The start of the season couldn't have gone worse for the UCLA Bruins as they started the season 0-4. The DeShaun Foster era ended just 3 games into his second season as the Bruins were embarrassed at home against New Mexico. Between the way the season started and the fact that Nico Iamaleava transferred in one of the biggest stories of the year, this program became the butt of the joke.
Last week, the staff changes continued as UCLA fired offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, picking Jerry Neuheisel to replace him. Between the fact that his father Rick, was UCLA's Head Coach and the fact that he played for the Bruins, it became a perfect story when the UCLA offense had it's best game of the season en route to an upset win over Penn State.
After the game, it was easy to be excited about how the Bruins looked but, you also had to wonder if the offense looked good because Penn State had no idea what they may run. This weekend, the Bruins erased any doubt that they may be a one game wonder with an incredible performance against Michigan State.
The Bruins came out in the first half on fire as Jalen Berger rushed for a 16 yard touchdown while Nico Iamaleava found him for another score and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala to help the Bruins take a 24-7 lead at the half.
The second half was more of the same for the UCLA Bruins punched another score in on the ground before Iamaleava found Jalen Berger for the back's third score of the game. The Bruins' 38-13 lead was so big that the Bruins were able to play their backups down the stretch to help salt the game away.
Don’t look now, but Nico Iamaleava might actually be feeling it at UCLA pic.twitter.com/W4aS7XZz1i
— Travis May (@FF_TravisM) October 11, 2025
In the Bruins' first four games, the most the team had scored in a game was 23 points; in the last two weeks, UCLA has outscored that mark in the first half. Nico Iamaleava looked like he made one of the worst decisions imaginable with his transfer but, the last two weeks he's looked better than he ever did at Tennessee.
The new regime has worked wonders with Nico Iamaleava, as Jerry Neuheisel may be the best asset for his development. In the first four games, Iamaleava only had 4 touchdowns passing with 3 interceptions, while he added a rushing touchdown. In the last two games, Iamaleava has thrown 5 touchdowns without an interception while rushing for 3 scores.
UCLA is going to need to undergo a coaching search, and the Bruins may not need to look far to find the future leadership of the program. Tim Skipper and Jerry Neuheisel have done an incredible job, and if this team continues to roll, it'll be almost impossible not to keep things rolling.
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