Undefeated UCLA is No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings and has emerged as one of the nation’s best Cinderella stories this season.
But Coach Bob Chesney wants his players to forget about all of that when the Bruins (8-0, 5-0) face Minnesota (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday afternoon in a Big Ten Conference game in Minneapolis.
“I told them the two most meaningless statistics in all of college sports is the score at halftime — that’s ‘1A’ — and ‘1B’ is your record going into November,” Chesney said. “November obviously is what matters.”
The first two-thirds of the Bruins’ regular season could not have gone better.
UCLA has won seven of its first eight games by double digits, including a 27-0 victory over Nevada last weekend. Their only single-digit win was 17-15 over then-No. 13 Oregon on Oct. 10. During that victory, Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava tore his ACL and was lost for the season. Backup Ty Dieffenbach took over, and he hasn’t looked back in three-plus games since then.
Dieffenbach will make his fourth start when he faces the Golden Gophers. He has passed for 683 yards and three touchdowns against one interception and has rushed for one touchdown.
Wayne Knight also will test the Minnesota defense. The UCLA running back has rushed for 680 yards and 12 touchdowns this season and is averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
Minnesota will face a Top 10 opponent for the second week in a row as it looks to become bowl eligible. The Golden Gophers are coming off a wild 23-16 defeat in overtime against then-No. 4 Indiana in a game that included 60-yard field goals from both teams in the final 19 seconds of regulation.
Drake Lindsey leads Minnesota with 1,592 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, with six interceptions. TJ Thomas (379 yards, 1 TD) and Darius Taylor (217 yards, five TDs) provide a one-two punch in the backfield, and Javon Tracy has a team-high 46 catches for 460 yards and a score.
Lindsey said he and his teammates are ready to bounce back from the heartbreaking loss at Indiana as they prepare for UCLA. Minnesota also has defeated a ranked team this season, 13-10 over then-No. 15 Iowa on Oct. 24.
“The ups and downs have not affected this team, which is awesome,” Lindsey said. “That definitely can creep into locker rooms, and it hasn’t at all in this locker room. That’s a testament to coach (PJ) Fleck, our coaches and then all the players.”
Chesney said his message to UCLA heading into this weekend’s matchup against Minnesota boils down to one word.
“Toughness,” Chesney said. “Toughness. This is as tough a team as we’ve faced and probably will face. Playing at their place, early start (noon), all the things that come with it, there are going to be uncomfortable moments that are going to occur throughout the course of this game, and we’ve got to make sure that we understand that practicing that mental toughness, practicing that physical toughness, practicing that emotional toughness are all things that have got to be worked on now (in practice).
“We’ve done a great job of it all year. But again, it’s November. Things are heightened just a little bit more.”