Add The California Post on Google It’s one game, one snapshot, one moment.
It also might be a singular sign of how the Bob Chesney era is going to go.
That’s how much importance UCLA’s opener against California could hold.
Consider the history of Bruin football coaches in their debuts.
UCLA Football head coach Bob Chesney speaks during Big Ten Media Days at Hilton Chicago on July 29, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. (Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images) Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images DeShaun Foster’s team couldn’t get enough players on the field for a punt return because of a jersey number snafu and needed a late rally to beat … Hawaii. He lasted all of 15 games.
Chip Kelly lost his starting quarterback to injury and then the game against Cincinnati before a half-empty Rose Bowl. Fans wanted him gone several years before hightailed it to Ohio State.
Jim Mora delighted in quarterback Brett Hundley running 72 yards for a touchdown on the first snap of a blowout victory over Rice. The excitement of Mora’s first three seasons was worth the steady decline leading to his departure.
The two best football coaches in school history – Terry Donahue and Red Sanders – also prevailed from the blue-and-gold get-go. Sanders topped Oregon State and Donahue toppled No. 3 Arizona State on the road, the first of his record 151 victories with the Bruins.
There have been exceptions to the first-game-as-a-yardstick rule, of course.
Rick Neuheisel beat nationally ranked Tennessee before taking a microphone and telling the delirious Rose Bowl crowd that his team had a lot of work to do. Boy, was he right – the Bruins went 4-8 and he never accomplished more than an EagleBank Bowl win in four unsatisfying seasons back at his alma mater.
But far more often than not, there’s a lot more unveiled in a first game than the result of a single Saturday.
Chesney’s debut against Cal on Sept. 5 at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley could have huge implications.
Take a glance at UCLA’s schedule over the following three weeks. The Bruins will face San Diego State in their home opener followed by Purdue – a team that hasn’t won a Big Ten game since 2023 – and then Maryland, which is locked in a tailspin under coach Mike Locksley.
If Chesney can log that opening victory over Cal, then a 4-0 start is very much on the table. Perhaps UCLA could even be nationally ranked heading into a showdown at Oregon on Oct. 10.
A good start would put the Bruins in excellent position for a bowl game, something no UCLA coach has been able to manage in his first season since Mora took his team to the Holiday Bowl in 2012.
The Bruins will certainly benefit from having neither defending national champion Indiana nor heavyweight Ohio State on their schedule. The only game that looks like a sure loss is that one against the Ducks, though UCLA will likely be a significant underdog against Michigan on Nov. 21 in Ann Arbor and against USC on Nov. 28 at the Rose Bowl.
Any designs on a special season likely require beating Cal.
California head coach Tosh Lupoi leads an NCAA college football practice Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Berkeley, Calif. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP) Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP There will be so much intrigue.
It’s one new coach going up against another. Former longtime conference rivals meeting with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff in a revival of “Pac-12 After Dark.” The resentment of having to pay “Calimony” to a sister school now residing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
After nearly a decade of blah football under coach Justin Wilcox, the Golden Bears are eager for an early splash under successor Tosh Lupoi – just like the Bruins under Chesney.
Which school made the better hire? Chesney certainly qualifies as the more high-profile choice after taking James Madison to the College Football Playoff.
Lupoi’s appeal is partly rooted in his success at Cal, first as a defensive lineman and later as an elite recruiter under coach Jeff Tedford. More recently, Lupoi thrived as Oregon’s defensive coordinator under Dan Lanning, but he’s never been a head coach at any level.
UCLA represents Chesney’s fifth stop as the guy in charge – even if the first two, Salve Regina and Assumption, require some Googling – and the 49-year-old has already galvanized the fan base unlike any recent predecessor.
His relentless energy and attention to detail in preparing his players even for the minutiae of how to handle TV timeouts have been a welcome departure for a program that prompted so many fans to change the channel in recent seasons.
While viewing opportunities for reporters have been limited early in training camp, it’s clear that there’s enough talent on this team for immediate success.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava could be fully unleashed thanks to a fortified offensive line and the best group of running backs the Bruins have had since Zach Charbonnet roamed the Rose Bowl.
The defense has some promising playmakers in edge rushers Sahir West and Scott Taylor, not to mention linebacker Sammy Omosigho and a potentially lockdown secondary.
Will it add up to something meaningful for the new guy in charge?
Answers are on the way. Perhaps as soon as the opener.
