Nico Iamaleava injury update: Tim Skipper reveals latest news on UCLA QB

UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper did not have any new update on the injury to starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava on Monday. Iamaleava took a hard hit in Saturday’s contest and briefly exited the game while tending to his right knee.

Although the QB eventually returned to the game, there was still some question as to his status for a Week 9 matchup against No. 2 Indiana. Skipper told reporters that he would have more information late Monday evening when MRI results came back.

“Today is a major day for us as far as treatment and rehabbing and getting MRIs and all that sort of stuff,” the coach explained. “So that’s what we’re doing right now. Saw everybody yesterday at the meeting and guys were sore, which is understandable. But we’ll have more of an update after we see the guys later on this evening.”

After starting this season 0-4, UCLA has rattled off three straight wins. In that span, the Tennessee transfer has completed 65% of his passes for 567 yards, six touchdowns and just two interceptions. He’s also rushed for 156 yards and three more scores.

UCLA started by taking out a Penn State team that was then ranked in the top 10 in Week 6. Iamaleava carved up the defense for five total touchdowns, finishing 17-of-24 passing for 166 yards in addition to 128 yards rushing.

“Man, the belief we had in each other was still there even after a tough start,” Iamaleava said postgame after that win. “This means everything to me. We put a lot of work in for this game and we had to go out there and execute.

The Bruins and Iamaleava stayed hot the following week to take down Michigan State and then beat Maryland this past week. Now they’ll face arguably their toughest test yet against Indiana this week.

Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA this offseason after playing the first two seasons of his college career with the Vols. He entered the year with plenty of scrutiny given the way he exited the program at Tennessee, which had to do with a disagreement during NIL negotiations.

The QB looks to have turned things around after a somewhat rocky start and has a huge opportunity coming up this weekend against the Hoosiers. We’ll monitor his status throughout the week to see whether he can be ready to go for kickoff at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday.