Joe Rossi and Michigan State football's defense got plenty of prep to face UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava - from his high school rival, Aidan Chiles.
EAST LANSING – It didn’t take much for Joe Rossi’s defense to find a good scouting report on Nico Iamaleava.
The UCLA quarterback’s crosstown high school rival happens to be on the Michigan State football roster. And he also happens to be the Spartans’ starting quarterback,=.
No, Rossi didn’t pry Aidan Chiles away from his duties to run the scout team this week as MSU (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) prepares to host Iamaleava and the Bruins on Saturday, Oct. 11 (noon/BTN). The last two years of going against their star QB during the offseason, however, presented similar challenges as the Spartans expect to face with the UCLA starter, who directed college football’s biggest upset of the season last week.
“You got a long guy with a really good arm who can run,” Rossi, MSU's defensive coordinator, said of Iamaleava on Wednesday, Oct. 8. “That is very similar to Aidan, so we’ve defended him all training camp and all spring. He’s not gonna be on the scout team this week – I went to (offensive coordinator Brian) Lindgren and he said no. But I think we’ve got some familiarity with that type of quarterback.”
Rossi was joking about getting Chiles to simulate Iamaleava in practice this week. But the similarities between the two quarterbacks go beyond surface level.
Iamaleava, whose well-chronicled offseason transfer to UCLA from Tennessee garnered massive national attention, is 98-of-148 (66.2%) for 954 yards with three passing touchdowns and three interceptions, adding 332 rushing yards and four scores.
Chiles for the season is 79-of-125 passing (63.2%) for 953 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions, adding 177 rushing yards and four scores on 52 carries.
“It definitely helps facing as good of a quarterback as Aidan is in practice every single day,” defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said Wednesday. “He’s really mobile, he can run out of the pocket and extend plays. So I think we’re prepared in that sense, we’ve seen it every single day. And UCLA’s quarterback is a really good quarterback. He can throw the ball well, he can do everything really well. It’s gonna be a challenge.”
In the Bruins’ stunning 42-37 upset of then-No. 6 Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 4, the 6-foot-6, 215-pound third-year sophomore totaled five touchdowns, three rushing and two passing, and had 296 of the 446 yards of offense for UCLA (1-4, 1-1).
“(The Bruins) didn’t have the best four games (to start the year), but this last game, he showed what he can do,” Chiles said Tuesday, Oct. 7. “That’s who he is as a quarterback. That’s how he plays football all the time. That’s just what he is. A great quarterback, a great guy.
“I haven’t beat him yet, so that’s my goal.”
Both Chiles and Iamaleava are from Long Beach, California. They met one time as high school seniors, with Iamaleava’s Warren High defeating Chiles and Downey High, 49-22. Iamaleava had 243 passing yards and four touchdowns in that game along with 50 rushing yards, while Chiles threw for 158 yards and two TDs while rushing for 115 yards and a TD.
Their teams played in 2021, but Chiles sat out due to an injury. Both played at other high schools early in their prep days before Chiles began his college career at Oregon State and Iamaleava at Tennessee. Chiles called Iamaleava “my high school rival." The two grew up playing 7-on-7 together along with Iamaleava’s brother, Madden, who is now a redshirt freshman for UCLA after transferring from Arkansas to join his brother this season near their hometown.
Against the Nittany Lions, Iamaleava ran for 128 of the Bruins’ 269 rushing yards. Rossi called Iamaleava “one of the better players in the country.”
“He hurt Penn State with the scramble. He had three or four really big ones,” Rossi said. “That’s always so deflating for a defense – hey, you’re in good coverage and you got people covered up, and then the quarterback pulls it down and rushes not only for a first down, but he goes and gets an explosive play. And that was, to me, a big difference-maker in that game.”
The Nittany Lions sacked Iamaleava three times in the game, and he’s been dropped 12 times so far this season. Iamaleava also was sacked 28 times last season while starting all 13 games in leading the Volunteers to a 10-3 record and College Football Playoff berth. He was 213 of 334 for 2,616 yards passing with nine touchdowns and five interceptions while running for 364 yards and three scores as a redshirt freshman at Tennessee before entering the portal and arriving at UCLA.
MSU’s defense has struggled to generate a consistent pass rush all season, but the Spartans are coming off one of their best pressure performances under Rossi in Saturday’s 38-27 loss at Nebraska. His defense sacked Huskers quarterback Dylan Raiola five times, the most in a Big Ten game for MSU since getting seven against the Huskers in 2023.
“It was a great confidence-builder,” said sixth-year senior linebacker Darius Snow, who picked up his first career sack. “When you have a game plan and you practice it throughout the week and you see success during practice, and then you see success during games, it’s always a positive effect. …
“(Iamaleava) is a great athlete, and he definitely showcased that last week. So it’s about respecting him and then going out and doing our job, owning your lanes and knowing where to flush him.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Nico Iamaleava was Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles' HS rival
Category: General Sports
