POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 17, Wisconsin 7
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl Stadium)
October 17, 2026

UCLA Bruins
Bob Chesney
The Angelo M. Mazzone III UCLA Head Football Coach
opening statement
“Overall, it was just a battle. These guys came to play. Obviously, from Wisconsin, hats off them and their coaches. That quarterback is tough to tackle, I think people all saw that and understood how good he is, but I love our defensive did today. We have opportunities to come up with an interception or two and came up a little short, but to hold them to just 66 yards passing is a pretty big deal. Ty, like what a job. Really, really good job. To to stand in there and have the confidence that he did. The 3rd down throws that he was able to make and see the game cleanly. He was able to get us in the right calls and the right protections. It was a really reassuring day for us with him, and him with himself, and with his teammates. At the same point in time, what a warrior all the way around. The mental game of football that he played was impressive.”

on what impressed him the most about Ty Dieffenbach
“I sensed that, if it’s an indication that you play how you practice, yes I did [expected him to play well]. We’re confident in him, and we felt like he could have this type of game. He sees the game well, he throws a nice football, he's on time, he's accurate. Really that one for Landon [Ellis] from his own end zone, that was the one that ultimately helped him put a 97-yard drive together. We needed it at that point in the clutch.”

on the performance from the defense
“That’s just what they’re made of right now. We were defending a lot of different things. They showed us some things they haven't shown before, coming off a bye as we all know. They showed us couple of different things that, that we were maybe not as prepared for, but at the same point in time, I thought our guys handled the things that they saw, from previously. And there were moments we were 1-on-1 with the quarterback. He makes you bend a little bit but not break, just because he is elusive. I thought we overall were physical inside, but the pass game is what I was impressed with, just to hold them to 66 yards and there were moments where they were throwing this thing up in coverage. I thought it was really spot on, just based on what our coaches had helped prepare for all week long.”

on instilling belief in the players
“You gotta believe yourself, ultimately. I think that's the most important thing. I believe in these guys. I told them back in the spring that there’s fibers of a really high-level football team that exists within this program, and we just need to put it all together and test it in fire, and compete, and that’s just the way this program works. There's so much competition, what goes on in the day-to-day basis that they can build their confidence, and then a little more success, and a little more confidence, which leads to more success. When they end up with a failure, it's never fatal or final. It's a chance to refine. Those things that they live. So even though you look like that and say ‘Oh, this game could be in jeopardy a little bit’, they still love to be in that competitive situation so much.”

on Ty Dieffenbach’s performance in the fourth quarter
“I think the just kept doing what he was doing. Us letting him rip it a little more. I thought his confidence never wavered, his confidence in himself never wavered.”

on Ty Dieffenbach’s execution of the game plan
“His pre-snap thought process is phenomenal. His ability to see the pictures and understand the tendencies, and at the same time, confirm them before the snap is what leads him to be able to understand where the voids in the zone will live and to deliver the ball quickly on the proper shoulder away from leverage. He just did a phenomenal job. You just watch him out there, with how quick he got rid of it, and how confident he got rid of it, and his belief in himself and his receivers certainly stood out.”

UCLA fifth-year senior defensive back Mason Rivera
on limiting the opponents’ passing attack
“Credit to the coaches, their plan going into the game. The front seven rushed the quarterback, and we knew that he was elusive and could make plays with his feet. We just wanted to keep him in the pocket and to be sound on the back end is something we were looking forward to, going into this game, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

on this UCLA team adjusting so well
“I think that a lot of the stuff we saw early on this game is kind of what we were expecting. Our coaches do a really good job on the sidelines with the iPads and the white boards with what their offense is trying to accomplish on their side. When we see those players and go over the, we review, we study it, we know what is going to happen on the next drive, then we are prepared.”

on stopping Wisconsin on offense despite not creating any turnovers
“Yeah, I mean, we would’ve loved to jump on one of those fumbles. But I think it just came down to fundamentals. That is what we had talked about all week, is the battle between our fundamentals and theirs. That early drive in the second half, we got gashed a couple times, but overall in terms of being sound in the back end, I thought we did a nice job.

on Bruins’ quarterback Ty Dieffenbach and having played with him last year at Cal Poly
“Yeah, he has confidence. I think that a lot of people said it throughout the week. He was ready for this moment, and the second half at Oregon, same thing. He’s just a good ballplayer. He’s a gamer, for sure, and he is ready to go. I think that a lot of people are pretty happy with what he did today. I think it will continue going forward. I saw it all last year, playing with him. He has the ability to throw it anywhere on the field, and he can tuck it and run. So, he’s a good football player, and we trust him as our leader and our quarterback.”

