After an 0-4 start and firing head coach DeShaun Foster, UCLA football needed a spark from the play of transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Through two games, he has engineering a stunning mid-season turnaround with back-to-back wins over No. 7 Penn State and Michigan State. Iamaleava was mired in inconsistency during the team's disastrous start, exploded in his last week's outing against the Nittany Lions, delivering an electrifying dual-threat performance that lifted interim coach Tim Skipper to a 42-37 victory and secured the Bruins' first win of the season.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback, who was named the AP Player of the Week, once again put up an explosive performance against the Spartans, throwing for three touchdowns as UCLA improved to 2-4 with a 38-13 win.
Here's how Iamaleava turned the Bruins' season around.
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Nico Iamaleava, UCLA upset Michigan State
UCLA pulled off a historic upset against Penn State, becoming the first team to beat a top-10 opponent while winless since 1985.
Again this week, the Bruins were the underdog on the road against Michigan State, and after going down 7-0 rattled off 38 straight points.
We're watching the rebirth of Nico Iamaleava in real time right now. And it's awesome.pic.twitter.com/SSJnXKLbrh
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) October 11, 2025
After being responsible for five touchdowns against Penn State, Iamaleava had another big game for new offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel. The Tennessee transfer completed 16 of 24 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns. The Bruins put up over 38 points after Neuheisel took over play calling days before facing the Nittany Lions.
The Bruins, who started 0-4 and 0-1 in the Big Ten, are now 2-4 with a winning conference record.
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Nico Iamaleava stats with Jerry Neuheisel as offensive coordinator
Iamaleava has the UCLA offense clicking, averaging
| Game | Completions/Attempts (%) | Passing yards | Passing TDs | INTs | Rushing Yards | Rushing TDs |
| vs No. 7 Penn State | 17/24 (70.8%) | 166 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 3 |
| at Michigan State | 16/24 (66%) | 180 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
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UCLA’s slow start under DeShawn Foster
The 2025 season began as a complete disaster for the Bruins, starting 0-3 under former head coach DeShaun Foster. The team’s schedule opened with a brutal 43-10 home loss to Utah, followed by an embarrassing 30-23 road defeat to UNLV.
The final straw came in Week 3 with a demoralizing 35-10 defeat at home to New Mexico, a performance that saw the Bruins outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter. This catastrophic start, during which the team was outscored 108-43 in non-conference play, forced the university to fire Foster just three games into his second season, ending his tenure with a 5-10 overall record.
Despite the highly publicized arrival of Iamaleava, the UCLA offense stalled completely under Foster and offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. Through the first three winless games, Iamaleava, the former Tennessee standout, was unable to deliver the consistent elite play the program needed, despite showing flashes of his dual-threat potential.
The offensive struggles were profound: the unit averaged a dismal 14.3 points per game and frequently shot itself in the foot with costly penalties, creating a disappointment after the high expectations set by Iamaleava's transfer. Even after the firing of Foster and a loss to Northwestern under interim coach Tim Skipper, UCLA was the only FBS team that had not led for a single second of a game through the first four weeks of the season.
Foster's dismissal, along with the later parting of ways with offensive coordinator Sunseri, paved the way for interim head coach Tim Skipper to take over. Skipper, utilizing Neuheisel as a play caller, was able to finally unlock Iamaleava's potential.