The quarterback battle at UCLA is now front and center, and on Tuesday it was Ty Dieffenbach who got the first crack with the starters.
With Nico Iamaleava sidelined by a knee injury, Dieffenbach took first-team reps in practice as he and Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother, continued to jockey for the job under first-year head coach Bob Chesney. Chesney still hasn’t named a starter for Saturday’s home game against Wisconsin, but the senior from Agoura High looked like the early favorite.
“You have a team that’s ready and doing this,” Chesney said. “They have to be on that same wavelength as everybody else.
They have to accelerate and advance us like everyone else. It can’t be anything else.”
During the portion of Tuesday’s session open to the media, Dieffenbach completed a pair of screen passes and a play-action throw in short yardage before sailing a 25-yard attempt that fell incomplete. It was the kind of uneven practice snapshot that didn’t settle the competition, even if it suggested where things may be headed.
UCLA is coming off a 17-15 road win at Oregon, a breakthrough result that delivered the program’s first victory in Eugene since 2004. The Bruins are now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten Conference, and they’ve quickly turned the page to Wisconsin, which comes in at 4-1 and 2-0.
“It was a good practice to start this week,” Chesney said. “Coming off a game like that, we talk about it; in a game like that, complacency can never set in. There’s enough stuff that we have to get better at, and I don’t expect any of that to happen today.”
Dieffenbach entered last week’s game in the second half after Nico Iamaleava went down, and while UCLA has not officially confirmed the injury, Chesney said Monday that the quarterback is believed to have a torn ACL. Dieffenbach then helped finish the job against the Ducks, going 3 of 6 for 43 yards and hitting Wayne Knight on a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Chesney stressed Tuesday that the staff’s evaluation goes beyond the jersey names in the quarterback room.
“The most important thing about this right now is that they are good football players,” Chesney said. “They can read coverages, they can throw the ball, and they can extend plays with their legs.
We all understand how good they are. That’s not up for debate.”
He also pointed to the way Dieffenbach and Madden Iamaleava have handled the situation, saying their support for one another matters to the group.
“The biggest fan of Ty today was Madden and the biggest fan of Madden today was Ty,” Chesney said. “For the team to see that is a really big deal for where we are trying to go.”
UCLA is also dealing with another injury issue on defense. Senior defensive back Rodrick Pleasant did not appear in pads after leaving the Oregon game before halftime with a non-contact injury to his left leg. Pleasant had 12 tackles, including an interception against Purdue, and has three pass deflections this season.
“He’s working out with the trainers right now,” Chesney said. “He’s tight, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
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