College football teams finally got a chance to make a first impression on the 2013 season over the weekend.

Few delivered an opening statement quite as impressive as the UCLA Bruins.

Up to No. 18 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Bruins shellacked an expected Mountain West Conference contender in Nevada, racking up 647 total yards in a 58-20 victory on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

UCLA features three of the 76 players who graduated from local high schools currently listed on Division I FBS rosters (excluding the University of Hawaii).

Defensive tackle Seali‘i Epenesa, a 2010 ‘Iolani alumnus, is the rock in the middle of UCLA’s 3-4 defense.

Epenesa started his 11th game for the Bruins and had three tackles, helping UCLA hold the Wolf Pack to only one touchdown after halftime.

"We made our adjustments at halftime and all we had to do was contain the quarterback," Epenesa said of Nevada’s Cody Fajardo. "He was getting out of the pocket and running on us and once he stopped doing that it slowed him down."

Epenesa was the ILH defensive player of the year his senior season at ‘Iolani, helping the Raiders go 8-1 in conference, losing only to Saint Louis.

He signed with the Bruins and thought he was going to redshirt his first season, but injuries forced him onto the field.

"I had no choice (but to play)," Epenesa said. "We had a lot of guys get hurt during fall camp and coach (Rick Neuheisel) told me it’d be good to get some game experience. It’s bittersweet."

Instead of being a redshirt junior, this is the final year at UCLA for Epenesa, who has watched firsthand the program grow into a Pac-12 contender.

Epenesa played in seven games for a team that went 4-8 during his freshman season.

UCLA backed into the Pac-12 Conference title game and made a bowl despite finishing 6-8 his sophomore year.

Neuheisel was fired and replaced by Jim Mora, who brings an entirely different style of coaching.

UCLA went 9-5 last year and played in the Holiday Bowl and is considered the favorite in the Pac-12’s South Division this season.

"Coach Mora changed the whole mentality of the locker room," Epenesa said. "He’s not like the previous coaches. He’s not lenient and has made everyone’s work ethic a lot better, and it’s a good thing for the program because guys work harder and are more accountable with each other."

Epenesa is joined by two other fellow Bruins from Hawaii in place-kicker Kaimi Fairbairn and linebacker Isaac Savaiinaea, who were teammates at Punahou two years ago.

Savaiinaea, a true freshman, made three solo tackles in his first collegiate game, while Fairbairn, who won the starting kicking job as a freshman last season, went 7-for-7 on extra points and 1-for-2 on field goals against the Wolf Pack.

He made one from 40 yards and missed another from 48.

The Bruins are thinking big in 2013.

"Obviously our ultimate goal is to win the Pac-12, but the next thing after that is to get into that national championship game," Epenesa said.

The middle of October will go a long way in determining the Bruins’ fate, as UCLA plays at No. 5 Stanford and at No. 2 Oregon in back-to-back weeks on Oct. 19 and 26.