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BERKELEY — More than an hour before kickoff, Bob Chesney walked around like he owned the place.
Looking stylish in an all-black outfit with sunglasses, the new UCLA football coach also wore a loose-and-confident vibe that he exuded in every interaction on the field.
He elicited a hearty laugh from a referee. He smiled near the end of a conversation with defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler. He made sure to fit in some family time, grabbing a ball and flinging passes to his 11-year-old son, Bo.
When Bo dropped one perfectly thrown ball in the corner of the end zone, Chesney held out his arms as if to ask, in jest, “Hey, what are you doing?”
In the hours that followed Saturday night inside Memorial Stadium, it was clear Chesney had a damn good idea what he was doing.
In a battle of old rivals and new coaches, Chesney came out on top — by a mile.
He easily bested Cal’s Tosh Lupoi during the Bruins’ 45-24 victory by remaining steady and poised when things got tight. Chesney’s calming sideline presence gave the impression that no matter what happened, he could quickly formulate the needed response to give his team an edge.
That was exactly what happened as UCLA’s defense tightened, its run game was fully unleashed and the Bruins rolled off the game’s final 21 points.
Unflinching no matter what happened, these were the Badass Bruins.
“It feels,” Chesney said, “like we’ve been playing football here for a long time.”
Along the way, Chesney showed once again that his methods work, no matter the level of football. Does anyone still doubt him? The man who was coaching in NCAA Division II less than a decade ago knows what it takes to elevate a team and galvanize a long-suffering fan base.
While UCLA and USC haven’t been to the College Football Playoff, Chesney has — and appears equally driven to get back there with a program that hasn’t played in a major bowl game this century.
Chesney said late Saturday that he’s given every recruit the same message.
“The only reason you can come here,” Chesney said, repeating that message, “is if you intend to win a championship.”
UCLA may not have looked title-worthy against the Golden Bears amid its 110 penalty yards and some shaky play in the secondary, but it was a convincing first step. Unlike previous teams that looked like they were being forced to play football, these Bruins genuinely looked excited to be here, bouncing across the field and jumping around before kickoffs on the sideline.
Chesney told his players before the game that they needed to believe this could happen before they saw it. And the coach’s verdict afterward?
“They did just that,” Chesney said.
Chesney’s debut would have been a blowout if his team didn’t try to get cute and throw the ball in the red zone late in the first half. That led to an interception and a 14-point swing, and suddenly the Golden Bears looked like they knew what they were doing.
It was just a mirage that disappeared like much of a sellout crowd that once crackled with excitement. After UCLA safety Ta’Shawn James came off the bench to make two interceptions and running back Wayne Knight kept darting through Cal’s defense on the way to a career-high three touchdowns, most of the fans who lingered were wearing the Bruins’ shade of Blue-and-Gold.
Chesney’s decision to keep his James Madison coaching staff largely intact seems like a good one. Offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy’s dynamic scheme included some misdirection, a handful of trick plays and plenty of effective running. The Bruins piled up 277 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Hitschler’s defense buckled down when it needed to, relentlessly pressuring quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele while shutting out Cal in the fourth quarter.
The celebration was just as epic as the first victory of the Chesney era. Players gathered in one corner of the stadium with UCLA band members who made the trip and filled the chilly late-night air with the school’s fight song.
It all unfolded before UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk and Tim Harris, the new boss of Bruins athletics. Frenk tweeted before the game that Harris, the former longtime Lakers business executive, was the school’s permanent CEO and athletics director, providing further stability for this new era of football.
Harris attended the postgame media conference in support of Chesney, something predecessor Martin Jarmond did only occasionally. Harris is now 1-for-1, just like his coach.
Chesney’s team withstood not only a third-quarter lull but also a brief injury to quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The quarterback’s triumphant return included taking the final knee and handing the game ball to his coach afterward.
“For the man who came in here and made us believe in something we didn’t believe in before,” Iamaleava said, “first [game] ball goes to coach Ches.”
Chesney ticked off the team’s accomplishments amid a jubilant locker room, mentioning the 37 newcomers who participated and 12 offensive plays of at least 20 yards — five more explosive plays than the Bruins managed in any game last season.
One postgame tradition remained from previous coaching regimes, much to the delight of the players.
Linebacker Donavyn Pellot, one of the holdovers from the DeShaun Foster and Chip Kelly eras, revived a Jerry Neuheisel ritual by shouting “It’s a great day to be alive and be a Bruin!” before his teammates followed his lead.
Before he departed the field, having confirmed that he owned the place, Chesney pulled his father and son into a tight embrace as part of a group hug.
As the clock approached midnight, it felt like time was on the Bruins’ side, a glorious new era just getting started.
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