UCLA QB Verbally Buried By Upcoming Opponent With Blunt Comments: WATCH
Nico Iamaleava was horrible in the team's first game.
UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava is taking hits on and off the field.
The Bruins opened the season with a 43-10 loss to Utah, and former Tennessee QB turned Bruins passer was awful in his debut with his new team.
He wasn't just bad.
Nico was atrocious. He finished the game with 136 passing yards on 11/22 passing, one passing touchdown, one interception and a 50.4 QBR while completing just 50% of his passes. Turns out leaving the Volunteers for a team with a fraction of the talent might not have been a good idea.
UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava was terrible in his first start with the team. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
UNLV DB crushes Nico.
Next up for the Bruins is a very solid UNLV team. The Rebels might be +2.5 underdogs, but ESPN's matchup predictor gives UNLV a 73.1% chance of winning. That's not something you see very often. If you think UNLV defensive back Aamaris Brown is scared of the former number one QB recruit in America, I can promise you that's not the case.
The Rebels DB made that clear with some pretty blunt comments.
"Honestly, nothing really sticks out to me about him [on tape], honestly. Like, you know, in the past there's been talk about 'five-star this, five-star that.' You know, I have been around plenty of five-star and four-star, you know. It don't scare me, so, you know. I played, you know, competition, technically, higher than them, if you want to include Alabama and all that…You know, going against a guy like Nico, no surprise, no excitement or nothing like that," Brown said during a Monday press conference.
You can watch his full comments in the video below starting around 32:30, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
Nico went from being the face and future of Tennessee football to getting rolled by Utah and verbally dismantled by a Mountain West defensive back.
I think it's fair to say times sure have changed for Nico, and he only has himself to blame. He shot himself in the foot with his exit from Knoxville, and was shockingly pitiful against Utah.
The stats weren't just bad. The tape was also brutal to watch. I sat down to watch that game to get a look at him, and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The former five-star recruit looked like a fish out of water. It's a brutal reminder the grass is rarely greener on the other side.
Should Nico Iamaleava have stayed at Tennessee? (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
You think things are bad now? UCLA loses to a Mountain West team and whatever fans are still with that program are going to revolt. It should be a fun time Saturday night in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.