UCLA football has its first signature win of the Bob Chesney era. UCLA took a big win over Oregon, beating the Ducks 17-15. During the game, quarterback Nico Iamaleava was injured. Initial reports are that Iamaleava will miss the rest of the UCLA season.

Now, Chesney is speaking out about the injury and the possibility of missing his quarterback for the season, per Ira Gorawara of The Athletic.

“I'm gonna wait for doctors to make the final call on things, he has a meeting later today and he'll have a lot more clarity on where things are at,” Chesney said. “There is a serious concern at this moment, but .. there is nothing that is been fully ruled at this moment.”

Iamaleava began his career at Tennessee in 2023 before transferring to UCLA ahead of the 2025 season. This year he has been playing well. Iamaleava has completed 72 of 116 passes for 982 yards and four touchdowns. He also scored once on the ground. Ty Diffenbach took over as the quarterback for Iamaleava, completing three of six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown.

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Diffenbach initially was enrolled at Pitt, redshirting in 2023 and not seeing action in 2024. He transferred to Cal Poly for his redshirt sophomore campaign, earning the starting job. He passed for 1,305 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions while also running for four touchdowns for Cal Poly. This year, he transferred to UCLA, expecting to be the backup to Iamaleava.

Despite the injury to their quarterback, UCLA is climbing the rankings. They will return home on Saturday, hosting Wisconsin.