LOS ANGELES — UCLA sophomore wide receiver Brian Rowe Jr. streaked to the middle of the field on the first drive of the third quarter and faced man-to-man coverage from Michigan State freshman cornerback Jeremiah Favorite.
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Rowe Jr. stayed true to his route, and senior quarterback Ty Dieffenbach planted his feet and threw a high, arcing spiral that landed away from Favorite but within the grasp of Rowe Jr.
Rowe Jr. made the 63-yard catch and touchdown that allowed UCLA to pull away in the second half, beat Michigan State, 28-10, and improve to 7-0.
Rowe Jr. has found his way into the offensive rotation for UCLA after transferring from South Carolina after his freshman year.
“He is someone who has grown from Game 1 to where we are so much,” UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy told the Southern California News Group on Wednesday. “There are certain things you do that it’s going to take a mess-up on Saturday to clean up. Obviously you don’t want that to happen, but that’s part of the game.”
The 6-foot-1 Charlotte native is on a trajectory to race past his 2025 numbers at South Carolina (19 catches for 149 yards) with 17 catches for 283 yards for UCLA in 2026.
“He’s playing at a high rate, and he’s never played this many snaps on Saturday,” Kennedy said. “You break down the film on Saturday, and you’re talking about the growth he’s had. That growth leads to confidence and that confidence leads to and from himself and the players around him.”
Kennedy has spent the past few days scheming up for UCLA’s final nonconference opponent. Nevada has the 31st-ranked defense in the country, led by run-stopper linebacker EJ Smith (76 tackles, 2½ sacks, two pass deflections), defensive lineman Dylan LaBarbera (55 tackles, four sacks and linebacker Jeremy Naborne-Owens (53 tackles, two sacks).
Adjusting to quarterbacks
UCLA defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler is tasked with preparing for one of the four quarterbacks Nevada has used this season. A situation UCLA is familiar with, having planned against Oregon quarterbacks Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola.
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The four quarterbacks include UCLA transfer Luke Duncan. Duncan completed 21 of 34 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns during his three seasons at UCLA.
“He’s a good player, and he wouldn’t have been recruited here if he wasn’t a good player,” Hitschler said. “He’s got a strong arm, does a really good job of staying patient with his reads and throwing the ball aggressively on the hashes. He creates challenges.”
Duncan put together a quality performance against San Jose State and completed 18 of 29 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
“If it’s (Duncan), we have to do a really good job of playing different coverages and making him react post-snap,” Hitschler said.
Hitschler doesn’t know which quarterback will start, with Duncan in the mix along with sophomore Carter Jones and senior AJ Bianco.
“That’s the challenge: you have three slightly different plans,” Hitschler said. “The guys, to their credit, have taken to the work of understanding that.”
Fumbles and flourishing third-and-longs for UCLA
UCLA’s defense ranks 10th in the nation and boasts the third-best third-down defense while leading the nation in fumbles recovered.
Senior linebacker Sammy Omosigho leads all players with five forced fumbles.
“Coach Chesney said it the other day, you know what makes third down winnable? Third and long,” Hitschler said. “If it’s third and short and you’re trying to manipulate a way to get off the field, you’re not going to be as successful statistically. Got to continue winning first and second down, continue to put pressure on a quarterback, and find a way to win.”
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