UCLA sophomore linebacker Scott Taylor
on limiting the opponents’ passing attack
“I’d say, obviously, there were a couple of times where we let him out of the pocket or maybe missed a couple of tackles but we kind of executed our game plan to keep him in the pocket and limit the damage that he could do with his legs. And then off that came some of our exotic pressures that got home, so that was really nice.”

on the fourth down stop in the fourth quarter
“I’d say, I mean I wasn’t aware that we had stopped him. We had the defense getting ready to go back out there with a play being called. Obviously, it was nice with that change of news. But I think that play comes down to mentality. We know they’re running the ball. They know that we know so it just comes down to who is going to get knocked back. And that is a great tackle by Sammy [Omosigho] and company.”

on the Bruins’ defense being able to make in-game adjustments
“Yeah, we do a great job in between drives of knowing what they are trying to attack us with, and also that comes with all of the work we do on Tuesday and Wednesday. These are looks that we have seen before. Maybe we haven’t seen it yet in the game, but we have seen it on Tuesday and Wednesday in practice, so our preparation definitely plays a big factor in our second-half adjustments.”

on any pressure the team may feel with being undefeated during this 6-0 start
“Obviously, we have had some good games thus far. But when we came chose to stay here or to transfer here, our new coaching staff came in, no one sat down and say, ‘Hey, we want to go 6-0.’ So we said that we wanted to win a Big Ten championship. Our journey does not stop here, and we want to be on the rise. There is obviously some stuff that we want to clean up today. We want to get better, knowing that we have a lot of football to play down the road.”

UCLA senior quarterback Ty Dieffenbach
on team’s impact in the community
“Yeah, I just think, like, when students see that we're going showing love with the band, we're getting the whole campus involved. We’re not just isolated, we're football players. We’re getting everyone involved at the Rose Bowl.”

on the optics of UCLA football
“I think we’re just trying to silence outside noise and stay within the building. We’re just getting started. We left some out there tonight. A couple throws I want back, a couple reads I want back, but we’re just getting started.”

on his overall performance
“Just confidence in my receivers, confidence in my O-line. We’ve thrown these throws more than 100 times now. The receivers believed in me.”

on his success on third down and in the fourth quarter
“Before the game, I was just saying, it’s just another game. Don’t want to make the moment too big. In that fourth quarter, hearing California Love, and just five years ago I was sitting in the stands watching guys do this and now I’m there. It was special to me. Third down just goes into our game plan. Starting on Monday nights, we’re working every single day on third down. They showed a lot of man [coverage] on third down which is good for us. Our guys go out there and make a play, and that’s what happened tonight.”

on the support from his hometown of Agoura Hills
“I think, for me, it’s more about them. Being an inspiration to those guys. You can do this. Guys from our high school – you can play ball at the highest level. It was awesome seeing all of them show out and I appreciate all of them coming out tonight.”

on his fourth quarter throw to Semaj Morgan
“We motioned the running back out and I saw that it was zone. I saw the safeties and the middle of the field. I should’ve driven it a little bit more. I know Semaj is only going to go up there and make a play. We trust him. It was awesome.”

on what it means to play for UCLA
“Just coming to the games and seeing the games in 2021 and 2022. It was inspirational. Obviously, growing up you want to play for UCLA. That was a big thing for me. It’s crazy man. Being at UCLA, being 30 minutes from home. It’s a dream come true.”

