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UCLA football shakes off horrid start to blow out Michigan State, remain unbeaten

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Bolch, B. (2026, October 24). UCLA football shakes off horrid start to blow out Michigan State, remain unbeaten. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/24/sports/ucla-football-shakes-off-horrid-start-to-blow-out-michigan-state-remain-unbeaten/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-24 · by Ben Bolch

Quick Summary

UCLA football won their homecoming game against Michigan State, securing a 28-10 victory at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Despite an initially poor performance that saw them give up an early touchdown, UCLA responded strongly and didn't allow another point after the first quarter. Key to their comeback was quarterback Ty Dieffenbach's resilience after being injured mid-game; he completed several crucial passes including a 63-yard touchdown to Brian Rowe Jr. UCLA improved their record to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play, keeping alive their College Football Playoff aspirations.
Written by AI on 2026-10-25, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 22, UCLA football faced Michigan State in a significant game at the Rose Bowl, with UCLA having transformed from a 3-9 record to an 6-0 undefeated start under new coach Bob Chesney. On October 24, UCLA improved their record to 7-0 by defeating Michigan State 28-10, despite initially trailing after a first-quarter touchdown by the Spartans. The Bruins' dominant performance included forcing turnovers and rushing for 245 yards with three touchdowns from running backs Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods, and Jaivian Thomas. Quarterback Ty Dieffenbach added another key 63-yard touchdown pass and showed versatility by making an interception-saving tackle on a Michigan State return attempt. With this victory, UCLA achieved its first unbeaten start since 2005 and secured the lead in rushing yards per game among Big Ten teams under Chesney's coaching.

Written for “UCLA Beats Michigan State” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 UCLA Beats Michigan State
Sports · 5 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 29 claims Outlet record 64/100
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 64/100
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 47 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses UCLA's potential for making the College Football Playoff, while Article B reports on a specific game against Michigan State where UCLA won 28-10.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 44 claims Outlet record 64/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16821 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ben Bolch
69 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 That could be the case for UCLA’s resurgent football team after the Bruins checked in at No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff ranking released Tuesday afternoon.
🔮 After UCLA lost to Baylor in this arena during that same season, Cronin could be heard yelling two doors down from the locker room.
🔮 “The standards Coach Cori holds here are huge for me,” Aarnisalo said, “and I just knew they could really help me take that next step in my own game and for my future.”
🔮 UCLA (8-0) Hasn’t faced a challenge it couldn’t meet under Bob Chesney.
🔮 With UCLA’s game scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. at the Rose Bowl and USC’s at 4:30 p.m. at the Coliseum, the clock might become the enemy in trying to see both local teams on the same day. 10:07 a.m. – The GPS says it’s 36 minutes to Rose Bowl Parking Lot K as my car exits the driveway under gloomy skies.
🔮 Lincoln Riley couldn’t help himself.
🔮 The big question is if they will be one of the top eight teams, which would put them in position to host a first-round game at the Rose Bowl.
🔮 Among the many theories as to why they could upset second-ranked Ohio State: The Buckeyes will start either a true freshman or a redshirt freshman at quarterback after Julian Sayin suffered a severe shoulder injury.
🔮 “You raised the standard,” Chesney told his players last week, “of what it means to play football here – the physical nature, the disciplined nature, the tough and nasty f—ing nature that will play all the way to the whistle on every single play.
🔮 It also sparked speculation about Riley’s fit at a place where he wasn’t hired by athletic director Jen Cohen as well as his possible desire to go somewhere else that might offer an easier path to the CFP.
Also by Ben Bolch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 69 articles by Ben Bolch →

Topics

Big Ten Bruins Michigan State Spartans UCLA

Subjects

Bruins ORG · 8× UCLA ORG · 6× Dieffenbach PERSON · 4× Michigan State ORG · 4× Spartans ORG · 3× Ty Dieffenbach PERSON · 2× Anthony Woods PERSON · 1× Big Ten ORG · 1× Brian Rowe Jr. PERSON · 1× Wayne Knight PERSON · 1×

Narrative

After looking incredibly flat during the first quarter Saturday afternoon, the ninth-ranked Bruins did exactly what they were supposed to do. They forced turnovers, ran the ball relentlessly and completed a few big passes on the way to a 28-10 victory over Michigan State at the Rose Bowl.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 Maybe it was the fact that Michigan State was down to its third-string quarterback, a freshman who had never thrown a pass in college.

