Mike Locksley talks UCLA's offensive spark, QB Nico Iamaleava: "their quarterback has become part of the run game"

Ahmed Ghafir
22 hours ago
3 min read

Maryland football made the cross-country trip on Thursday morning as the team adjusts for Saturday’s 4 PM kickoff local time, a chance to end a two-game slide heading into the final bye week of the 2025 season. The outlook of the roadtrip is drastically different now than it was a month ago with Maryland drawing national buzz to close out September, while the Bruins remained winless through the first month and parted ways with DeShaun Foster after just 15 games.

Fast forward to two days away from kickoff, Maryland is a slight underdog on the road with UCLA a 3.5-point favorite, per DraftKings. A big part of the Bruins’ resurgence during their two-game win streak has been the dominant rushing attack with UCLA averaging over 250 yards and five yards per carry in consecutive conference wins. While the status of RB Anthony Woods is uncertain for this weekend, it’s been QB Nico Iamaleava who leads the team in rushing while accounting for eight total touchdowns and no turnover with head coach Mike Locksley pointing to “how they’re utilizing the quarterback” as the spark to UCLA’s turnaround.

“He’s now part of the run game. I know a week ago I think they rushed for over 200 yards against Michigan State on the road,” Locksley said on 106.7 on Wednesday. “Their quarterback has become part of the run game. They put a couple different personnel groupings in now where they may be protecting from the turnovers. The ball is coming out quick in the passing game with RPOs, quick game, boots and nakeds. And so he’s calling it really clean and they’re protecting the ball is what’s happening. Like I said, being a Big Ten team, they have talent as most of the teams all of them that we’ve had a chance to face does. And so I think just the way he’s calling it and that quarterback is starting to make some plays not just with his arm but his feet as well.”

Disrupting UCLA’s offense will be the biggest question with the front seven looking to put together a more efficient tackling performance after PFF recorded 24 missed tackles vs. Nebraska, but for a Maryland team that leads the country in turnover margin, Saturday marks the latest test for the 2025 team to close out a potential close game.

“We’ve got two or three games now without turnovers. Our quarterback for the most part has protected the football the right way and to me, now it’s just a matter of the playmakers making plays to close out games and that’s the next part of our maturation as a team we’ve got to get going here quickly.”

Maryland QB Malik Washington will also look to capitalize on a UCLA defense that has yet to record an interception through six games as he acclimates to Big Ten football.

“Obviously as the season goes on, he’s starting to see defenses that are now geared toward confusing or trying to confuse him and I like the way he’s been able to adjust to some of the different things he’s starting to see,” Locksley said of his freshman starter.

“And this is kind of the chess match with a young quarterback where they didn’t know who he was and so they didn’t know how to defend him. Now we’ve got five games of him on tape. They’re trying to obviously do things that maybe slows down his ability to process once the ball is snapped and I like what we are doing with him in terms of – the run game is starting to come along. Enough to where it takes some pressure off of him. I’d like to see us be a little more efficient in the short yardage situations. He’s done a really good job of recognizing the differences in the coverages from I would say the Washington game where some of it started to what Nebraska showed us. He’s starting to see things that we don’t prepare for because they play him differently and play our team differently and I think he’s adapted really well.”

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