The UCLA Bruins opened the season with a 45-24 win over the Cal Golden Bears in Week One, and the biggest reason for the blowout was obvious: the run game was rolling.
UCLA piled up 277 yards on the ground and found the end zone six times. Wayne Knight scored three of those touchdowns, Anthony Woods added two, and Nico Iamaleava chipped in with one of his own. That kind of production tends to put the spotlight on the backs, but Iamaleava’s day still deserves a closer look.
It was not a spotless outing for the quarterback. After UCLA’s defense forced and recovered a fumble, the Bruins had the ball in the red zone with a chance to push the lead to 28-10 late in the first half.
Instead, Iamaleava threw an interception, and Cal immediately flipped the moment. The Golden Bears turned that break into a touchdown with just seconds remaining to tighten the score.
Still, Iamaleava showed poise in the pocket throughout the game. With Cal’s secondary holding up well downfield, he repeatedly chose the safer answer and took what was there rather than trying to squeeze the ball into trouble.
He also answered the bad break well. After the interception near halftime, Iamaleava came back with a 43-yard strike to Mikey Matthews, a throw that helped UCLA get into field goal range and add three more points before the break.
That response mattered, because the Bruins saw momentum drift toward Cal at different points in the game. For UCLA moving forward, having a quarterback who can stay steady when the game starts to tilt could be a real asset.
The bigger takeaway from the Cal game is that UCLA has options all over the offense. If Iamaleava can bring all of those pieces together and keep growing into his own ceiling, this Bruins attack could become a real problem in the Big Ten.
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UCLAs Biggest Post-Cal Challenge Is Just Getting Started
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UCLA Left One Costly Red Zone Mistake That Better Teams Will Punish
UCLA opened Week One with a 21-point win and, for the most part, looked efficient when it got inside the red zone. The Bruins turned most of those chances into touchdowns and kept control of the game, which made the overall offensive showing feel encouraging even if there were a few early-seasons rough edges to clean up.
One empty trip still loomed large because it came just before halftime, when a short Nico Iamaleava pass was intercepted in the red zone and Cal quickly answered with a touchdown to trim the lead to 21-17. UCLA steadied after that and allowed only seven second-half points, but better teams are far more likely to punish that kind of wasted scoring chance. [Read more 🡒]
UCLA Gets Its First Real Chance To Prove Week 1 Was Real
UCLA gets a cleaner read on itself Saturday when it hosts San Diego State at Rose Bowl Stadium, a follow-up that should say more about the Bruins than the season opener did. The 4:15 p.m. kickoff comes after a win over California that gave first-year head coach Bob Chesney and his team an encouraging first step, with running back Wayne Knight and defensive back TaShawn James among the players who helped set the tone.
Chesney arrived with a proven track record, and his first game in charge suggested the Bruins may have more immediate traction than some expected. But Week 1 can only tell you so much, and this home game offers UCLA a chance to see whether its fast start was a one-night burst or the beginning of something sturdier as the schedule starts to sharpen. [Read more 🡒]