Booger McFarland on UCLA, Nico Iamaleavea after Utah loss: 'They suck'

After what was a long and winding offseason for quarterback Nico Iamaleava following his departure from Tennessee, he finally suited up for UCLA in its season opener against Utah last Saturday night.

Iamaleava’s debut in the bruin blue and gold however was a complete disaster, as the Utes jumped out to a 20-0 lead just three minutes into the second quarter. The Bruins were never in the game and fell 43-10 to kick off their 2025 season.

ESPN‘s Booger McFarland completely obliterated Iamaleava and UCLA on Tuesday’s edition of ‘Pardon My Take‘, claiming that his replacement at Tennessee (Joey Aguilar) played better in the Volunteers’ season opener against Syracuse than he ever did in Knoxville.

“How about Nico Iamaleava?” McFarland said. “Leaves (Tennessee), says ‘I don’t wanna be there.’ He goes to UCLA and gets hammered by Utah. They suck. In comes Joey Aguilar (for Tennessee). Nobody’s ever heard of him and he just lights it up and dare I say played better than Iamaleava ever did last year. I love to see stories like that when the guy is maybe too high and mighty and leaves and in comes the other guy who plays better.”

DeShaun Foster discussed Iamaleava’s performance on Monday

The former five-star recruit completed just 11/22 passes for 136 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the loss. He also led UCLA in rushing with 47 yards on 13 carries.

“The only thing I was worried about is him, just sliding, that was it,” UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster told media on Monday. “You know, he’s a very athletic kid. He’s played multiple sports. He’s, like, high level athlete, so, you know, he can extend the play and go, but you guys saw a quarterback play off schedule the whole time against us. 

“So, it’s not a really a concerning thing that I think the O-line did a good job in protecting them, and we just got in a situation where we had to be one dimensional and just be willing to score. So they were able to pin their ears back, and they knew what was coming.”

UCLA will hit the road during Week 2 as they’re set to travel to Las Vegas to play UNLV inside Allegiant Stadium. Looking for their first win of the season, the Bruins are a 2.5-point betting favorite over the Rebels on the road. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET live on CBS Sports Network.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.