LOS ANGELES — The competition to impress the Bob Chesney-led coaching staff is on between senior Ty Dieffenbach and Madden Iamaleava, the younger brother of injured starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
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“You have a team that’s ready and doing this,” Chesney said. “They have to be on that same wavelength as everybody else. They have to accelerate and advance us like everyone else. It can’t be anything else.”
Dieffenbach, a former Agoura High standout, took first-team reps at Tuesday’s practice and completed a pair of screen passes and one play-action pass in short yardage before underthrowing a 25-yard passing attempt, which led to an incompletion during the live session that was open to the media.
While Dieffenbach appears to be the favorite to start Saturday’s home game against Wisconsin, Chesney hasn’t appointed an official starter coming off the Bruins’ 17-15 road win against Oregon last weekend, the program’s first win in Eugene since 2004.
No. 12 UCLA (5-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten Conference), which lost Nico Iamaleava to a knee injury during the game against the Ducks, has turned its focus to this week’s game against the Badgers (4-1, 2-0).
“It was a good practice to start this week,” Chesney said. “Coming off a game like that, we talk about it; in a game like that, complacency can never set in. There’s enough stuff that we have to get better at, and I don’t expect any of that to happen today.”
Dieffenbach came on in the second half for Nico Iamaleava, who is believed to have a torn ACL, though no official confirmation of the diagnosis has been made by UCLA’s staff, Chesney said during Monday’s press conference at the Wasserman Football Center.
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Dieffenbach completed 3 of 6 passes for 43 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown to running back Wayne Knight, to complete UCLA’s upset of then-No. 13 Oregon.
“The most important thing about this right now is that they are good football players,” Chesney said. “They can read coverages, they can throw the ball, and they can extend plays with their legs. We all understand how good they are. That’s not up for debate.”
Chesney shared the importance of Dieffenbach and Iamaleava “being there for each other,” while they’re competing for the starting job.
“The biggest fan of Ty today was Madden and the biggest fan of Madden today was Ty,” Chesney said. “For the team to see that is a really big deal for where we are trying to go.”
UPDATE ON RODRICK PLEASANT
Iamaleava’s knee isn’t UCLA’s only injury concern. Senior defensive back Rodrick Pleasant wasn’t seen practicing in pads after sustaining a non-contact injury to his left leg before halftime against Oregon. Pleasant had 12 tackles, including an interception against Purdue, and has three pass deflections this season.
Chesney provided a brief update on where Pleasant stands with his injury.
“He’s working out with the trainers right now,” Chesney said. “He’s tight, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
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