Fix

In the most complimentary way, I ask: What the heck was that first half, UCLA?

Yes, really. With Saturday’s 28-10 victory over Michigan State, Bob Chesney has the Bruins football team 7-0 for the first time since 2005. Still undefeated and still the only team in the Big Ten — and SEC — conferences that can say so. Ranked No. 9 in the nation and moving on up.

And so I ask: Two lost fumbles before halftime? Two drops? Two holding penalties? A meager 84 yards through the air and a modest 14-7 halftime lead? Against a majorly depleted Michigan State team fielding a freshman third-stringer at quarterback — that also lost two more of its best players to injury in the first half?

These Bruins are too good to be letting the wounded Spartans (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten) hang with them for even a half.

And yet, for a hot moment, doubt started to creep back in: Was this the day Chesney’s chariot turned back into a pumpkin? Was the last petal from the enchanted rose about to fall, this beauty of a season due to turn ugly? Was the fairy tale almost over?

No. The nation’s best second-half team gathered itself — “at halftime in the locker room, guys coming over, ‘Let’s go, man. We got you!” quarterback Ty Dieffenbach said — exerted its will and outscored the Spartans 14-0 in the third quarter. They mercifully ran out the clock with a commanding 28-7 lead going into the fourth and improved to a tidy 5-0 in the Big Ten.

It’s what Chesney’s teams do.

Last season at James Madison, the Dukes led the nation in second-half scoring, averaging 20.9 points per game.

And this charmed season at UCLA, the Bruins came into Saturday’s game averaging the second-most second-half points in the nation (20.8).

Being able to bear down and wear down opponents is a sign of a good team.

Being able to jump on them at the outset would be the sign of a great one.

Let’s fast-forward a year. You’ve stopped pinching yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming and the Bruins — who were unranked and unheralded to start the season after so many years of ineptitude — really are in control of their own College Football Playoff destiny.

UCLA linebacker Donavyn Pellot celebrates with linebacker Sammy Omosigho, left, after a 67-yard interception return against Michigan State on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A year from now, you’ll have been conditioned to expect them to win these games, and you’ll no longer be worried about whether this was all a dream.

But you would be concerned about slow starts. You’d bemoan sluggish opening acts and fret about how that might bite the Bruins in the big games that are looming.

Chesney doesn’t have to make that imaginative leap into the future.

He’s worried about it now. And that’s why his Bruins are legitimately a team to contend with, because he’s coaching them to be that. He expects it: “When you walk on that field on Saturday, you walk out and know that you’ve done it the right way, and that’s how you treat something that’s important. Not special, but important.”

And so I ask: Why didn’t UCLA treat the first half like it was important Saturday?

“Two fumbles, two drops, two holding penalties? You can’t do it, you just can’t do it if you want to win really close games,” said Chesney, the first-year UCLA coach, who said he’d spend the week before the Bruins host Nevada in a nonconference Halloween game by emphasizing ball security at practice and that he’d watch the tape to determine what triggered the holding penalties.

“We’re taking three, four touchdowns off the board by doing that,” Chesney added. “Never going to let this happen again.”

UCLA can’t because it doesn’t have any room for error.

UCLA coach Bob Chesney works with players before a 28-10 win over Michigan State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

If the Bruins win out, Chesney will have directed an underdog to a surprise CFP berth for the second consecutive season. But if the Bruins lose a game, it gets dicey.

Never mind the rows of recruits at Saturday’s victory, and forget for a moment about the fans who are slowly finding their way back to the Rose Bowl for Bruins football games. UCLA needs to continue to impress the computers and the pollsters and CFP committee members who could eventually determine UCLA’s fate if the Bruins don’t do it themselves.

And though no fault of Chesney’s, UCLA is playing a soft schedule. Per ESPN, the Bruins’ slate was the 51st easiest coming into the season and what remains of it is the 64th easiest.

And UCLA, which is winning behind a backup quarterback, which went 3-9 last season and which had so much ground to cover after starting the season outside of the top 25 — won’t likely get anyone’s benefit of the doubt if a first-half lull leads to a loss.

The Bruins are proving themselves probably the best team in the nation after halftime.

If they can do that, why not aim to be the best team in the nation?

Fours (quarters) up!?

Across Europe, an autumn of anger is taking hold.

In France, student protests over overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages have grown into a broader public outcry.

In recent weeks, separate protests have also erupted in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Albania.

The grievances differ, from unaffordable housing and low wages to rising fuel costs, education and political accountability.

But the frustration is increasingly shared: paying more, getting less, and struggling to afford a decent life, even with a job.

