UCLA Loses Nico Iamaleava After Knee Injury

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava is expected to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury in the Bruins' 17-15 win over Oregon. The injury occurred during Saturday's game when Iamaleava became tangled between two Oregon defenders.

CBS Sports reported through sources that Iamaleava is likely to be sidelined for the rest of the season, while UCLA coach Bob Chesney said the team was still waiting for medical evaluations before making a final determination.

At his Monday press conference, Chesney said there was significant concern about Iamaleava's condition but noted that the quarterback had not been officially ruled out at that point.

"I'm gonna wait on our doctors to make the final call on things. He has a meeting later today, and we'll have a lot more clarity on where things are at. ... There is serious concern at the moment, but at the same time, there's nothing that has been fully ruled at this time. There's still other opinions and people we want to talk to just to make sure everyone sees it the same way," said Bob Chesney, coach.

Iamaleava transferred from Tennessee to UCLA before the 2025 season and remained with the Bruins after Chesney became the program's leader. In his second season with UCLA, he completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 982 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions, while rushing for 144 yards and one score.

The quarterback situation became a key issue after Iamaleava left the Oregon game. Backup Ty Dieffenbach entered and completed three of six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in his first FBS appearance.

Chesney described the competition for the starting role as dependent on weekly circumstances after the Oregon victory.

"We're really on a week-to-week basis here. This week, we felt like we had to run a little bit more with the quarterback, possibly. And that's where I thought Ty had a really nice week.

And that put us in that spot. It's just one of those things. I'm sure if Madden had gone in there, he would have done a phenomenal job as well.

But Ty was the guy we decided on based on the previous week of practice, and I thought he did a really good job. But Madden is going to be there the whole way through as well, competing and fighting for that position with or without Nico," said Bob Chesney, coach.

Dieffenbach's limited college experience leaves sophomore Madden Iamaleava as another option. Madden, Nico's younger brother, had one career passing attempt before the quarterback competition continued into the season.

UCLA's offense can rely on its rushing attack and defense while adjusting at quarterback. According to CBS Sports, the Bruins rank sixth nationally in rushing yards per game with 253.2 and allow 18.0 points per game on defense.

The Bruins also allow 87.6 rushing yards per game, and their first game without Iamaleava is scheduled against Wisconsin on Saturday night.