UCLA senior wide receiver Landon Ellis
on team’s impact in the community
“Everybody needs everybody in order to be successful. We can give back to everybody, and they can give back to us. The little things can go a long way.”

on his catch in the fourth quarter
“We put that in this week. The coaches saw a weak spot in their defense. We got it twice in practice this week. It was good preparation.”

on the overall demeanor of the team coming into this season
“I think there’s a lot of guys on this team who have a lot to prove. The guys who were here last year, obviously we struggled. Guys like Ty [Dieffenbach] came from an FCS program, they have a lot to prove. There’s nothing like it man, it’s awesome.”

on the players who joined from James Madison University with Coach Chesney
“It’s the Chesney train. I think the progress that we made from January to now is just out of this world. I think it would be really hard to go back in history and find teams that turned it around this fast. If you’re not all the way in, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I would get on it.”

on the team’s recent victories over Oregon and Wisconsin
“I think we proved it to ourselves. I think people look at our schedule and say we haven’t played the greatest teams before last week. That was a big momentum win [at Oregon] for us. We still got a lot of work to do. We left a lot out there tonight, but we’re still going to keep going out there and going to work, proving it to ourselves.”

Wisconsin Badgers
Luke Fickell
Wisconsin Head Coach
opening statement
"Well, we didn't play real well tonight; that's for sure. I'll take the heat on that. There's no way you're going to go on the road and have as many penalties and plays on discipline as we did, and you're going to think you're going to be able to beat a really good football team. And so that was evident. That was evident in the first half, and it didn't change a lot in the second half. There's an aggressive nature of things, but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. That's the first part of the thing. And obviously third downs. Everybody will see it, and it's easy to play it. We did a really poor job defensively on third down. I've got to give them a lot of credit; they did a really good job on third down, but the extending of drives and keeping our offense off the field, and our offense didn't do a good enough job on third down as well. But I look at it a little bit also on defense. We didn't give enough opportunities based on the drives that they were able to put together. And so all in all, it's tough. You know, I thought we had a really good couple weeks. I thought we were in a really good place. We went out there today and didn't play like I'd seen us play. We didn't have the consistency to do the little things really well, and it showed up. And so we're going to have to pick ourselves back up here real quick, get back home, get back at it because it's not going to get any easier."

on the third down issues
"You know what? They did a good job. They completed some balls, made some really good throws. Actually, to be honest with you, I think they protected better than I would have expected. We've done a pretty good job of putting pressure on quarterbacks whether they result in sacks or not, we just have to make quarterbacks uncomfortable, and we did not do a good enough job of that. I didn't think we got much rush from the edge. When we did get some rush on some of the game stuff, the ball was out. They made some really good plays, and he [Ty Dieffenbach] threw some balls. Guys made some really good catches. You kind of saw it in the 1st half. It's like, we're going to have to find a way to change all that. We're going to have to make some of the plays that they're making in man coverage, and we didn't on our side, and we didn't on the defensive side either."

on the passing game
"I thought we had decent protection. I think there was some time. It comes down to you've got to make some plays. If they're playing man coverage, you've got to win at times. And I don't know that we did that today. They did a good job; give them credit for mixing up some man, a little bit of zone than we had anticipated. But we've got to find a way to do better. Like I said, we've got to take some of those shots. We've got to give our guys some opportunities, but we gotta make some plays. I think that's where one of the bigger glaring issues or differences is their wide-outs made some plays. Whether they were pretty good throws or behind them throws or winning in man coverage, they made the plays they had to make to keep the drives alive, and I don't know that we did."

on preparing for Dieffenbach on relatively short notice
"I don't know that we thought there would be much different, to be honest. What we had seen him do is throw a lot more deep balls, just the nature of where he had been and what he had done. I thought that he did a heck of a job today in not taking the deep balls. He completed the intermediate routes, he completed the over routes. He completed the underneath routes much better than maybe what he we had seen him do in the past, whether, you know, obviously here or where he was before. But I think they put him in a good position to make some plays."

on Wisconsin's penalties
"I was on the officials. I don't know if it's rightfully so, to be honest. We didn't do a good enough job, and it comes back to us. I was frustrated that maybe it was seven to two at halftime on penalties, and I don't know that we got any better. I know there were some bigger ones on the PIs that cost us on third and 15 or 16. But the taunting penalty, the roughing the passer penalty, the undisciplined things that I like to say are uncharacteristic of some of the things that we've done ... I can handle aggressive mistakes. I can handle aggressive penalties at times. There's going to be those. We had quite a few stupid penalties, and it's got to fall back onto the discipline of ourselves."

