WATCH: Nico Iamaleava, Gary Smith III discuss UCLA's road loss to UNLV
UCLA tried to put together a comeback Saturday in Las Vegas. However, UNLV put the Bruins in too deep of an early hole to climb out of at Allegiant Stadium. The end result was a 30-23 loss for UCLA despite outscoring the Rebels 20-7 in the second half.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 29 of his 41 pass attempts but still wasn’t able to log his first win with the Bruins. He passed for 196 yards in the second half and accounted for two touchdowns. Still, Iamaleava did not place the blame for the loss elsewhere.
Particularly when it comes to the second slow start in as many weeks for the Bruins.
“I think that just starts with me, man,” he said. “I gotta be better coming out, I started off a little slow on the first drive coming out. And, yeah, I think overall, man, we got to clean up a lot of stuff.”
On the defensive side, the Bruins allowed UNLV to jump out to a 23-0 lead. That early hole proved costly as the night moved along. UCLA was able to put together a stronger half to end the evening. That is what defensive tackle Gary Smith III chose to focus on after the game.
“I just know we want to start better,” he said. “You know, we came out the second half, kept swinging. I’m just happy that we ain’t give up. That’s something to build off. We just gotta go back, make adjustments off the film.”
Watch the full press conferences from both players below:
Nico Iamaleava postgame press conference
Gary Smith III postgame press conference
Videos recorded by BruinBlitz staff writer Tracy McDannald.
