WATCH: UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper looks back on Penn State win
UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper might need a minute to rattle off everyone who reached out to him this past weekend.
Skipper, in his second game since taking over for fired head coach DeShaun Foster, picked up his first victory Saturday after guiding the Bruins to a 42-37 victory over then-No. 7 Penn State at the Rose Bowl.
Everyone from Skipper’s past, including some in attendance, offered their congratulations.
“Man, there were so many messages, kind of putting me on the spot for my memory,” Skipper said Monday to start his weekly Zoom conference call with the media. I heard from Pat Hill, Terry Tumey was at the game, Jeff Tedford, Jim McElwain, Tony Sanchez — like, all the guys that I’ve worked for all hit me up, and that’s not even getting into family.”
Among the many reasons UCLA ended an 0-4 start to the season, and became the first to do so while defeating a top-10 opponent in 40 years, was in part because of an offensive line that limited the penalties and paved the way for 269 yards rushing.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who was named Big Ten offensive player of the week and Associated Press national player of the week, ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more. His breakout performance was made by possible by an offensive line that eliminated the false start and holding penalties that stalled drives during the winless start.
“Yeah, man, so proud,” Skipper said. “It’s been tough sledding, trying to get the run game going. And in this one, we almost had about 300 yards rushing, so just a little under so that was huge for us in the game. It allowed us to control the line of scrimmage, which is the number one thing when you’re playing, playing in the trenches.
“So there’s a thankless job for the O-line. You know, all the running backs and the quarterback running, they get all the credit and things like that. So we just try to let them eat first, get second plate first, all that type of stuff. And that kind of keeps them happy. Anything that deals with some food.
“I think the coaching staff did a good job with our run game. We kind of just had direct runs and call it runs, and not a lot of things that we had to check and things like that. So the guys responded well to that, and we had a good day.”
Skipper also addressed questions about throwing his name into the hat for the vacant head coaching position, how the team expects to move on after an emotional victory and the early look ahead to this weekend’s road contest at Michigan State, and more.
Tim Skipper Zoom conference call (10/6)
Watch the full conference call below (courtesy of UCLA Athletics):
