Pasadena, CA - Nico Iamaleava had a 9-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Frias II with 4:54 remaining in the game as UCLA went on an unanswered 14-0 run before Nebraska upheld them from adding to that total with an uncomplicated offensive drive led by Freshman quarterback TJ Lateef, also a Compton local native, taking three consecutive knees to run out the clock, and win the game, 28-21 on a snappy Saturday night at the Rose Bowl stadium. Iamaleava passed for 191 yards and hit Frias and Woods for TDs along with accruing 15 carries for 86 yards to do all that he could to rally his team despite taking an unfortunate amount of hits.
“I think he [Iamaleava] likes to be in the contact,” UCLA interim head coach, Tim Skipper said. “He was a true dual-threat tonight…I thought he played four quarters of ball…We were starting to get some momentum but we didn’t get the stop at the end.”
The Bruins ran out of time in the end and took too much time at the start to stop Cornhuskers from leading this game through three quarters to figure out how to stop Lateef from completing plays, while he went 10 for 10, totaling up to 173 yards in his team first four possessions resulting to a 21-point deficit, 28-7.
Though both teams struggled in their run defenses, Nebraska was able to hit Iamaleava consistently, yet UCLA demonstrated other chinks in their armor needing to still address including multiple false starts, illegal formation or other unwarranted penalties.
“I’ve gotten hit a lot of times in many games,” Iamaleava said. “I don’t think it affected me…overall, we’ve just got to play better as a whole and finish games.”
While Iamaleava unattached from the Cornhuskers in the second half, Lateef unleashed on the Bruins’ defense the entire game with the help of his teammate and running back, Emmett Johnson, rushing and receiving over 100 yards with two TDs. UCLA did eventually slow the two down by the fourth period, forcing their team to punt.
“I just feel like we got aggressive, both on the line of scrimmage and the corners—everybody on defense,” UCLA linebacker Jalen Woods said. “I feel like we did a better job in the half of everybody running to the ball.” “We’ve got three more games left, so every game we’re playing like it’s our last,” Woods said. “Everyone’s giving 100% effort and no one’s quitting on the team.”
Bruins (3-6,3-3) trailed the entire game but never allowed the Cornhuskers (7-3, 4-3) to feel comfortable with their lead, as both teams possessed the ball for the same amount of time, 30 minutes.
UCLA will continue battling through this season woes on the road as they travel to Columbus, Ohio against the No. 1 Ohio State in hopes to keep their bowl games chance alive, beginning with an upset for another nationally televised game on Saturday, Nov. 15.