Governments face demands for relief while wrestling with high debt, rising borrowing costs and, in several countries, looming elections.

The Guardian says Andy Burnham will face a “climate revolt” by approving drilling at the Jackdaw gas field., external The paper says that, while it will be a “major boost” for Britain’s oil and gas industry, critics will argue it undermines Labour’s green credentials. According to the Financial Times, ministers are expected to say that the project will help increase energy supplies this winte, externalr. The i Paper reports that it will be able to power around a million UK homes., external

The Times reports that the home secretary is facing pressure from her cabinet colleagues to water down plans, external which would make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence in the UK. But an ally of Shabana Mahmood tells the paper that Burnham is “on her side” and is “holding the line”. “Mahmood’s fight to save her migrant crackdown” is the headline.

The Daily Telegraph says a review of anti-Semitism in schools in England is expected to prompt some to ban teachers from wearing pro-Palestinian badges. , externalAccording to the Guardian, the report by Sir David Bell finds that three in five Jewish students have been affected, external by anti-Semitism.

The decision to deploy RAF jets to defend Saudi Arabia is described by the Times as an “expansion of the UK’s role in the conflict in Yemen”, external. A defence source tells the paper that “if Houthi drones or missiles come over the border” then British jets will “take them out”. The Telegraph’s verdict is: “Better late than never”.

The Daily Mirror leads with the Covid inquiry’s findings that government failures during the pandemic allowed the virus to “spread like wildfire” in care homes., external In its leader column, the paper says care home residents were “shamefully abandoned by those entrusted with protecting them”.

Prince Harry’s call for reconciliation with his father and brother is the focus of the Sun’s front page, external. It says the Duke of Sussex is hoping to “fix his bitter family feud”. But the Daily Mail accuses him of “reopening old wounds” in what it describes as a “new Sussex psychodrama”, external. Its headline reads: “Oh, do put a sock in it, Harry!”.

Though not part of an NFL punter’s official job description, Ethan Evans was on the phone seeking information again this week.

Evans called players who were holders for new Rams kicker Blake Grupe in New Orleans and Indianapolis.

“I was like, ‘Hey, what do I need to know about him?’” Evans said. “‘Is there anything special he wants with holds?’”

Evans is accustomed to the research.

In 2023, the Rams replaced Brett Maher during the season with Lucas Havrisik, and then eventually re-signed Maher. Last season, Harrison Mevis replaced Joshua Karty at midseason, and now Grupe replaces Mevis.

Special teams miscues — including surrendering a 70-yard kickoff return, a missed field-goal attempt and a blocked field-goal attempt — helped doom the Rams again Monday in a 37-34 overtime defeat by the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium.

On Sunday, the struggling 2-3 Rams will attempt to bounce back against the struggling Arizona Cardinals (1-4).

“I want to see this get fixed,” coach Sean McVay said of special teams breakdowns, adding, “Let’s have solves, let’s have solutions and let’s give our players a chance to be able to have 11-as-one executed in each phase as consistently as possible.

“That’s what we’re going to keep striving for,” he said before quipping, “and I’m hopeful that it does happen so I don’t have to keep talking about it.”

Said special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone: “It ultimately comes down to reverting back to your fundamentals and your techniques that enable you to be able to protect, block, tackle, all of those things.”

After playing four of their first five games against teams that made the playoffs last season, the Rams will face a Cardinals team coached by former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.

LaFleur is the latest former Rams offensive assistant to be hired as a head coach. His older brother Matt LaFleur coaches the Green Bay Packers, Zac Taylor the Cincinnati Bengals, Kevin O’Connell the Minnesota Vikings and Liam Coen the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Former Rams defensive coordinators Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris also parlayed their time under McVay into head coach roles.

“As much as I love Sean, haven’t really thought of him too much,” Mike LaFleur told Arizona reporters this week, “and I’m sure he’s kind of feeling the same way about me right now.”

McVay said he talks with LaFleur “a lot.” But had not this week, “just because it’s been busier than normal, but I will talk to him at some point.”

McVay was busy releasing Mevis and signing Grupe, and dealing with the NFL’s suspension of left tackle Alaric Jackson.

The league initially suspended Jackson for two games for striking Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb in the face on the field after the Rams’ defeat. The suspension was reduced to one game on appeal.

Veteran David Quessenberry, a ninth-year pro who last started a game in 2023, will start in place of Jackson as quarterback Matthew Stafford’s blindside protector.

“This is kind of why I’m here — when things like this happen,” Quessenberry said. “So I’m ready to go. This is what I’ve worked for … I’m fired up.”