PASADENA — UCLA found a way.
There was plenty of drama: an injured quarterback, costly penalties, an accurate Purdue quarterback who nearly spoiled the second home game of the Bob Chesney era at the Rose Bowl and a piece of history along the way.
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Nico Iamaleava was hit and landed on his right throwing shoulder with 1:38 left in the third quarter before returning in the fourth, and a crowd of 30,916 watched UCLA outlast an improved Purdue team 52-38.
“What a warrior because he was pretty nicked up,” UCLA coach Bob Chesney said postgame. “He wouldn’t get out of the game, and he just wanted to keep fighting and keep playing.”
Iamaleava battled through the injury and finished with his best game of the season. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns without an interception as UCLA improved to 3-0.
“It speaks to the growth of the team,” Iamaleava said. “It speaks to Coach Chesney and the buy-in to his process.”
The running back corps of Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas each produced touchdowns for UCLA on a night when the Bruins again leaned heavily on their ground game.
Knight rushed for 177 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns while continuing to embrace the “Dark Knight” moniker that has caught on around the program.
“Getting a nickname is cool, and people feed off of that,” Knight said.
Knight now has eight rushing touchdowns through UCLA’s first three games. The Bruins had eight rushing touchdowns as a team during the entire 2025 season.
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UCLA passed another test in its first Big Ten game of the season against a Purdue team that presented a much greater offensive challenge than the Bruins had faced through the first two weeks.
Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne completed 19 of 30 passes for 378 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. UCLA did manage to limit leading Boilermakers rusher Fame Ijeboi to 47 yards on 17 carries, while linebacker Sammy Omosigho forced two fumbles to bring his season total to four.
The blemish for Omosigho was a pair of roughing-the-passer penalties.
“The first one I was pushed into,” Omosigho said. “Just got to be smarter with the whistles, but we’ll continue flying around.”
UCLA picked up another win on a night when it needed a fast start, and that came with Iamaleava throwing the ball with confidence and timing.
On a night when the defense forced three turnovers but was beaten over the top several times by Browne, Iamaleava, Knight, Woods and Thomas came through offensively.
UCLA has put together complete stretches of football through its first three games, but Saturday checked another box.
Iamaleava delivered his signature game at the Rose Bowl, and when the Bruins were finally pushed, they had an answer.
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