on Abu Sama III and the run game
"I don't know that we did a great job at anything. So I don't know. Bu was okay. He was able to play. He was cleared to play. We had a plan for him to play. You know, him and DD [Darrion Dupree] were kind of going to be the two guys and the 1-2 punch, but ... I don't know. Again, we had 25 snaps in the first half. That's really tough to get into a rhythm. So I can't just throw it all on them. But when you do get those opportunities, you've got to make the most of them. And so we got to do a better job of creating some things. It's hard to methodically drive the ball down the field over good football teams. You've got to find ways. They did it tonight. They methodically drove the ball down 84, 91. That's not usually a recipe for a lot of success, which they did tonight. We got to find a way to not only be more methodic, we have to find a way to create some new plays."

on the upcoming games against USC and Iowa
"We knew this was going to be a journey. We knew there were going to be some ups and downs. You go on the road, it's tough. And it is what it is, right? I mean, you've got to pick yourself back up. We're going to get home at 3:30 in the morning, whatever that is, and that's no excuse, right? We've got to go back to work. And we've been able to handle some success and some really big wins and not let it affect us. And we've got to go do the same thing with the loss. We talk about this; no arrogance or delusion. And that means something too after a tough loss. Can't be arrogant enough to not think that this was on us, and there are some things we've got to do a hell of a lot better, and we can't be delusional to think that we're not very good, and it works both ways. We'll rely a lot on the leadership of our guys and get back at it."

on what he was hoping for with the changes on the offensive line
"Well, Austin [Kawecki] obviously had a broken hand, so he was not going to be able to go, so we had moved Stylz [Blackmon] in there to see how he could do and how he could handle the snapping. Ryan Cory did a good job in the Michigan State game. It felt like we had two guys that could go there, and I felt like we were going to go with Stylz. And then we had PJ [Wilkins] at guard. Just felt like that was going to be the best combination. Didn't know if we were going to be able to have to play six of seven of those guys up front. Austin was available if we needed him, but obviously with the way the game went, guys got a whole lot of reps. We just felt we should go with the guys that have been out there."

on what Jaylon Domingeaux can do on offense
"We've got to find guys who are going to make plays. He made a pretty good play on 3rd and 18, came up two short, but nonetheless a big play. We've got to gain some confidence in that and give him some more opportunities. We took a couple of shots down the field; we've got to come down with some of those balls."

on if he thought of going for it on fourth down with five minutes left
"Yes, I said to the offense just give us a manageable one, inside six or seven yards. To be back on your own 15 or 20 and 4th and 10 or 12. That's not a great situation for us. We missed our first field goal, which, there's a momentum thing too, and when points are as hard to come by as they are, and we put ourselves in a position, then we take a sack ... there's a litany of things that we didn't do a real good job of, and they took advantage of it."

on PJ Wilkins' pass blocking
"I'm going to have to watch the film. I know that we got a holding call on a pretty blatant rush up the middle. I thought the second half we would do a better job in handling some of that stuff, but not good enough."

on the targeting call on Matt Jung
"If they deemed it targeting, I hate it. It stinks. It's not his play. We kind of botched the coverage, and he's just cleaning us up, based on a situation where you turn a guy loose. So it's kind of two-fold. It stinks for him. It's one of those bang-bang things. It wasn't malicious by any means, and there's nobody that hurts more because of it than him. That was just one of those things we've got to learn from."

on Jung not being suspended for the first half of next week's game
"It's really big. It's big for the guys. I think it's a good rule. But we're not here to talk about rules. We've got a hell of a lot more to talk about, but as much as these guys work, and they put into it, a guy like that, non-malicious of any sort. It happens. It's good that it doesn't linger over another week."

Wisconsin senior quarterback Colton Joseph
on offensive struggles
“There is too many penalties. We're going backwards too many times, and can't have that, obviously, gotta keep going forward. But we just got to learn from it and build off it.

on not letting loss affect future games
“Just go 1-0 every day. Come in Sunday, watch the game, get better from it, learn from it, and then just start a new week of preparation. Leaders gotta lead and be there for the team, to help lift everyone up and get ready to come out next week and play hard.”

on UCLA defensive plays
“We were just shooting ourselves in foot again. We were behind the chains too many times, and not in good situations, and you just got to learn from it. Just got to find ways to, you know, create opportunities and create plays, you know, when stuff's not there, so we just got to get better. 


