UCLA’s dream run took a hard turn Monday, with the Bruins learning their starting quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, is expected to miss the rest of the 2026 season because of a knee injury suffered in Saturday’s win over Oregon, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
It’s a crushing development for a team that just walked into Eugene and beat the Ducks, 17-15, behind a defense that forced seven turnovers. Under first-year head coach Bob Chesney, UCLA had started to look like a team with real momentum. Now it has to navigate the rest of the year without the player who has been running the offense.
Iamaleava left the game on Saturday and Chesney didn’t sound alarmed afterward, though he did leave room for concern. He said the quarterback was hit in the thigh but added that “there might be a little bit more to it.”
“We got to just figure out as we go through the process tonight, tomorrow, the rest of the way,” Chesney said.
Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit who began his college career at Tennessee, is in his second season with UCLA. He’ll finish 2026 with 982 passing yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions.
The Bruins now turn to backup Ty Dieffenbach, the Cal Poly transfer who came in to finish the game against Oregon. Last season, Dieffenbach threw for 1,305 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions, and he added 321 rushing yards and four scores on the ground. That gives UCLA at least some dual-threat juice behind center, and for now he’s the likely starter.
The schedule ahead gives UCLA some breathing room, at least on paper. The Bruins have only one ranked opponent left: USC in the regular-season finale. But there are still trips to Minnesota and Michigan, and those won’t be simple asks without Iamaleava.
For the moment, the Bruins will lean on what has already carried them through stretches of this season. Running back Wayne Knight has been a steady force with 548 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, and UCLA’s defense has already shown it can change games. Until Dieffenbach settles in, it looks like Knight and that defense will have to do the heavy lifting.
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