POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 34, Minnesota 20
Minneapolis, Minn. (Huntington Bank Stadium)
November 7, 2026

Bob Chesney, The Angelo M. Mazzone III UCLA Head Football Coach
opening statement
"They handled their business properly. Guys that had to step up, stepped up, and at the same point, guys have to fill in, and they did really good job of making sure that they were not a weak link out there. I said,I always say it, but the light's gonna shine on so many different guys. And when it does, make sure you're revealed for all the hard work you've done up to this point, and they did just that. So really proud of the. Really, very, very proud of this effort. It an early start. You could talk about the weather, but I thought that was the most perfect day that you could ask for. And just overall, they battled the entire time and never, ever wavered. And that's what makes them who they are."

on the back-to-back 75-yard touchdown passes
“Yeah, just I don't want to get into it too much, to be honest with you, but there were some things we were doing early that were setting up this next thing that we could do, and that's ultimately what we felt like we saw, and we were able to attack it just a little bit. You know, Aidan’s [Mizell] fast. We all know that, and just thought he took the top off that thing, tie, turning the ball, up and over like he did. That's important to do to give him, a little bit of room for error, slow down, speed up, a little bit left, a little bit right, as opposed to just a two-ball that's got to be thrown perfectly in the pocket. I thought he did a really good job of doing that. But really, let's talk about the offensive line there, because now Riley [Robell] was out a couple plays in there. Hall [Schmidt] was out in a couple plays in there, and here comes some of the others. From [Jaylan] Jeffers, and they gotta hang in there, and let this ball be delivered. And I thought they did a great job of creating a pocket, to be able to step up into it, let the ball fly.”

on Ty Dieffenbach’s performance
“Yeah, I just think that he didn't waver. I think that's really important, the way he carried himself at that moment, and the things he understood he needed to do better. There were things in the running game that we were off on as well, that he needed to get us to a different call. But he asked, even after all of that, the back-up scenario. There's a lot that's on our quarterback's plate, period. And he understands that. There were two or three series that really were not great, but he took the lesson, learned from it, and found a way to move on very quickly, not get caught up in the emotion, but rather focus on the motion of what I gotta do on that next play, not emotionally involved, but ultimately focus on what I gotta do to get better. You can fail and fail forward when you do it that way. Otherwise, if you keep making the same mistakes, that's a problem. He did not do that. He failed forward.”

on UCLA’s wide receiver room
“I just thought that this was a great week of practice for us, and we said it at the beginning of the week. I said, this month of November is going to be physical. It's gonna be extremely physical, and we gotta understand that. And the air keeps getting thinner and thinner and thinner as you climb at the top of this mountain, and they have to understand that, and they did a really good job of understanding that, and putting in the extra work, putting in the extra effort, putting into things that they had to do to be perfectly on the same page, and really proud of a way they were able to connect. But that doesn't come from just what we do on the field. That comes from the work leading up to it.”

on his thoughts about the College Football Playoff committee’s ranking of UCLA
“Winning this game, just win this game. No thoughts. We don’t watch. I told our guys, don't worry about watching this four-week drama series. That’s gonna be this show that they're gonna put out there. That's not what we're here for. We're here to focus on getting the work and being the best that we possibly can be. No way slighted, no way honored. Just totally neutral on whatever they might say. We gotta win our football games, and we did that today.”

on Minnesota’s physicality
“I thought it was two very similar teams is what I thought. I thought they played offense similar to how we play offense. They play defense a lot like we play defense and they play special teams a lot like how we play special teams. We got a couple of ours in the special teams game. I just wish that that kickoff, that we had an opportunity at that, and that would have been a real big play. We just came up a little short there. Bu overall, I thought that we were pretty evenly matched across the board. And, again, what Coach Fleck has done here in 10 years of building this program, he's got it where he needs it and wants it, and that's a top-25 team. It felt like one at least got there in my mind. And I love the way our guys battled.”

on the synchronicity between Ty Dieffenbach and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy
“Absolutely. I think both Dean Kennedy, Colin Hitschler, Chris Smith, and our entire defensive staff, as well, and then you get into the special team staff. I just think they're insane. They know their strengths, they know where their weaknesses might be. And they do a really good job of understanding matchups and seeing what they could exploit, if anything, or if it's just gonna be a “scheme game” or a people game. And then, I think that the creativity in it comes from the amount of defense we were gonna see from these guys. The one in particular, free safety blitz that shows up over and over again. We had two things for that, that we felt confident about, could be huge runs. We just missed a block on one of them, and they just played good defense. So I think their ability to put so much on film makes you get creative, and makes you understand we got protects and edges, we got to get the right bodies, because the scheme, at some point, may be a little, you know, touch and go here. So, we got to make sure we at least have the right personnel that could negate some of the scheme of free safety blitzing through A-gaps or B-gaps.”

