When running back Wayne Knight followed Bob Chesney from James Madison to UCLA – bringing his 1,373 rushing yards and 40 catches during the 2025 season – it would have been simple to assume the backfield of a 3-9 team would be his alone.
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Fast-forward seven games, Knight has established himself, leading the Big Ten with 12 rushing touchdowns, three 100-yard games, gaining 6.3 yards per attempt.
But he hasn’t achieved those marks because of sheer volume. The Bruins, who lead the Big Ten with 233 rushing yards per game, have found success on the ground this season because of their three-headed rushing attack, rounded out by returning backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas.
“It’s a brotherhood in that room,” head coach Bob Chesney emphasized.
“We feed off each other’s energy,” Woods said.
On Saturday, in UCLA’s 28-10 victory over Michigan State, that was on full display. Woods and Thomas each fumbled early in the game, but rebounded to score touchdowns, and help the Bruins (7-0 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) complete their fourth-quarter plan to kill the clock and finish off the Spartans (2-6, 0-5). UCLA rushed for 245 yards, the efficiency resurging after averaging 130 yards over the last two games. With the victory, UCLA moved up to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sunday.
And when Knight exited with an injury to his “side, rib, oblique (area),” Woods and Thomas smoothly picked up the slack.
“When you go through a physical game – like we did the last two and then again today – you find that you really need each other,” Chesney said. “As much as you might want to be the guy that carries the ball 40 times a game, it’s not feasible to exist at this level, in this league, with that many hits that your body’s gonna take. So I think they respect each other, absolutely are each other’s biggest fans.”
They had to be each other’s biggest supporters on Saturday.
Nine minutes into the game, Woods had the ball stripped from his grasp by Michigan State’s Devin Vaught, who returned it to the 15-yard line, setting up a Spartans’ touchdown. Then, nine minutes into the second quarter, Thomas fumbled the ball, while Vaught was bringing him down.
With three capable running backs, it could have been easy for Chesney to punish Woods and Thomas for those early fumbles. That would have defeated his game plan and diminished their trusting relationship.
“That’s not what we’re looking for,” Chesney said. “But I loved their response.”
On the second drive of the second half, UCLA leaned on Woods. He broke a pair of tackles for a 6-yard run to get the Bruins past midfield. He then corralled a checkdown from quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, and followed that with a 12-yard scamper off the left tackle. They kept riding him as Woods ran behind guards Carter Sweazie and Jensen Somerville for 10 yards to set up a goal-to-go opportunity. On first-and-goal, Dieffenbach flipped it to Woods. He stunted outside, then cut back behind Somerville and tight end Brayden Loftin’s blocks for the 4-yard touchdown.
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He totaled four carries for 32 yards on that drive and 112 yards for the game. He ran outside, banged inside and darted to the perimeter. He ran with patience, allowing his linemen to create holes. He ran physically, breaking tackles and finishing off plays.
“A-Woods was rolling today,” Chesney said.
After extending the lead, UCLA called 16 rushes over its next four possessions to control the clock. Most importantly, Woods and Thomas held onto the ball, preventing Michigan State’s defense from creating any more momentum-changing plays.
Knight missed most of the second half, but that didn’t stop UCLA from sealing the game with its running backs.
In other injury news, the Bruins’ running game was humming despite missing left tackle Jordan Davis. And Dieffenbach got cleated in a “weird spot, where it’s pretty sensitive and felt ‘nervy’ to him,” Chesney said. After remaining on the ground for a few minutes, he told the staff, “I’m perfectly fine,” and returned after halftime.
Chesney also confirmed Knight’s injury is “nothing that’s really dangerous,” and he might have been able to return had the margin been closer.
Regardless, the Bruins are comfortable. By their approach throughout the season, they’ve always believed in a multi-back system. Those backs have vaulted them atop the Big Ten leaderboard in rushing. In some games, Knight sets the tone, breaking off explosive plays. But on Saturday, Woods and Thomas exuded poise to bounce back from mistakes and cover for their hampered teammate.
“One person goes down – I feel like anybody in the group could get the job done,” Woods said. “We downhill backs. So us all together, we feed off our energy.”
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