MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Field storms became the norm last month at Minnesota, where upsets fervently returned two long-absent rivalry trophies to campus.
The unbeaten UCLA Bruins and their ball-hawking defense are coming this week to try to keep Gophers fans safely in the stands.
Fifth in the latest Associated Press poll and eighth in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, UCLA entered the final third of the schedule as one of three FBS teams left without a loss in this remarkable turnaround in coach Bob Chesney's debut.
After leading James Madison to a playoff berth in just the program's fourth year at the NCAA's top level, Chesney has confidently and energetically taken his acumen from one coast to the other with a sizeable contingent of assistants and players joining him on the journey. But for all they've done to revive the Rose Bowl during this storybook regular season, the hardest part for the Bruins remains.
“I told them the two most meaningless statistics in all of college sports is the score at halftime and your record going into November. November is obviously what matters,” Chesney said. "When you’re 8-0, that doesn’t mean that you relax. At 8-0, it means the standard’s got to raise a little bit more.”
UCLA, which leads the country with 26 takeaways and has allowed the fifth-fewest points per game (13.4), has not missed a beat since quarterback Nico Iamaleava was lost for the year with a leg injury in a defining win at Oregon on Oct. 10. Ty Dieffenbach has deftly taken over, and Wayne Knight has been one of the Big Ten's best running backs with 14 total touchdowns and 807 yards from scrimmage.
This will be a prove-it month for the Bruins, though, in pursuit of their first conference championship since 1998 in the old Pac-10 — and a playoff spot. Oregon and Wisconsin are their only victories over teams with winning records. The five Big Ten teams UCLA has beaten are a combined 8-17 in conference play.
After playing on Saturday at Minnesota, which will be Dieffenbach's first start on the road, the Bruins host Illinois, visit Michigan and face rival USC. Those four remaining foes are a collective 22-11.
“This is as tough a team as we’ve faced and probably will face — playing at their place, early start, all the things that come with it,” Chesney said in preparation for a kickoff time of 9 a.m. Pacific with a gametime temperature forecast for the mid-40s.
The Gophers opened October by beating Michigan at home for the first time since 1977, hoisting the Little Brown Jug trophy and celebrating coach P.J. Fleck's 100th career win.
Three weeks later, their fans rushed the field again when Luke Drzewiecki made a 46-yard kick as time expired to beat Iowa at home for the first time since 2014 and regain Floyd of Rosedale, the bronze pig.
The Gophers were on the verge of an even bigger upset last week when Drzewiecki hit a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in regulation for the lead, but defending national champion Indiana answered with a 60-yarder to tie it and won in overtime. Minnesota fell to 5-3 and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
“The ups and downs have not affected this team, which is awesome, and that can definitely creep into locker rooms, and it hasn’t at all in this locker room,” quarterback Drake Lindsey said. “We’re just going to keep being us and learn from this.”
In Iowa, Indiana and UCLA, the Gophers will have faced three of the top five teams in the FBS in points allowed. Michigan is ranked 18th.
With starting center Ashton Beers out for the season due to a leg injury, Minnesota has been vulnerable to the pass rush and Lindsey has struggled to avoid sacks. The Gophers rank 129th out of 138 teams in the FBS in total yards per game and averaged 15.5 points over four games last month.
“I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable in seeing pressure, but it takes time and I think that’s teams’ answer for us right now,” Lindsey said. “That comes down to me being able to execute and take the hits.”
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