PASADENA—Another dramatic ending for the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, October 18. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava drove the Bruins down the field in the final 40 seconds of regulation.
Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 23-yard field goal with two seconds to play, and UCLA beat Maryland, 20-17 to extend its improbable season turnaround with a third consecutive victory.
UCLA scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to keep the wonderful, and frankly, baffling winning streak alive. Nico was astounding in the victory, sustaining what initially appeared to be a season ending knee injury, only to hop back on the field for their final possession in regulation leading them to victory.
It was reminiscent of a vintage John Elway performance.
Nico Iamaleava passed for 221 yards and led three scoring drives in the final six minutes despite going down with an apparent knee injury during that wild stretch for the Bruins (3-4, 3-1 Big Ten), who managed to stay on the upswing in their roller coaster of a season.
“I think it’s all about belief, (and) the guys believe,” UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said.
“There’s nothing that happened throughout the game that’s going to take our confidence away, and you don’t really know that until you get in a tight game like that. I found out today that these guys believe.”
It was heart pounding action down the stretch, each team answering in the clutch with dazzling plays and points.
Iamaleava threw a go-ahead, 14-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Matthews with 3:33 to play, and Bhaghani’s first field goal put the Bruins up 17-10 with 2:09 to play shortly after Scooter Jackson intercepted Malik Washington’s pass deep in Maryland territory.
Maryland quickly responded. QB Malik Washington refused to give in. Leading the Terrapins (4-3, 1-3) on a dramatic drive, hitting Jalil Farooq for an 8-yard TD with 40 seconds left.
Iamaleava completed two passes for 33 yards before Anthony Frias — who made an early 55-yard touchdown run for UCLA — made a 35-yard run to the Maryland 5 to set up Bhaghani’s tiebreaking field goal.
After an 0-4 start that included the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster and the departure of both coordinators, UCLA has dramatically reversed course over the past two weeks with stunning victories over Penn State and Michigan State under Skipper.
The Bruins are still showing remarkable pride and poise under Skipper. Which is inspiring and motivating for this program.
Next week UCLA travels to face the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers. Should the Bruins pull off that Herculean upset, they will be one of the best teams in the BIG 10 Conference.
It’s amazing witnessing the UCLA faithful so jubilant walking back to their cars. Time to believe in the Bruins.
