Add The California Post on Google What’s a rivalry renewed without a little trash talk?
Indulging a reporter asking about the dreaded word “Calimony,” new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney suggested he found it distasteful.
“I don’t know if I would have agreed to that,” Chesney said of the $10 million annual payments from UCLA to California after leaving its sister school behind on its way to the Big Ten Conference, “but that’s how it went down, so it is what it is.”
UCLA Bruins head coach Bob Chesney talks during a press conference following a spring game on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Bruins can deliver some special payback Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in the first meeting between the former Pac-12 rivals since 2023.
It will be a battle of new coaches leading their teams into new eras in what will be a familiar environment for longtime fans of each team.
A 7:30 p.m. kickoff also means the revival of another tradition – “Pac-12 After Dark,” where seemingly anything goes and one should expect the unexpected.
“It’s nothing like it, the Pac-12 After Dark games,” UCLA cornerback Rodrick Pleasant said. “This is one that you don’t get to do very often … especially our first game, a new era, a new regime, so I’m excited about it.”
Here are five things to watch when the Bruins face the Golden Bears in a game broadcast by ESPN:
UCLA’s roster is sprinkled with five Cal transfers – running back Jaivian Thomas, wide receiver Mikey Matthews, edge rusher Ryan McCulloch, defensive tackle Tyson Ford and kicker Mateen Bhaghani.
Returning to their onetime football home will spark some memories.
“Where I started off my college career at, man,” said Thomas, an Oakland native who was the Golden Bears’ leading rusher in 2024. “I wouldn’t have it no other way, just go back and play in front of my family.”
Those keeping score might note that Cal’s roster has zero former Bruins, meaning that those who get a taste of Westwood aren’t often willing to trade it in for Berkeley.
“I was talking mess with one of my friends up there yesterday, man,” Thomas said. “It’s just, you know, just friendly trash talk and stuff like that, but, man, I’m excited.”
California head coach Tosh Lupoi speaks with the media at the 2026 ACC Football Kickoff at Hilton Uptown Charlotte in Charlotte, NC, on Friday, July 17, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com A keeper of a QB Keeping quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele might have been Cal coach Tosh Lupoi’s first major victory.
The left-hander presents multiple problems for a defense even in the worst of circumstances.
“Sometimes he’s under duress and he’s throwing off his back foot,” Chesney said, “there’s some times he’s actually in the air throwing the ball and it seems to still be put right on the money and just a kid that is very hard to fluster.”
Sagapolutele is widely considered one of the best young quarterbacks in college football after completing 64.2% of his passes for 3,454 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions as a freshman.
Chesney’s staff won’t have the same luxury as its Cal counterparts, who can just load up on James Madison film as part of their preparation.
Lupoi has never been a head coach and his coordinators came from the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Let’s just say there’s been plenty of uploading and splicing things up.
“It’s a puzzle,” Pleasant said of going up against Cal offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville, who has never previously been a coordinator. “Putting the pieces together where he’s been from, where he’s been at, what they’ve done where he was at and where he’s coming from.”
UCLA linebacker Trent Hendrick barely got a taste of training camp after arriving late upon a court clearing the way for an additional season of eligibility.
What will the former James Madison standout be able to do against the Golden Bears?
“He can give us whatever we need him to give us,” Chesney said. “He’s ready to go, jumped right back in, had to learn new things because we’re doing a couple of different things on defense, but ultimately he’s a smart player and he will certainly help with our depth and special teams and everything else.”
This qualifies as another do-over of sorts for UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who will be playing for his third head coach in as many seasons.
“I think he’s completely bought in,” offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy said.
Iamaleava has pledged to take fewer hits, which will be partially contingent on the offensive line holding up and the run game considerably upping its production from 2025.
Will the UCLA football quarterback kickstart the season that backs up the hype? Time will tell.
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