{"id":462339,"date":"2026-09-13T06:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T06:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462339\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T06:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T06:32:11","slug":"ucla-football-overcomes-lackluster-start-to-beat-san-diego-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462339\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA football overcomes lackluster start to beat San Diego State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Short-term memory. Coaches stress it \u2014 and UCLA<\/a> needed it Saturday in its home opener against San Diego State.<\/p>\n

After his team reached the red zone only once in the first half \u2014 on a drive that culminated with an interception near the goal line \u2014 Bob Chesney<\/a> probably wanted to forget about how the Bruins played in the first 30 minutes of his coaching debut at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Chesney, he can feel better about how UCLA performed in the second half.<\/p>\n

Scoring all of their points after halftime, the Bruins defeated San Diego State 28-10<\/a> to remain unbeaten on the young season.<\/p>\n

After two games, the Bruins have outscored opponents 49-17 in the second half and 42-10 in the fourth quarter \u2014 a testament, Chesney said, to the team\u2019s adaptability and cohesion.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of that has to do with adjustments that we can make, but then also our guys figuring out the speed at which things are happening,\u201d Chesney said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying this as any excuse, but when you have 60 new guys on the team, that ability to jell together and play together early in the season, it takes a second, and you settle down when you get to halftime. You understand what the test is at hand, and then you really begin to trust one another and play together as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava<\/a> struggled in his return to the Rose Bowl, completing 14 of 22 passes for 151 yards and an interception \u2014 giving him two turnovers and zero touchdown passes through two games.<\/p>\n

Iamaleava\u2019s costliest mistake came at the start of the second quarter when, rolling out to the right, he attempted to throw off his back foot to tight end Harry Lodge in the end zone, only to be picked off by San Diego State cornerback Mike Lindsay.<\/p>\n

With starting wideouts Mikey Matthews and Landon Ellis sidelined, it was senior Semaj Morgan who rose to the occasion, the Michigan transfer hauling in six catches for 73 yards and setting up the Bruins\u2019 first touchdown with a 25-yard punt return.<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava attempts to break free from a tackle by San Diego State linebacker Tano Letuli during the first quarter.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cSemaj Morgan \u2014 that kid deserves a ton of credit for today\u2019s game because there were plays that needed to be made, and he made them, and just in tight, contested areas, that kid is tough,\u201d Chesney said. \u201cAlong with his punt return, along with his run blocking, it was really good to see him have the day that he had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the passing game has yet to take flight, the Bruins\u2019 ground attack shined with 214 yards and four touchdowns. Fifth-year tailback Wayne Knight<\/a> led the way again, scoring three touchdowns for the second straight game<\/a> as he rushed for 97 yards on 13 carries. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does he mean to us? He means everything,\u201d Chesney said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a kid that is tough. He\u2019s physical. He plays football the right way, and I love watching him be patient, and then he waits for it, and when he sees it, he just gets up to full speed within two or three steps. That\u2019s nothing we haven\u2019t seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior running back Jaivian Thomas also scored for the Bruins, matching his touchdown total of last season. <\/p>\n

Iamaleava also was effective on the ground, running for 57 yards in 13 carries and earning multiple hard-fought first downs.<\/p>\n

Chesney said the passing struggles against the Aztecs were largely a byproduct of the Bruins losing their top three receivers in the middle of the game, but added that the offense needs to adjust better.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows it\u2019s not his best game,\u201d Chesney said of Iamaleava, \u201cand again the grit and the toughness that he played with, when he needed to get a couple first downs that really mattered to keep drives alive and put his body on the line and peeled himself off that ground and kept fighting for his teammates, that\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the UCLA offense failed to ignite until the second half, the \u201cBruin Bullies\u201d enforced their will on San Diego State from the start.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The Bruins held Aztecs quarterback Jayden Denegal to 45 yards on six-for-17 passing \u2014 the second-fewest yards he has passed for as a starter. Denegal challenged outside cornerbacks Scooter Jackson and Rodrick Pleasant to no avail.<\/p>\n

Linebacker Jalen Woods set up UCLA\u2019s third touchdown by picking off Denegal in the fourth quarter for his first career interception \u2014 a play Chesney dubbed as \u201ceverything\u201d at that moment of the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cWatching film, I know they like to take screens when it\u2019s third and medium or long, and the back crossed, so it\u2019s going to be a screen because he went right to left,\u201d Chesney said.<\/p>\n

The Bruins\u2019 pass rush continued to create havoc, following their three-sack performance against California with two more and six tackles for a loss. The effort kept the Bruins in the game when Iamaleava was struggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Ches has done something special. These guys never waver; they always got my back,\u201d Iamaleava said. \u201cDefense always has my back, so it feels good to have that support cast coming from the defense, and then obviously our run game has been great for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to win these big games, I\u2019m going to have to play way better, but it feels great to have a supporting cast that even if I don\u2019t play the best, we can still pull out a win like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Short-term memory. Coaches stress it \u2014 and UCLA needed it Saturday in its home opener against San Diego…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[8932,423,29691,19830,182170,182171,772,2699,10657,74,76,75,300,777,182172,780,18157,1539],"class_list":["post-462339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-bruins","tag-game","tag-iamaleava","tag-interception","tag-lackluster-start","tag-linebacker-jalen-woods","tag-pass","tag-return","tag-rose-bowl","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-state","tag-second-half","tag-short-term-memory","tag-touchdown","tag-ucla-football","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}