TLDR: Bob Chesney is still unbeaten in his first season running UCLA, and Purdue is making the longest trip in the Big Ten to try to spoil it.
Purdue hops from West Lafayette to Pasadena this week for a Saturday date at the Rose Bowl, and coach Barry Odom spent his press conference talking travel logistics as much as football — getting the physical work done at home before Friday's flight, then fine-tuning once the Boilermakers land. UCLA, meanwhile, keeps rolling behind quarterback Nico Iamaleava and an offensive identity Chesney is still installing in his first season on the sideline.
UCLA opened 2026 with back-to-back blowouts under first-year coach Bob Chesney, while Purdue is 1-1 and still stinging from a double-overtime loss that included 50 penalty yards. The Boilermakers now make the longest trip in the Big Ten to face a hot start and a lopsided spread, with the total sitting at 52.5 even though both offenses have been scoring in bunches through two weeks.
+Outscored Cal and San Diego State by 20-plus each
+Wayne Knight has 6 rushing touchdowns already
−Hasn't faced a Big Ten opponent yet
−First-year staff still building continuity on both sides
Running back Wayne Knight has been the story through 2 weeks, scoring 3 touchdowns against Cal and 3 more against San Diego State to give Chesney 6 trips to the end zone from his top back before Big Ten play has even started. Purdue counters with an offense that can move just as fast — quarterback Ryan Browne threw for a career-high 329 yards and Fame Ijeboi ran for 114 and 3 scores in a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest — which is part of why the number here hasn't fully settled.
The bigger question for Purdue is whether that Wake Forest game was really about a talent gap or about the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that turn a winnable game into a heartbreaker — Odom flagged the 50 penalty yards specifically this week. Cleaning that up on the road, against a team playing this well, in front of a Rose Bowl crowd, is a brutal ask.
This is exactly the kind of spot a new coaching staff wants: a home night game against a rebuilding opponent that just lost a heartbreaker, with the Bruins still finding their footing under Chesney but with nothing yet to slow the momentum of a 2-0 start.
For Purdue, it's a step toward proving the Big Ten grind is winnable under Odom's rebuild — the Boilermakers have shown they can score with anybody through 2 weeks, they just haven't shown they can avoid beating themselves.
