Bob Chesney, UCLA Bruins Top List In AP Big Ten Midseason Awards

By the looks of it, Bob Chesney is well on his way to fixing the fixer-upper he acquired when UCLA hired him.

The No.

12 Bruins have their highest ranking in four years, reached midseason as one of nine unbeaten Football Bowl Subdivision teams and are tied with No.

4 Ohio State and No.

5 Indiana at 3-0 in Big Ten play.

Not bad for a team that was picked to finish 13th in the 18-team Big Ten and was 8-16 overall and 6-12 in conference games the previous two years under Deshaun Foster and Tim Skipper.

For their accomplishments so far, Chesney was named the Big Ten's top coach and UCLA the most surprising team at the midway point of the season by a vote of Associated Press writers who cover the conference.

Chesney, who led James Madison to a 21-6 record over two years and a spot in last season's College Football Playoff, inherited a mess when he was hired last December.

There was the predictable roster churn that comes with a new coaching hire, but Chesney got a big win when starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, now injured, decided to stay.

A Big Ten-high 46 transfers, including 11 from James Madison, and 17 freshmen joined the Bruins.

A major infusion of donor cash for name, image and likeness spending has helped, but the athletic department as a whole was a financial wreck.

Five days before the Bruins' opener, chancellor Julio Frenk fired athletic director Martin Jarmond, the man who hired Chesney.

Chesney is the first football coach in UCLA history to start his debut season 5-0.

The Bruins lead the Big Ten with 253 yards rushing per game and Wayne Knight, one of the James Madison transfers, is first in the conference with 109.6 yards per game.