bowl. We showed them a video about what it means to play here,” he said. “There’s a historical perspective with Maurice Jones-Drew and the punt return against San Diego State. I think our guys all understood that.”

Bob Chesney was hired to be the next head football coach at UCLA on December 6, 2025. The firing of DeShaun Foster after one year and three games gave the university more than two months to evaluate candidates for the vacant position.

The temperature at kickoff was 87 degrees. With Southern California still experiencing a heat wave and the effects of El Niño, the west side of the stadium behind UCLA’s sideline had fewer empty seats compared to the sunbaked visitor’s side.

A Scoreless First Half

The first quarter ended without a score. Each of the team’s first two offensive drives stalled in their own territory, with the final play of the first quarter resulting in San Diego State coming up four yards short of a first down.

Earlier in the week, Aztec head coach Sean Lewis emphasized his confidence in his team.

“They have plenty of experience where there’s a galaxy of stars and talents on the other sideline, and I’ll take me and mine against theirs. Put the ball down, let’s go play.”

UCLA was on the cusp of scoring on their first second-quarter drive. On 3rd & 2 at the 2-yard line, Nico Iamaleava threw an interception to Mike Lindsay, who returned it to the spot of the previous play.

“Nico knows it's not his best game, and I just think, again, that the grit and the toughness that he played with when he needed to get a couple first downs…….. That really, really mattered to keep drives alive and put his body on the line,” Chesney explained.

The Bruin defense kept San Diego State pinned deep in their own territory, with the subsequent punt return bringing the Bruins to their own 41-yard line.

The second quarter contained more offensive futility from both teams, with the first half ending in a scoreless tie. San Diego State’s offense failed to enter UCLA territory, while the Bruins squandered two scoring opportunities.

“The issue was there was no score at halftime. We’ve got to get better, each of them, every step of the way,” Chesney said. “We know what they're doing now. We know their speed, we know what their power feels like, we understand it now.”

“We went three-and-out a lot there, so we were behind and were taking three-and-outs constantly,” Lewis said. “It felt like we were behind in field position all night, which led to short fields for them, and obviously the turnovers and the explosive plays.”

Knight Takes Over After the Break

The first points of the game arrived on an 8-yard rushing touchdown by Knight with 11:17 left in the third quarter. The redshirt senior transfer running back, along with 10 other players, followed Chesney to UCLA from James Madison University.

In the third quarter, the Bruin defense continued to put the clamps on quarterback Jayden Denegal and San Diego State, forcing a punt on all three drives. Michael Leville Watkins and the offensive line held UCLA’s front seven to just two sacks, but they couldn’t find a rhythm.

“There were a lot of conversations about it, but yet again we tried sticking to the game plan,” Watkins said. “We wanted to keep trying to get our guys in the right spot and go forward.”

Cooper Dileva gave the Aztecs their first points on a 46-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

On UCLA’s ensuing drive, the passing game caught a big break when Iamaleava completed a 31-yard pass to Semaj Morgan at the Aztec 32-yard line. Five plays later, Wayne Knight scored his second touchdown of the game from seven yards out. The extra point gave UCLA a 14-3 lead.

“Being able to play late is very important to our success,” Morgan said.

Iamaleava weighed in, saying, “We're still getting comfortable with each other as far as the offense and seeing what we do best.”

UCLA’s explosive fourth quarter against the California Golden Bears in week one included three rushing touchdowns by the running back duo of Knight and Anthony Woods, with the pair combining for five in the entire game. Tonight, it was Knight and Jaivian Thomas combining for four touchdowns and three in the fourth quarter to push the Bruins past the Aztecs.

Linebacker Jalen Woods intercepted Denegal to give UCLA a short field for Thomas’s touchdown run.

“They like to do screens when it's third and medium or long,” Woods said. “There’s a lot of film on them.”

Knight sealed the victory on a 36-yard rush with 2:16 left in the game. He began the night 92 yards short of 2,000 career rushing yards and finished the night with 2,005.

“Wayne made the most of his opportunities so it would be kind of ridiculous to pull him out of that game at some point,” Chesney said. “If we only have one, we're going to be in trouble, right, because there's going to be moments where you know one can't go. You need as many as you can possibly have because it's a long season.”

UCLA’s next game is on September 19th at home against the Purdue Boilermakers.