Neither program is walking in stable. UCLA fired DeShaun Foster 3 games into 2025 and finished 3-9 under an interim staff before Chesney's hire in December. Nevada lost 23 players to the portal and had to replace them with 18 newcomers just to field a roster. Both teams are effectively starting over, which is the entire reason a Power 4 vs. Group of 5 game like this is worth a real look instead of an easy label.
Nevada's lone returning strength on paper is up front on defense — Dylan LaBarbera racked up 18 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2025, and he's back to anchor a line that also added Sacramento State transfer James Gillespie. The bigger problem was never stopping people; it was scoring. The Wolf Pack cracked 17 points in a game just 3 times all last season, and until Choate finds an offense that can consistently move the ball, the record isn't going to look much different than 2025's.
UCLA's issue isn't talent, it's continuity — 56 newcomers, 43 of them transfers, walking into a brand-new scheme in year 1 under Chesney. The Bruins have won the only previous meeting between these programs, a 58-20 blowout back in 2013, and on paper this looks like a similar mismatch. But new coaching staffs installing new systems live have a way of making September and October look sloppier than the roster suggests, on both sidelines.
However it plays out, this one doubles as an early referendum on both hires. Chesney has to show the JMU formula travels up a level of competition, and Choate needs proof that year 3 is actually different from years 1 and 2. Whichever quarterback room looks more settled by night's end will say plenty about who's actually further along in the rebuild.