on finding rhythm in the passing game
“Just making the easy ones simple and just playing catch.”

on finding opportunities
“Yeah, we definitely had opportunities. A lot of opportunities around the field. They're just good, physical defense. And, again, this just goes back to, you know, our own penalties and going backwards. That's just really, really hard to get a drive going and momentum if you keep going backwards. You can’t do that.”

on getting in a flow on long drives from UCLA
“Yeah, they did a good job holding on to the ball and possession. But that can’t affect us, you know, we're not out there playing as an offense. That’s a defensive job, and they did a great job today, but we got to respond to offense.”

on trying to be more consistent in the first half
“Just starting faster. Getting first downs when they’re there, not going backwards, getting easy completions, and just getting the ball moving without, you know, big mistakes that keep driving us, you know, the wrong way.”

on what offense can improve on
“I mean, if they're gonna load the box like that and get down, like you're saying, just play action, take some shots.”

on team overall
“I think we face a lot of adversity already, and I've seen them respond to that. And I just know that our guys in there are gonna keep fighting no matter what. So, you know, I'm excited to see this practice, you know, how the guys are gonna come out, practice, and see how hard they practice, and that will really determine, you know, our team moving forward. Not letting this affect us and keep the ball rolling.”

Wisconsin fifth-year offensive linebacker Sebastian Cheeks
on UCLA’s game plan
“They were changing up some services. Just chipping the edges, finding ways to try to change the protections. So, we got to be better in those moments.”

on play opportunities
“Yeah, there was definitely some missed calls. It's one of those things you can never leave it in the officiator's hands. So I think for us, we have to be able to finish, you know what I mean?”

on UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach
“I think in the Big Ten, you know, as we continue to go this season, it's just going to have to be starting to control the line of scrimmage. Trying to go from there, you know. I thought we, you know, ended up making it one-dimensional, they found ways to kind of attack us in terms of our coverages, our zones.”

on game next week against USC off their bye week
“We have to come back and be able ready to go, have a good week of practice, just come back, be back in Camp Randall, that's the only way we have to be able to respond to these moments.”

on offense and defense performance off of bye week
“Nothing that caught us off guard, you know what I mean? They're a well-coached group. You know, I give a lot of credit, obviously, to Coach Chesney, he’s a good coach. But, you know, we have to continue to just build off this moment, learn from it, grow from it.

on third downs
“We have to get off the field on third downs, and we have to eliminate the explosive plays. Being stopped out front is going to be able to help us even to those situations. And then when it comes to that time, we have to be able to execute. So continue to just work on understanding those situations and how they're protecting the front.”

on rattling UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach
“Obviously not enough because we didn’t win today. We have to continue to just be better, get on the tape early, see what we can do better out there now.”

on chips
“Well, I have to be prepared for chips. I have to be prepared for it. I need to create longer services for me. I was seeing chips all night. So I got to be able to respond accordingly and then go from there.

on responding to opposing plays effectively
“Well, the best ones do. They find ways to win, regardless of being chipped or not. So we got to be able to find ways to affect the quarterback, get them off the spot, and then obviously bring them down. We have to get the quarterback down.”

on keeping the team focused
“It starts with getting on the film and then obviously practice. We have to be able to practice. Whatever we are at right now, we have to be able to bring it up in our knowledge. This is going to be the heart of our season down the stretch, and we have to be able to be at our best.”

on flushing out plays tonight
“I was a part of that, you know, jumping off sides. We can't give them any freebies, I mean, especially with teams like this. They are going to find ways to execute off those, because the good ones always do. We have to find ways to just be disciplined in those moments. And so, not letting, you know, again, the officiating crew dictate games, we have to be able to be better.”

