After a tumultuous offseason in which he transferred from Tennessee, Nico Iamaleava made his UCLA debut on Saturday. And it was a rough night for the Bruins and their new quarterback.
Facing Utah in a matchup of former Pac-12 schools, UCLA showed it has a long way to go for improvement under second-year coach DeShaun Foster. At the very least, the Bruins have to do a better job of blocking on offense.
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“We went out there and got punched in the mouth,” Iamaleava said after a 43-10 loss to the Utes, via the Los Angeles Times.
Iamaleava was sacked four times and hit frequently throughout the game. He completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was also UCLA’s leading rusher, gaining 47 yards on 11 carries.
“Nico is a competitor. He’s not gonna quit,” Foster said afterward, via The Sporting News. “We just gotta do a better job protecting him, keeping him upright.”
Perhaps influenced by those protection issues, Iamaleava wasn’t accurate with his passes. He threw behind receivers or over their heads, and made poor reads. On the Bruins’ second possession, he overthrew a wide-open Mikey Matthews for what would’ve been a likely touchdown. Two plays later, Iamaleava threw an interception.
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“Me, personally, I’ve got to be better,” Iamaleava told reporters, including the L.A. Times’ Bill Plaschke.
However, the defense didn’t fare much better, yielding 493 yards to Utah. Third down was a particular obstacle for UCLA. The Utes converted 14 of 16 third downs and their one fourth-down attempt.
Quarterback Devon Dampler threw for 206 yards and 2 TDs, completing 21 of 25 passes. Yet Utah’s rushing attack was especially effective, churning out 287 yards. Wayshawn Parker gained 62 yards, while NaQuari Rogers gained 61, allowing the Utes to put together long, punishing drives that demoralized the UCLA defense and thrilled the many Utah fans that filled the Rose Bowl.
(Those Utes supporters only got louder once Bruins fans began leaving the game early.)
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But Iamaleava drew the brightest spotlight after leaving Tennessee during the spring in an apparent dispute over NIL income. Reportedly, Iamaleava and his father wanted more than the $2.2 million he was set to receive from the Vols’ NIL collective. The Long Beach, California native denied that, saying he wanted to transfer to UCLA to be closer to family.
That controversy threatens to loom over the rest of Iamaleava’s college career unless his performance changes the conversation. Unfortunately, Saturday’s results didn’t accomplish that. (Joey Aguilar throwing for 3 TDs and 247 yards in Tennessee’s 45-26 win over Syracuse won’t help, either. He transferred from UCLA to the Vols in a virtual quarterback trade.)
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Nor did a blowout loss silence any questions about Foster’s viability as a head coach after taking over as head coach from Chip Kelly.
“We just played a good team, that’s it,” Foster said. That kind of answer isn’t going to be good enough for much longer if UCLA doesn’t begin to look more competitive on the field.
