Nico Iamaleava expected to miss remainder of 2026 season, per CFB insider
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Nico Iamaleava has helped lead UCLA’s Year 1 turnaround under Bob Chesney. Now the 5-0 Bruins are looking at not having their star quarterback for the remainder of the 2026 campaign.
Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported Monday, citing sources, that Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury the quarterback suffered in UCLA’s upset win over Oregon.
UCLA standout QB Nico Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury he suffered during the Bruins’ win over Oregon on Saturday, sources tell @CBSSports. An unfortunate development for No. 12 UCLA and for Iamaleava, who had been brought up by multiple NFL front office staffers recently as an ascending top three round draft prospect.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) October 12, 2026
In the first 5 games, Iamaleava had completed 62.1% of his passes for 982 yards with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. The 4 touchdowns came against Purdue (3) and Maryland (1). Now in his fourth year, the former Tennessee quarterback has 5,840 passing yards, 38 passing touchdowns and 16 interceptions over his career.
Iamaleava threw for 162 yards with 2 interceptions in the first half of the Oregon game before exiting due to injury. UCLA won the game 17-15. Ty Dieffenbach filled in for Iamaleava, going 3-of-6 passing for 43 yards and 1 touchdown.
Up next, UCLA (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) hosts Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0 B1G) on Saturday. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, airing on NBC.
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Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
