UCLA jumps to No. 5 in AP Top 25, highest ranking since 2001

The UCLA Bruins climbed to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, their first time in the top five in 25 years, less than a year after hiring Bob Chesney to take over a program coming off a 3-9 season.

Chesney signed 62 new players, 42 of them transfers, and that roster is now 8-0 for the first time at UCLA since 2005 and the only unbeaten team left in the Big Ten. The school last won its conference in 1998.

UCLA averaged 44.75 points and allowed 18.75 per game across its first four wins. Starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava then hurt his knee early in the Oct. 10 win over the Oregon Ducks, and in the four games beginning with that one, the Bruins have averaged 22.25 points and allowed eight.

That is an offense scoring exactly half as much and a defense giving up less than half as much, so voters moved up a very different team from the one that opened the season. UCLA has 16 interceptions this season after finishing with four last year, including four more in Saturday’s 27-0 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack. Backup Ty Dieffenbach threw for 178 yards and a touchdown in that game without a turnover.

“Really good defensive plays that showed up in there. And then just a lot to be desired at moments on the offensive side, but I thought overall to get yourself to 8-0 is a big deal, and to shut a team out at any level is a big deal … Wins are not the easiest thing to come by. I like where we’re at, and there’s a whole lot more that we have to continue to step up,” Chesney said after the win.

Can UCLA’s offense hold up over the final four games?

UCLA’s eight opponents so far have a combined record of 27-39. Its last four, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Illinois Fighting Illini, Michigan Wolverines and No. 18 USC Trojans, are a combined 22-11.

Minnesota just took the Indiana Hoosiers to overtime before losing 23-16. USC is coming off a 30-18 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes and closes the regular season at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 28. UCLA has already won 17-15 at Oregon and 17-7 against the Wisconsin Badgers with this formula, and scores like those leave little room for one bad day from the defense against that group.

“These next four games are going to be very physical and what we put out there at moments isn’t going to work. So we understand that and we’ll be right back at the drawing board,” Chesney said.

The first of those games kicks off at noon ET on Saturday in Minneapolis, on Fox.

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