Nico Iamaleava battled through injury for UCLA win over Maryland

PASADENA —After exiting the game early due to a knee injury late in the fourth quarter, Nico Iamaleava returned in the final 40 seconds of the game to get his team a 20-17 victory over Maryland Saturday night.

UCLA drove downfield 68 yards to the 5-yard line, setting Mateen Bhaghani up for a 23-yard field goal to give the Bruins the lead with 2 seconds left in the game.

"I just took a deep breath," UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. "I know with Nico when I saw him starting to walk off and his face started to come back normal, I was like 'Hey, we have a shot here.' And then they cleared him, and I was like 'Alright, let's go."

Before the injury, Maryland had gotten the best of him all game long.

With 4:40 left in the third quarter, he threw his second interception of the game, which resulted in an 8-yard Maryland touchdown to give the Terripans a 10-7 lead, their first of the night.

The Maryland defense continued to make its presence felt by forcing a fumble and recovering it on a sack in the fourth quarter.

UCLA's defense bailed him out following the fumble and forced them into a three-and-out.

Iamaleava got the Terripans' defense to break by getting UCLA the lead again following a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Matthews during the final four minutes to make it 14-10.

"I knew Nico and I was gonna get it," UCLA receiver Matthews said. "We saw the same look in practice and connected. So I think we both knew I was gonna score on that touchdown."

On the next Maryland possession, UCLA got its second turnover of the night when Scooter Jackson intercepted Maryland quarterback Malik Washington with 3:03 left in the game.

UCLA was looking to tack on another touchdown on 3rd and 14 on Maryland's 24-yard line, but then Iamaleava was sacked and immediately grabbed his knee.

The Rose Bowl bleachers, which had been loud throughout the game, suddenly went quiet as Iamaleava needed help from his teammates to gingerly walk off the field.

The fans across the stadium chanted "Nico, Nico Nico" in what looked like the end of their star quarterback's night.

UCLA added 3 more points to extend their lead to 17-10 following a 42-yard field goal by Bhaghani.

While the Bruins were up by a touchdown, the momentum quietly shifted to the other sideline as the Bruins were suddenly preparing to play without their star quarterback.

Maryland drove down the field and tied the game with an 8-yard touchdown pass by Washington to Jalil Farooq.

As the Bruins' offense was set to take the field, out came Iamaleava to lead his team down the field.

"He got up, walked it off. Then, when (the medical staff) said he was okay, he was like 'I'm going." Skipper said.

Iamaleava first fired a pass to Kwazi Gilmer, but the ball went incomplete. On the next play, he fired a 19-yard pass to Titus Mokia-Atimalala for a 19-yard gain. UCLA then handed the ball off to Anthony Woods for a 35-yard gain to put them 5 yards away from the endzone.

"He stuck in that pocket. Delivered the ball, got us down there, then the big run. We got the field goal." Skipper said.

Bhaghani trotted onto the field and nailed the game-winner.

Following the field goal, the Terripans returned the kickoff and lateraled the ball to multiple players until they were brought down on their own 8-yard line to end the game.

"It was a very special moment. I'm super appreciative of our offense," Bhaghani said. "Nico and Frias put their heart out on the line, getting me down there. (Salem Abdul-Wahab and Cash Peterman) made it easy for me. Little tap and kick."