Biggest Winners and Losers from UCLA's Tough Win Over Minnesota

The Bruins just keep on winning.

A hard-fought game on the road ends in favor of the Bruins once again as they advance to 9-0 behind a 34-20 win in Minneapolis. There's a lot to take away from this road win, but these players stood out in particular as some of the biggest influences on the scoreboard.

Scooter Jackson

Overall, I thought Scooter Jackson had a good day in coverage. He was targeted multiple times, yet held his ground to produce with UCLA's terrific defensive performance. The secondary as a whole had a good day, but Jackson stood out to me as the best of the bunch.

Jackson also grabbed a clutch interception that was essentially a dagger in the game halfway through the fourth quarter to keep the Bruins' huge momentum wave alive.

Aidan Mizell

The biggest difference maker in the game was speedster wide receiver Aiden Mizell, as he completely changed the outcome of this game himself. Mizell is the first Bruins receiver to achieve a 100-plus-yard game, thanks to his two 75-yard touchdowns, to give UCLA a major momentum swing that allowed them to carry on towards the win.

Without Mizell's ability to take the top off this defense, UCLA could have been in trouble. The momentum gain from Mizell's two explosive touchdowns was too much to overcome for Minnesota and propelled them to keep their perfect record intact.

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Oct 24, 2026; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Aidan Mizell (1) is tackled by Michigan State Spartans safety Aveon Grose (30) during the second half at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wayne Knight

UCLA's backfield committee wasn't very prevalent today, as Wayne Knight led by a good margin in all major categories. Knight hadn't been up to his productive standards the past couple of weeks, compared to what we saw at the beginning of the season, and it was a nice bounce-back game for him, where he was crucial in UCLA's offensive movement.

Knight ended the day with 16 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Losers

Nov 7, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Ty Dieffenbach (14) scrambles against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ty Dieffenbach (In the First Half)

This was a great win for UCLA, making it hard to pick out any “losers” of the bunch, but Dieffenbach had a hard time getting up to speed in this game and made some crucial mistakes in the first half that put Minnesota in a comfortable position following the break.

With under a minute to go in the first half, Dieffenbach made an ill-advised throw into coverage that resulted in an interception to give Minnesota a chance to put more points on the board before the break. The Golden Gophers added a field goal to their first-half total to level the game as the first-half clock hit zero.

However, in the second half, Dieffenbach played much smarter and ended up passing for over 300 yards, the first time that any UCLA quarterback had done that this season.

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