This post was updated Nov. 13 at 10:47 p.m.
On Friday, flights were delayed across the country, and planes were prevented from flying after the Federal Aviation Administration declared a national ground stop due to telecommunications errors.
But in Pasadena, someone else was still taking off.
Senior wide receiver Aidan Mizell’s game-high 176 receiving yards helped propel No. 4 UCLA football (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) to a 22-14 victory over Illinois (6-4, 4-3) at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins have now tied their best start to a season in program history, achieving a 10-0 start for just the third time ever.
Under the bright Friday night lights, UCLA weathered the storm – both the heavy rain and a shoulder injury to senior quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who left the game late in the second quarter and was momentarily ruled questionable to return. Prior to his departure, Dieffenbach threw for 168 yards and one touchdown – the majority of the yardage going to Mizell.
“I kind of went down a little awkwardly on the tackle, and my arm got caught up underneath,” Dieffenbach said. “It just got a little tight, and it’s nothing serious.”
Mizell – a two-time state finalist in track and field in Florida – exploited the Big Ten’s worst passing defense Friday, consistently being the fastest player on the field. Fresh off a career-high 150 receiving yards against Minnesota – doing so on just two scoring plays – the Florida transfer opened up the game immediately by dicing up an otherwise weak Illinois zone to break away for a 54-yard touchdown.
Approaching the halfway mark of the second quarter, Mizell would catch a short out right that he turned into 63 yards – most of which was after the catch – while traversing nearly the entire width of the field and evading multiple defenders. Although the efforts were negated by a Dieffenbach end zone interception, Illinois’ defense was subject to similarly explosive plays throughout the affair, with Mizell alone matching all of the Fighting Illini’s receiving yards.
“Starting in January, when we both got here – both transfer guys coming in – (we were) throwing on the weekends in January, and then moving to spring ball, building that connection,” Dieffenbach said of Mizell. “Fall camp we really hit it off. … It’s just awesome. He’s a great receiver. You see what he does with the ball after he catches it.”
But while the former Gator was soaring, Illinois’ offense seemed to be grounded, playing against a secondary that – much like the FAA – allowed nothing to take flight. Despite a receiving room that has caught 20 touchdowns entering the game, the Bruins shut out the Fighting Illini through the first half – their fourth time this season after never doing so in 2025.
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UCLA totaled 11 quarterback hurries and routinely forced Illinois signal caller Katin Houser to make decisions on the move and throw errant passes – finishing with just 176 passing yards, including 41 in the first half. The Bruins’ ability to load the trenches also limited the Fighting Illini’s run game to just 64 yards on a 2.1-yard-per-carry average.
Fighting Illini wide receiver Collin Dixon was denied all night, with senior cornerback Scooter Jackson taking most of Dixon’s one-on-one assignments. After entering the game with the fifth-most receptions in the country, Dixon was limited to just one catch for three yards through the first three quarters. Until a seven-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown, Dixon was either forced out of plays or smothered on routes, including an end zone interception by Jackson early in the second quarter.
“He’s (Jackson is) just feeling the game the right way,” said coach Bob Chesney. “He might take a little risk here and there, but at the same point in time, it’s never enough to hurt the team. He really understands the game. He understands the tendencies. He understands the matchups. He understands a lot of big-picture football stuff. It’s really exciting to watch him go.”
So when Houser was not looking for Dixon, senior defensive back Derrick Barksdale ensured that short passes did not lead to meaningful gains, regularly flying in to make timely tackles by the line of scrimmage and deny catches, including an interception on Illinois’ first drive of the second half after Houser was nearly sacked.
As a whole, the defense was crucial to helping maintain UCLA’s lead in Dieffenbach’s absence, even adding to the advantage in the third quarter off a safety from fifth-year defensive lineman Aiden Gobaira.
“We just play to our standard every play,” Gobaira said. “We know that in every play that we run that we should be able to dominate that four to six seconds. It doesn’t matter what is happening outside. We just know next-play mentality.”
Nevertheless, Dieffenbach’s eventual return was met with some turbulence, as Houser strung together strong drives in the game’s final stretch for two touchdown passes and kept the game within one possession entering the final minutes. Taking more conservative passes to his tight end for sure yardage, Kaden Feagin caught all 49 of his yards in the second half, including an 18-yard score going up the seam late in the third frame. Shortly after, Dixon would break his cold streak with his sole score of the night to bring the game within five.
But as was the case all game, it would be Jackson locking up Dixon once again with under three minutes left in the match, intercepting Houser a second time on a third-and-long to quench the Fighting Illini’s opportunity to take the lead and end their previous four-game winning streak.
With UCLA now one game away from achieving its best record in program history, it is the blue and gold occupying just one of two seats in the undefeated first class of college football.
