The UCLA Bruins are one of the surprises of this college football season.
At first, that meant Nico Iamaleava was part of a feel-good story — not all that long after his Tennessee transfer saga had made him a bit of a villain.
But these days, the Bruins are trying to continue their stellar season without Iamaleava. He isn’t playing for them at the moment.
UCLA has a big game on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and to pull off a victory in a potentially tight contest, they’ll have to do it without Iamaleava.
What Happened to Nico Iamaleava?
Iamaleava sustained a season-ending injury earlier in the year.
Iamaleava is going to miss the rest of this season, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports — with that news breaking in early October.
As part of UCLA’s upset of Oregon earlier this season, Iamaleava hurt his leg in the first half — while being tackled, his knee buckled.
Iamaleava returned for one play after getting hurt but then didn’t play after that as backup Ty Dieffenbach helped UCLA hold off the Ducks anyway.
The play didn’t look good, and the news from Zenitz was indeed that it’s a tough outcome for Iamaleava.
Nico Iamaleava Stats
This marked Iamaleava’s second season with the Bruins.
Last year, Iamaleava completed 64.4% of passes for 1,928 yards in 11 games. He threw 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also ran an impressive 112 times for 505 yards and four more TDs.
This season so far, Iamaleava had thrown for 982 yards (62.1%) with four TDs and four INTs. He also had 42 runs for 144 yards and a touchdown.
Before exiting against Oregon, Iamaleava was 10-for-17 for 162 yards with two interceptions.
He still hasn’t lived up to his 2024 season at Tennessee, when he threw for 19 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions while throwing for 2,616 yards on 63.8% completion rate.
It was that season, and a run into the College Football Playoff, that led to Iamaleava asking for more money from Tennessee.
Instead, he has taken a reported paycut and now is missing the rest of his second UCLA season with injury.
What Happened to Nico Iamaleava? Why UCLA QB Isn’t Playing After Tennessee Transfer