UCLA football aims for CFP with highest ranking since 2001

The UCLA football team is looking to keep raising its standards in pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth. The Bruins sit at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll, their highest ranking since 2001. Inside the building, the team knows that it has to be as dialed in as ever to secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Bruins will kick off the final third of their season on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT at Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have had one of the strongest home-field advantages in recent years, touting a 16-2 record at Huntington Bank Stadium since 2024. UCLA coach Bob Chesney said that the standards are extremely high, and when the team is 8-0, it doesn’t mean they relax. He said that at 8-0, it means the standard’s got to raise a little more. Senior defensive lineman Darold DeNgohe said that the remainder of the Bruins’ schedule is tougher and that they’ll need to play their best football to succeed. He said that after every game, the coach always says it doesn’t matter, get better. The team has that mindset every week, and it doesn’t matter what they did last week or what they did last game. They have to get better, and there’s always things to improve, no matter what it is, in order to accomplish the goals they have for themselves.

image_prompt

a photorealistic news photo scene that fits this story: setting, objects, lighting, mood. No real or identifiable people, no text, no logos.

The Bruins’ defense has been particularly stingy over its past five games. During October, UCLA held its opponents to 32 points over four games. Despite the success from the defense, Chesney wants to see the unit raise its standard of play even higher to close out the regular season. He said that the standards are extremely high, and when the team is 8-0, it doesn’t mean they relax. He said that at 8-0, it means the standard’s got to raise a little more. Senior defensive lineman Darold DeNgohe said that the remainder of the Bruins’ schedule is tougher and that they’ll need to play their best football to succeed. He said that after every game, the coach always says it doesn’t matter, get better. The team has that mindset every week, and it doesn’t matter what they did last week or what they did last game. They have to get better, and there’s always things to improve, no matter what it is, in order to accomplish the goals they have for themselves.

image_prompt

a photorealistic news photo scene that fits this story: setting, objects, lighting, mood. No real or identifiable people, no text, no logos.

Offensively, the Bruins got out to another slow start in their 27-0 victory over Nevada this past weekend. UCLA’s defense supplied four turnovers, including one interception return for a touchdown, but the offense wasn’t able to take full advantage. After racing out to a hot start to the season behind its powerful running game, UCLA has cracked 200 rushing yards just once in its past four games. In the win over Nevada, the Wolf Pack held the Bruins to just 125 rushing yards. Offensive lineman Riley Robell said that the team just got to find its juice, find its crease. He said that they’ve seen spurts of it. At Purdue, they put up a lot. At Cal, they came out and scored on the first drive of the season. That was something special they had going. He said that they hit a little bit of a lull, and they’re going to come out of that strong and efficiently. Coach Chesney said that he thinks the team just had a couple guys not on the same page ultimately. When they get into this alert system and they’re changing plays at the line, they got to make sure everybody echoes it across the board. He said that they just had a couple of miscues there. Nothing drastic, but just things that can’t happen.