UCLA names Ty Dieffenbach starting quarterback with Nico Iamaleava out
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- UCLA senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury sustained in the Bruins’ 17-15 win over Oregon.
- Quarterback Ty Dieffenbach helped secure the Bruins’ victory, giving UCLA its first win at Oregon since 2004.
- Dieffenbach is the Bruins’ new starter, with backup Madden Iamaleava also competing for snaps.
UCLA coach Bob Chesney wasn’t ready to declare the end of UCLA senior starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s season on Monday, but the forecast was grim.
Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of this season with a knee injury, according to a person with knowledge of the injury not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Chesney said he is waiting for UCLA doctors to “make the final call on things.”
“He has a meeting later today, and he’ll have a whole lot more clarity on exactly where things are at,” Chesney said of Iamaleava during a news conference Monday. “Everything being reported is what’s being reported. There is a serious concern at this moment, but at the same point in time, there is nothing that has been fully ruled at this moment.”
The injury is a blow for the No. 12 Bruins, who are 5-0 during Chesney’s first season and have a favorable path to the College Football Playoff.
Chesney said that while Ty Dieffenbach and Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother, both earned the right to start, Chesney will start Dieffenbach going forward and see how it plays out.
Nico sustained the injury at the end of the first half of UCLA’s win over Oregon.
The quarterback was running with the ball when he was spun around and tackled. He grabbed his leg as he was hit in the head by Oregon’s Bear Alexander. Chesney said Nico told him, “They keep punching me in the face.” The coach said he didn’t see the hit until he watched a recording of the game, but the punch was “egregious” and “it was a shame” that the officials missed it.
Nico tried to keep playing, but he was ruled out during halftime and eventually emerged from the locker room in the third quarter wearing street clothes.
Chesney said that he saw Nico Monday morning and that he’s in a good place mentally and wants to figure out exactly where he stands.
Dieffenbach, an Agoura High alum who started last season at Cal Poly, ran the UCLA offense during the second half. He completed three passes for 43 yards and one touchdown, helping the Bruins earn a 17-15 win.
“I thought he did a good job. He threw some really nice, accurate footballs, catchable footballs,” Chesney said of Dieffenbach. “He stepped up in the moment where we needed him to, and then at the same point in time, he commanded the offense very well. What got him there is that we’re really looking at this on a week-to-week basis, and he had a really good week of practice. He did a really good job, and he brings a lot to the table.”
Madden appeared in two games this season, taking over the offense against Purdue when his older brother went down with a shoulder injury and against Maryland with UCLA up multiple scores.
Chesney turned to Dieffenbach, who previously spent two seasons at Pittsburgh without playing, during one of the biggest moments of the season. Dieffenbach said after the win he didn’t know he would be asked to take over when Nico was sidelined.
When the head coach went into the locker room at halftime to tell Dieffenbach that he would be the starter, the signal-caller responded with two words: “Let’s go.” Chesney said that he saw zero nerves from Dieffenbach.
Chesney said Saturday the decision to play Dieffenbach instead of Madden against the Ducks was based on the game script and the threat of Dieffenbach in the ground game, but the coach noted Monday that he thinks Madden could have succeeded as well.
“We are really on a week-to-week basis here, and this week we felt like we had to run a little bit more with the quarterback possibly, and that’s where I felt Ty had a really nice week and that put us in that spot,” Chesney said Saturday after the win. “This is just one of those things that I’m sure if Madden would’ve went in there, he would have done a phenomenal job as well. But I thought Ty was the guy we decided on at this moment based on the previous week of practice.”
Chesney and Dieffenbach acknowledged that the fight for a spot on the UCLA depth chart never ends.
No. 21 UCLA capitalizes on mistakes from No. 13 Oregon and stops the Ducks on a two-point conversion try to pull off a stunning 17-15 win.
“Every week is a battle between me and Madden for the two-spot, and I mean both of us were executing in practice,” Dieffenbach said Saturday. “When I heard that I was [going to play, it was] just tunnel vision, just ready to go execute.”
With injuries piling up five games into a perfect season, Chesney is using the shifts in the depth chart as an opportunity to keep players on their toes.
“You’re going to have guys that can’t make it the whole season. Our job is to be ready. And that’s what the message was the other day,” Chesney said. “If you think you’re a three, get ready. You might be a two. If you think you’re a two, get ready, you might be a one, and when that light shines on you, you’re either exposed or revealed. So let’s make sure that you’re revealed.”