on if today was a “scheme game”
“I mean, it was both. Look at Aidan [Mizell] out there and that had some scheme in it as well, but I think the design of a lot of the runs and the things that we were doing leading up to it, there was a couple earlier, even backed up where if Wayne [Knight] just doesn't get clipped, it might be a 99-yard touchdown at the end of it, and there's those moments, but everybody will talk about that stuff win or lose. And we can do it so it's just minor details that we ought to keep cleaning up. And our guys are willing to do that.”

on the team’s performance in the fourth quarter
“Belief, belief, belief. They believe in their coaches. They ultimately believe in each other, and then, I think, just the way that we're managing them in practice every week. Coach [Chris] Grautskiand the strength and conditioning staff do just a phenomenal job of making sure that they're staying strong, but then they're staying in shape, and we're doing the right things for them to be able to get to Saturday or Friday night coming up in the best shape they possibly can be in. So the fourth quarter, again, we're playing a lot of different guys, guys are rotating through, guys getting a chance to play meaningful snaps and then getting a chance to put it on display in that fourth quarter, and again just their resolve, their belief, their trust in the coaches and each other, and then their ability to get to the next play. That's what impresses me most about these guys, and they just get to the next play as quickly as possible, regardless of what just happened. And that's a sign of a good team.”

on neutralizing Minnesota’s pass rush
"Well, their two ends are really good, as you know. The three ends are really good, as you know, and then the blitz scheme that they have shows up quite a bit. I think we did a good job of getting the ball out early. I think when we needed the chip them, we were able to do that and get a couple bodies on them. And at the same point in time, I thought our tackles held up really well against their power rush. wasn't a speed rush we were worried about. It was gonna be them going through the middle, and the power rush, and I thought our guys held their own, kept their hands inside, and when we needed them help, we did. So there was a lot of really good things that came out of that O-line. Just in one-on-one matchups.”

UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach 
on the first 75-yard touchdown
"We knew what coverage they were going to be in. They were going to be in that two high back corners and they were going to bite on the crosser. So once I saw the safety come down, it was wraps from there. It was all green grass. Aidan [Mizell] killed his guy and just put it out there.

on how it felt to throw two 75-yard touchdowns on back-to-back plays
"Really good. We hit a lull for a little bit there late in the second quarter and in the start of the second half. So it felt really good to do that and just hit some explosive plays."

on his connection over the middle with his receivers
"We knew it was going to be a big finding the gaps in the defense game, and we just worked on it all week on the timing. It was just good to go out there and execute."

on what makes Coach Dean Kennedy an effective play-caller
"Just his attitude. If things aren't going well - obviously we know things aren't going well sometimes during the game - and it's just always next-play mentality is what he preaches to us. And he loves getting the guys going. It's awesome seeing a coach get that fired up at halftime and before games and then just going out there and dialing it up in the second half. It's just awesome."

on putting the turnovers behind him late in the game
"Like I said, next-play mentality. But obviously that can't happen down there in the red zone after a blocked punt; it's just unacceptable. So yeah, next-play mentality."

on his comfortability in running the offense
"Every game, every play, I think I'm going to keep gaining confidence and then showing the guys I can play too and I'm going to lead us and do the best I can every game. So I think just showing everyone that and keep playing with confidence. Coach Chesney tells me every day just keep playing with confidence; we've got you."

on bouncing back after turnovers
"Like I said, next-play mentality. Six seconds every play and then we move on, good or bad. So just having that mentality and then just hearing coaches and our O-Line. BJ [Eugene Brooks] came up to me, like 'we got you.' Just hearing from those guys, it just gives you all the confidence in the world."

on handling adversity
"We've been in all these situations a thousand times in practice starting in January even with our winter training. So when we get in situations, we already know what to do and how we're going to come out on top."

on if UCLA has a sense of magic in the way they are playing this season, particularly in the fourth quarter
"I wouldn't call it magic. I'd call it hard work starting in January. We own the second half. We own the fourth quarter. We really take pride in that as a team, and I just think we've got to keep working hard and keep preparing, and we're going to win a lot more games."

on what Coach Chesney does to instill that belief in the fourth quarter
"He says in every game 100 percent confidence, not 99 percent confident, 100 percent confident that we're going to win the game. And just hearing him - he's such a good leader. He gets the guys going every day.

on what is different about Coach Chesney
"Just him as a coach - he's not a coach who's not going to know everyone. He knows everyone's name. He's going to come up to you and build a real relationship with you. I've been places where it doesn't happen. And he's a real players coach. He's going to come up to you. He's going to tell you 'Hey, what are you doing? Like what happened there?' or 'Hey, good play.' Like I said, he's a real players coach, and you just want to go out there and win for a guy like that who's giving his all, sacrificing time with his family, just going out there every day with that same mindset of being great. You want to play for a guy like that."