Claims (24 extracted, 0 hedged)

UCLA showed up late to its own homecoming. asserted
UCLA → show → homecoming
After looking incredibly flat during the first quarter Saturday afternoon, the ninth-ranked Bruins did exactly what they were supposed to do. They forced turnovers, ran the ball relentlessly and completed a few big passes on the way to a 28-10 victory over Michigan State at the Rose Bowl. asserted
They → look → Bowl
After spotting the Spartans an early touchdown, UCLA (7-0 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) rolled off 28 consecutive points in finally resembling the dominant team. asserted
UCLA → spot → team
The Bruins held Michigan State (2-6, 0-5) to 156 yards of offense, meaning the Spartans nearly managed as much yardage – 112 – on their two fumble recovery returns in the first half as they did running and throwing the ball. asserted
they → hold → ball
Meanwhile, UCLA’s offense piled up 443 yards after quarterback Ty Dieffenbach returned from a midgame injury scare after apparently getting stepped on. asserted
Dieffenbach → pile → scare
That was a good thing because it allowed wide receiver Brian Rowe Jr. to haul in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Dieffenbach after beating a defender and reaching out his arms to snag the ball. asserted
Jr. → allow → ball
Running backs Anthony Woods (112 yards rushing and a touchdown) and Wayne Knight (56 yards and a touchdown) did the rest of the heavy lifting for the Bruins offense. asserted
backs → rush → offense
Maybe it was the fact that Michigan State was down to its third-string quarterback, a freshman who had never thrown a pass in college. asserted
who → throw → college
Maybe it was that the Spartans were down to their fourth-string running back, after the third-stringer had to be helped off the field three plays into the game. asserted
stringer → have → game
Whatever the reason, UCLA looked like it was taking a win for granted in the game’s early going. asserted
it → look → going
By midway through the third quarter, with their lead up to three touchdowns, that was safe to do. asserted
that → do → touchdowns
What it means UCLA avoided a loss that would have been catastrophic to its College Football Playoff hopes while improving to 7-0 for the first time since 2005. asserted
that → mean → 2005
Coach Bob Chesney has also won 18 consecutive regular-season games going back to early September 2025 when he was at James Madison. asserted
he → win → Madison
Turning point After the first quarter went about as poorly as possible for the Bruins – there was a fumble, a holding penalty, a dropped pass and an easy touchdown given up – their defense swung the momentum back in the team’s favor by forcing two turnovers leading to touchdowns. asserted
defense → go → touchdowns
The first came in the second quarter when defensive back Malik Hartford forced a fumble recovered by linebacker Sammy Omosigho. asserted
Hartford → come → Omosigho
The Bruins quickly drove for Jaivian Thomas’ 7-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 7-7. asserted
that → drive → 7
With Michigan State driving in UCLA territory later in the second quarter, linebacker Donavyn Pellot stepped in front of a pass and intercepted it before running 67 yards. asserted
Pellot → drive → it
The Bruins cashed in five plays later when Knight waited for an opening at the goal line and squirted into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run. asserted
Knight → cash → run
MVP: Ty Dieffenbach The numbers didn’t fully convey the story of how gutsy Dieffenbach was in shaking off a midgame injury. asserted
Dieffenbach → convey → injury
Already down one quarterback, the Bruins found themselves without another in the final seconds before halftime. asserted
Bruins → find → halftime
While throwing the ball away under pressure, Dieffenbach got sandwiched between multiple defenders and stayed down for a few minutes. asserted
Dieffenbach → throw → minutes
He returned for the third quarter, with Chesney telling a television reporter that his quarterback got stepped on before his departure. asserted
quarterback → return → departure
Dieffenbach completed 18 of 31 passes for 198 yards with 1 touchdown. asserted
Dieffenbach → complete → touchdown
Up next The Bruins will play a rare midseason nonconference game next weekend when they host Nevada at the Rose Bowl. asserted
they → play → Bowl
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