Heading into their cross-country matchup against Maryland, UCLA was the slight favorites to come out of College Park with a win.
Not only did the Bruins put together their best complete performance of the season in the 54-3 victory over Maryland, but they did enough to enter the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2023.
The Bruins (4-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) check in as the No. 23 team in the latest AP poll, released Sunday.
After last week’s win over Purdue, in which the Bruins allowed a season-high 38 points, UCLA coach Bob Chesney said that the Bruins were more than capable of putting together a complete team performance.
Safe to say, the Bruins did just that in their 51-point rout over Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 26.
“There is a lot in there that is good on the special teams side,” Chesney said. “Offensively, it got a little wet, a little slippery, so throwing the ball was not a huge option in that second half. But at the same point in time, I thought we ran the ball well and understood the plays we wanted to get. And then defensively, any time that you (have) two pick-sixes, it’s just an impressive game.”
A cold, rainy day at Maryland’s SECU Stadium didn’t allow the Bruins to deploy their full arsenal in the passing game. Nico Iamaleava completed 15 of 24 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown.
“I feel like we still haven’t played to our full potential, and we are putting up 54 points like this,” Iamaleava said. “The emphasis doesn’t matter. It’s to get better. Like Coach Chesney says, that’s the main focus. Trying to put the offense, defense, special teams, [and] complementary football together.”
UCLA’s defense under defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler has been a turnover-forcing machine.
Entering the game, Maryland quarterback Malik Washington had yet to throw an interception. The Bruins picked off Washington four times en route to collecting a season-high five turnovers.
“It was just focusing on the details and focusing on us, because we have everything going against us,” linebacker Sammy Omosigho said. “We are traveling, three-hour time difference, long plane flight, windy conditions, rain, all that stuff. “Just focusing on what we know how to do and focusing on the controllables that we can control. And we did that.”
In addition to the Bruins’ usual running back trio of Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods, and Jaivian Thomas, Chesney also gave opportunities to Troy Leigber and Karson Cox.
Leigber excelled in his limited opportunities, finishing with five carries for 83 yards and a score. The 83 yards were second-most for UCLA in the win.
“It’s really awesome to watch him be able to do that and come away with a big play because he’s earned it, and he’s worked so hard for it,” Chesney said of Leigber’s performance. “I think that he’s just a kid that exemplifies what we’re trying to be as a program…when that light shines on, make the most of it. Proud of him.”
Knight posted his second straight game of 100 rushing yards or more. He ran for 100 yards and one touchdown in addition to three receptions for 35 yards. Knight was one of six Bruins to finish with at least five carries against Maryland.
Chesney believes that one of the offense’s biggest strengths is being able to shuffle through several running backs.
“It’s an ability to rotate guys through … you don’t want to put yourself in a spot where you have one guy carrying a ball 40 times a game; something is bound to happen,” Chesney said. “Ultimately for us, that was a big part of it, is that we feel like we got three that are very capable, and we’re just rotating them through.”
UCLA will have a bye week coming up before traveling to Oregon on Oct. 10. It will be the toughest test for the Bruins yet this season, but Omosigho knows that his team will have to focus on themselves if they want to compete against a serious College Football Playoff contender.
“It’s just being us. We don’t worry about the outcome, we don’t worry about what’s going on, we just focus on each day, getting better each day,” Omosigho said. “Each practice, each walk-through, each everything. Each meal, it’s everything you do, get better. And then the outcome that you want will come out.”