on Aidan Mizell
"He's a great guy, and he's a burner, man. He's fast. He's really fast. He always tells me 'You can't overthrow me, man. Just put it out there.' He was with me in fall camp for a little bit, and we hit on a lot of deep balls in fall camp. So just having that connection building from fall camp and then now really showing it off in the game. Like that play in Oregon when Nico [Iamaleava] hit him deep ... he can really run. So we've just got to put it out there for him."

on what his last few weeks have been like since becoming a starter
"Honestly it's been great, but I've been preparing like this since week one. I knew I was going to get my shot, and I was ready. I've always been ready. So just keep preparing. The same mindset I've been doing. They keep telling me just keep doing the same thing you've been doing since week one. Just keep preparing."

on if the team feels disrespected by the rankings
"We don't really focus on that at all. We've got to stay within the building. People can say whatever they want. We know what we have in this building and on this team, so we're going to keep fighting."

on he and Coach Chesney coming from small schools
"I think just being at a small school like that without all these resources, you've just got to grind, keep your head down and know you're going to get there one day. I think with his mentality, he started off at Assumption. That's a really small school, and he fought his way, he won his way all the way to where he's at now. I just think it's that head-down mentality and that keep-grinding mentality." 

UCLA wide receiver Aidan Mizell 
on exploiting Minnesota's defense
“We knew the whole game we were able to get behind the DBs. It was just waiting for the right time to call it, and I think Coach called it perfectly at the right time back-to-back to give us momentum. I saw the DB on top of me. I saw no one to the field. I just stepped on his toes and just made it a track race. That's what I'm good at."

on the back-to-back 75-yard touchdowns
"It felt great. I was tweaking out. I don't really remember the second one, but, yeah, it was an amazing feeling."

on Ty Dieffenbach's passes to him
"Both times it was right there. Like I would have to be sorry not to score that, so I tried my best."

on Dieffenbach's growth
"You see it every day - Ty getting 1% better. I feel like that Oregon halftime to now is like night and day difference. He's more confident, he's more consistent in practice. I feel like how we practice is how we play. And we knew the way we practiced this week it was over with."

on what is working well for UCLA and what it feels to be part of this team
"It helps a lot when you've got Coach Chesney as a coach. You don't let anything dip down, you don't let anything get too high. I feel like we're consistent at all times. Even at practice, day after the game, he says 'It doesn't matter. Get better.' And I feel like that's the motto we live by. That's the motto we practice by. That's the motto we have our meetings by. Always just trying to get 1% better. If we can continue to do that, we can do something pretty special." 

on what Coach Chesney did in the Spring to impact what they're able to do now
"He told us we win the season now, and that was in January, that was in February, that was in March, and that was in April. So we put our head down and grinded all the months even before fall camp. By the time we got to this place, we're done. Like, we did the work we need to do. Now, we've just got to execute."

on the success of the coordinators
"They're putting us in the right positions to make plays. I'm a fast guy. He sends me deep. That's what happens. He (Jalen Woods) runs and hits. He puts him in the gap, he hits. It's just putting the pieces we've got in the right positions. They're really good at it, and we've got a lot of pieces to play with. So it's easy."

on if they felt they needed to send a message to doubters
"That don't mean nothing. People are always going to hate. People are always going to doubt on us. There's no point even looking at it. Our goal is to go undefeated. If we go undefeated, you got to put us at one. We ain't looking at no numbers, no rankings, no analysts. None of that."

on being part of a potentially historic team
"We'll worry about the history once the season's over. We're not worried about any of that. Game-by-game. That's our approach. That's who we're going to do it every time."

UCLA linebacker Jalen Woods
on holding Minnesota to 20 points
“We just came out of halftime just honing in on our fundamentals, like just what we practice on every day. Just getting back to the fundamentals because if we do that, we are a good defense. Just being more aggressive and knowing when to hit the gaps when we hit them and making sure that they just be one-dimensional."

on what Coach Chesney did in the Spring to impact what they're able to do now
"He just always preached just don't do what losers do, and if we do that, we could get to .500. And then building on that, it's like no penalties and just the fundamentals - that could get us over the hump to where we are right now. I just feel like the whole team is just keeping the belief and the faith that we could beat anybody that we play against."

on Coach Chesney's small school roots
"He was just like we're going to be a tough, physical team. That's why we run the ball so well. In the fourth quarter when we needed to run the clock out, it's just like toughness. Toughness, toughness. And he preaches that to us every day. The way we practice has a big impact because we're going full speed, 100% every day in practice."

on the success of the coordinators
"It just comes down to not only using 11 people for a game. Anybody who touches that field, they're good at something. There's a reason why they're out there. That's why we were able to rotate so many people out there on the field. And you're seeing so many people make plays because they trust in us in our training and believe that we can do it."

on being part of a potentially historic team
"Coach Ches has been preaching to us that we have to play our best football in November. That's when the real football starts. So just being able to take this game one by one that we'll end up in a good spot when the season's over."