Wisconsin fifth-year defensive lineman Charles Perkins
on third down situations
“We just got to be great on first and second downs. We came with a game plan to stop the run. They got some very great bats. We would be great on first and second downs. We just got to execute way better.”

on performance against the UCLA run game
“I feel like this game, they had the lowest of the season so far. I feel like we stopped the run pretty well. We know that we were going to stop the run on third downs. I am very pleased with how we stopped the run so far.”

on UCLA Ty Dieffenbach’s passing game
“I mean we knew that he was a great quarterback. We knew that he got a pretty good arm and we gave him time to sit on his feet and throw the ball. He’s a great quarterback; he made some great throws.”

on not letting performance rock momentum
“We gotta keep going, gotta keep stacking days. We know that this is probably one of the best games that we have played so far. So we know that we have to suck it up, come back Sunday and be ready to work. We got USC at home, so looking forward to that.”

on weaker execution
“We know that defense is going to do its thing. We let the offense go offsides. But we were under control when we were in control, stopping runs. I was more pleased with the finish and stuff like that.”

Wisconsin fifth-year wide reciever Chris Brooks Jr.
on what didn’t work today for offense
“I think a lot of things didn’t necessarily work today. I don’t know how many passing yards we had, but I don’t think that you know, it's good enough to win a game. Same thing with rushing; I think we just had an overall day on offense to win a game against a good team.”

on making explosive plays
“Just continuing to work at it every day. You know, just having that mindset that we get the opportunity to make most of it. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but, you know, just not getting down on yourself and believing that the next time you get it, you'll make it.”

on why it was tough for offense
“Honestly, we just beat ourselves. So, maybe chalk that up to us having a week off, but I don't really think that was an issue. I just think that, you know, we dive into these situations where, I mean, honestly, the entire season we will be seeing little things where we need to continue getting better at, and we just haven’t yet. We’re going to continue working on it. But we gotta keep pushing because, you know, it's only going to get harder from here, and, honestly, if we don't have those mistakes, I think we win the game, so it's just about finding ways to get over that hump.”

on what to improve on
“The biggest thing that we were challenged with this bye week was creating versus manning. It comes down to a lot of things, you know, getting open before the defensive line gets to the quarterback, or just when in general. So, you know, it's a lot in between it, but it comes down to, you know, being the person right in front of you. I think we need to continue doing a better job of that.”

on not being affected by the loss
“Understanding that, that was a good team, but we beat ourselves. So, you know, just relying and going back to, you know, everything that we want is still on the table, if we do the things we need to do. It’s not getting down on ourselves, it's about, you know, looking at the film, seeing what we did wrong, and learning from it. And then we have to continue to use that and apply and grow from that. So, you know, it was a tough one today. We could have been so much better. I'm beating myself up about it the entire offense is, but we know that we have a lot of work to do, and we're not going to just sit here, be upset. We want to continue to get better, and use that, you know. We got some big games coming up, and we want to continue to, you know, fight.

on if the momentum ever turned around
“I mean, after the interception. We go down, and we drive, and we score, so I'm thinking that, you know, things are about to turn for us, because that's how our games have been. You know, we have those moments. And then I just thought that we would capitalize on that a little bit better. And we didn't, and that's unfortunate, but, you know, I believe that we're going to come back, you know, keep fighting. We are gonna turn this thing around, because we have it in us. You can see it the entire game, we're fighting, and we're still in it. And we aren't doing the greatest because of ourselves, not what they were doing. So I just think that we're gonna continue to get better.”

Wisconsin junior offensive lineman Kevin Heywood
on looking at the film
“I mean, what it felt like, o-line specifically, it was just 4 guys doing the right thing, one guy doing the wrong thing, and, you know, we talk about that all the time. It seemed like it hurt us today. I need a chance to watch it, but just from being out there, that's what it felt like.”

on injuries in the offensive line
“I mean, we had the bye week, so we felt comfortable with it, and, you know, when we were out there, Styles did a good job making calls. He knew what he was doing. Just from being out there and being a tackle on the o-line with him, I thought he played well just because he was confident he was making calls. But again, I gotta go back and watch it.”

on keeping momentum
“I mean, just learn from it, you know, watch it, learn from it, grow from it, and just focus on what we're gonna go back and do, and come back next week with USC and try to be better.”

on finding rhythm early on
“We kind of knew what they were trying to do, is just, you know, take the ball and try to make it a lot, like, a shorter game, but, you know, it just comes down to just executing better, and we didn't do that tonight.”

on changing due to adjustments
“We knew that was coming. We didn’t really make changes; we just had different rules for the plays, I would say, you know, and I thought we did a good job with that, and communicating with Styles about what we were gonna do, and we just didn't do great enough, obviously.”