No. 12 UCLA football (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) took down Oregon (3-2, 1-1) 17-15 Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium for the first time since 2004. Both teams would turn to their second- or third-string quarterbacks in the former Pac-12 rematch in a game where neither squad seemed to floor the gas pedal. Daily Bruin senior staffer Kai Dizon shares his five thoughts on the Bruin upset.
Winning hideously
10 total turnovers – yuck.
Six combined fumbles and four interceptions.
Just 16 total points after three quarters.
Both teams benched their starting quarterback.
And somehow UCLA left Eugene with a win – while also booting Oregon from the top 25.
Oregon backup quarterback Dylan Raiola completed just six of his 19 passes for 43 yards – a career-worst percentage. Two of those 19 passes were picked off.
The Ducks’ leading rusher was running back Dierre Hill Jr., who only had 44 yards on 10 carries and no touchdowns.
Senior kicker Mateen Bhaghani had a 21-yard field goal on the team’s first drive, and senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw two interceptions and gave Oregon the ball at the 1-yard line on a fumble that set the Ducks up for their only touchdown until the final minutes of the game.
The Bruins relied on senior Ty Dieffenbach, who I doubt many fans knew even existed, to steady the ship after Iamaleava was ruled out with injury after taking a hit late in the first half.
Dieffenbach had only won two career games before. Last season was his first time seeing the field, and he only started nine games for Cal Poly.
He completed just 56.8% of his throws last year and had as many touchdown passes as he did interceptions in 2025.
He didn’t look great Saturday – sometimes scampering around in the backfield like he was in the backyard rather than in Autzen Stadium – but he protected the ball and threw the team’s only passing touchdown.
Crunch time
Iamaleava is as tough as they come and a captain who teammates will run through a wall for – right after he runs through that wall first.
But Iamaleava is far from the five-star quarterback he was projected to be out of high school.
He’s mobile, but struggles to throw off platform or buy himself some time in the backfield.
As a Bruin, he has 17 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions across almost one and a half seasons.
His completion percentage has hovered around 63% his entire collegiate career.
His play style leans more reckless than selfless.
Yes, Iamaleava is strong enough to trot back onto the field hit after hit, but it’s painful to watch someone put their life on the line just to throw an endzone interception – and Saturday was the first time this year he didn’t return to the field to finish the game.
The Bruin offense needs a field general, and Dieffenbach is unlikely to be a long-term solution – nor is Iamaleava’s younger brother.
But if UCLA is going to go anywhere, it’s going to need Iamaleava to perform closer to how he was advertised as a recruit.
Defense wins championships
Defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler and his defense have faced their fair share of adversity – allowing Purdue to accumulate 488 yards of offense Sept. 19 and California 410 yards on Sept. 5.
But since then, they’ve embarrassed Maryland quarterback Malik Washington – picking him off four times and holding him to a 47.4 completion percentage – and saddled Raiola with his worst collegiate game ever. The latter was all the more humiliating considering Raiola spent his first two seasons as a starter in the Big Ten at Nebraska.
It feels like you learn a new player’s name every week.
This time, fifth-year defensive back Tao Johnson made his first appearance of the season since the opener after dealing with an injury, and he recorded a pick.
After the Bruins’ first couple of games of the season, it looked like they’d need to rely on their offense to win a weekly shootout, but a defense like this buys the team some time while they figure out what’s going on under center.
New standard
Coach Bob Chesney and Indiana head honcho Curt Cignetti have broken football.
They flipped college football upside down and inside out – making program building look easy.
They’ve proven that turning a program around doesn’t require all that much time, money or talent. They’ve taken their players from James Madison and seamlessly plugged them into Power Four schemes – and they’ve done it at UCLA and Indiana, respectively.
Every Power Four program’s coach just had their laundry list of excuses erased and their seat warmed up by about 100 degrees.
Pat Fitzgerald is 2-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play with Michigan State.
LSU is 1-2 in SEC play this season with Lane Kiffin at the helm, and Virginia Tech has the same record in ACC play under James Franklin.
Kyle Whittingham has Michigan at 3-2 – many would argue 2-3 – with back-to-back Big Ten losses.
Yes, those four coaches are in their first year with new programs.
But Cignetti went 11-1 in the regular season and made the College Football Playoffs his first year in Bloomington – winning the national championship the year after – and Chesney’s 5-0 so far.
So what’s the problem?
Will the tarps finally come off?
UCLA’s first two home games came before the academic year even started.
Six weeks into the season, those two games have been the Bruins’ only home games.
But UCLA will be back in Pasadena on Saturday to face Wisconsin – with morale higher than it’s ever been since I arrived in Westwood.
Almost a year ago, Bruin fans were outraged at the idea of the team no longer calling the Rose Bowl its home.
If a 5-0 start, the program’s best ranking since 2022 and murmurs of a playoff berth don’t pack the stadium until the tarps come off, then I’m not sure UCLA football ever will.
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