The last time the Bruins won at Autzen Stadium was in 2004, when senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava was 10 weeks old and coach Bob Chesney was coaching special teams at a Division III school in Pennsylvania.
More than two decades later, the drought has outlasted nearly everyone on the sideline.
No. 21 UCLA football (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) will have an opportunity to change that Saturday against No. 13 Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at 12:30 p.m. in Eugene, Oregon, with both teams coming off bye weeks.
The Bruins now know which quarterback they’ll face, and it isn’t the one who used to wear their uniform. Former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore, who transferred to Oregon in 2024 after his freshman season, is out after suffering a concussion in Oregon’s win over USC on Sept. 26.
In his place, Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola will make his first start for the Ducks. Raiola has completed 30 of 36 passes for 413 yards without an interception this season.
“Ultimately, they’re very similar,” Chesney said of the two quarterbacks. “They could both execute the offense at a high level. They’re still going to get the ball to the running backs. They’re still going to involve the tight end. They’re still going to take their shots and find their matchups with their two receivers. It’s all the game that they play, and it’s going to be what they play on Saturday, regardless of who’s at the trigger.”
Either way, Oregon’s offense averages 47.5 points per game – good for fourth in the nation – and 346.5 passing yards per game, good for third nationally. After a Week 2 loss against Oklahoma State, Oregon beat Portland State and then USC on the road.
And the Ducks’ biggest offensive weapon might not even be their quarterback. Tight end Jamari Johnson caught seven passes for 119 yards in the Ducks’ win against the Trojans.
“He (Johnson) can catch everything in his general vicinity,” Chesney said of Johnson, whom James Madison faced in the College Football Playoff. “He’s absolutely phenomenal. … He’s just extremely fast. They find ways to get him one-on-one, and then they’re going to take their shots on the outside with him.”
UCLA’s offense is nearly as productive, scoring 44.8 points per game and rushing for 281.5 yards per game. Fifth-year running back Wayne Knight, who ran for 1,373 yards at James Madison last season, has 445 yards and nine touchdowns through four games.
And Oregon’s defense will test that. The Ducks allow opponents to convert just 25.6% of third downs, and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy estimated its front averages eight hurries a game.
“Really what you’re doing is just trying to make the defense react to you, as opposed to us reacting to them,” Kennedy said. “How do you find ways, especially in a loud environment, for them to communicate from maybe the boundary corner to the field corner, or whether it’s the defensive end to an inside linebacker?”
UCLA’s staff has seen this offense up close. Oregon beat James Madison 51-34 in the first round of the College Football Playoff last year, with Moore throwing for 313 yards and four touchdowns. Saturday’s game doubles as a reunion of sorts: the Bruins’ coaching staff spent that night trying to stop a team they now face again.
Kennedy, defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler and Knight, who broke a 49-yard run in that game, followed Chesney to Westwood.
“The quarterback hit some big throws in that game, … and they made them, right?” Hitschler said. “So when a quarterback is on, it’s hard. Defense is hard, and we got to find a way to make sure he’s not on.”
And with Moore sidelined, that job gets a new name attached to it: Raiola.
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