LOS ANGELES — The lights dimmed and 60,000 fans fell silent, as the revving of a Harley Davidson echoed throughout Autzen Stadium. Roars simmered in response, growing louder as an illuminated Oregon Duck mascot mounted the back of the motorcycle. As he paraded around Rich Brooks Field, Oregon’s players ran out of the tunnel behind him.
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Derrick Barksdale hadn’t seen anything like it.
“It’s definitely a college environment that you want to experience,” the UCLA defensive back said, recalling James Madison’s trip to Eugene for the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff.
Most Saturdays, that environment is sandwiched among college football’s slate. Felt exclusively by fans attending the game. Now, consider households across the nation tuning in for a standalone CFP matchup, placed in the West Coast primetime slot, and add that pressure to playing on a winter night in the Pacific Northwest.
“There were a lot of eyes on that,” UCLA head coach Bob Chesney said. “It was dark. It was cold. It was loud. … Their fans were extremely involved. They have a chance to impact the game.”
When No. 21 UCLA faces No. 13 Oregon at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the consequences might pale in comparison to a postseason game, in which the Ducks defeated the Dukes 51-34 on Dec. 20, but the stakes remain high. Oregon’s trying to run the table throughout its Big Ten schedule after an early-season loss to No. 18 Oklahoma State put its CFP hopes in jeopardy. UCLA’s attempting to remain perfect in Chesney’s first season as head coach, and make a postseason push itself.
When asked what significance defeating the Ducks would hold for the Bruins, Chesney said, “it would mean we’re continuing on a path that we felt like we could be on.”
In reflecting on his final game before heading to Westwood – JMU’s loss to Oregon last season – Chesney felt the atmosphere at Autzen Stadium was the greatest obstacle. JMU brought an aggressive approach to the game. The Dukes moved the ball on offense but struggled to get stops on defense. The Ducks found matchups they liked, put the ball on the perimeter and exposed downfield coverages, Chesney explained.
“It was going to have to be a really uncommon effort that was going to have to be on display for us to win that game,” Chesney said. “Obviously we came up short, so it wasn’t enough.”
Chesney said he learned the Ducks have “no weaknesses,” and “if you leave them something to expose, they will expose it.”
But 10 months later, “an uncommon effort” won’t be required for UCLA (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) to upset Oregon (3-1, 1-0).
Apart from its 11 JMU transfers, many of whom are key contributors, UCLA is a much different and improved team from those Dukes, and much more equipped to deal with these Ducks.
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Barksdale believes the Bruins have the speed across the defense to prevent Oregon from simply putting the ball on the perimeter and outpacing them. Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas pace a three-headed running attack that has produced 281.5 yards per game, fourth in the FBS behind West Virginia (294.0), Air Force (297.2) and top-ranking Army West Point (334.2).
“We have a different caliber of athletes now in the Big Ten,” Barksdale said.
The Bruins have proven that, defeating each of their first two Big Ten opponents as well as San Diego State and Cal, each with a different game script.
Still, an “uncommon effort” would certainly be welcomed against Oregon. UCLA hasn’t beaten the Ducks since 2017 and hasn’t tasted victory in Eugene since 2004
The Ducks feature a sturdy defensive line of soon-to-be-Sunday-players: Teitum Tuioti and Matayo Uiagalelei, a St. John Bosco alum, are on the edge, and Amari Washington and Bear Alexander, a USC transfer, man the interior.
“They’re disruptive and they’re physical,” said Chesney, who is on the cusp of becoming the first coach in UCLA history to start his tenure with a 5-0 record. “What stands out in their play is that they have a plan.”
On the back end, defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. had a defining pass break-up when USC attempted to convert a fourth-and-7 in the fourth quarter on Sept. 26. Safety Koi Perich had the game-sealing interception. That secondary will be dealing with a banged-up UCLA receiving core as slot receiver Mikey Matthews is out for the season and Landon Ellis has been in and out of the lineup but will be available.
UCLA will also have to prepare for a different quarterback than it expected to face at the start of the season. After leading Oregon past JMU in the CFP, Dante Moore was ruled out Wednesday with a concussion dating to the hit he sustained from USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. Dylan Raiola will receive his first start, but he isn’t any other backup.
Raiola carries two years of starting experience from Nebraska, where he threw for 4,819 yards, 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He proved he was ready when he filled in for Moore and threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns in leading Oregon to a 41-27 victory in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“It was no drop off,” Chesney said.
To prepare for Raiola, UCLA watched his Nebraska film and performance against USC. Barskdale believes Raiola and Moore are similarly poised, and because Oregon ruled Moore out early in the week, Barksdale said it won’t “change our game plan much.”
After beginning the Chesney era with an exciting, undefeated start, UCLA faces its toughest test. A measuring stick of sorts. A matchup and atmosphere its staff, and a solid portion of players, are familiar with. The Bruins are confident they don’t need the Herculean effort JMU needed to beat Oregon last year, but it will take more than an uptick in talent to erase that fateful 17-point deficit from December.
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No. 21 UCLA (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) at No. 13 Oregon (3-1, 1-0)
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon
TV/Radio: CBS (Ch. 2)/790 AM KABC