Try as one might to keep Nico Iamaleava under wraps, the media viewing sessions at UCLA’s football training camp shorter than the lifespan of a soap bubble, several trends have emerged.
The Tennessee transfer unquestionably has a strong arm. Every pass is thrown with purpose and usually on target.
The wiry 6-foot-6, 215-pound redshirt sophomore has a quick release. When he faced heavy pressure during the only team period open to reporters Saturday afternoon, Iamaleava smartly and swiftly completed a short pass when no better options were available.
The guy can improvise. Scanning the defense for a weakness, Iamaleava scurried up the middle for a touchdown, making the right decision on what appeared to be a run-pass option play.
All of this shows exactly why his arrival might have so drastically altered the team’s trajectory.
“He keeps living up to expectations every day,” wide receiver Mikey Matthews said. “He’s a really good leader, and he just pushes us every day as an offense.”
Coach DeShaun Foster said one of the things that has impressed him about his new quarterback is his determination to win, even during competitive periods involving one-on-one battles.
“You can kind of see his juice going,” Foster said, “and, you know, jawing a little bit with some of the guys on defense that he knows.”
If things had gone differently, Matthews might have teamed with Iamaleava at Tennessee. Unlike UCLA, which struggled to identify top high school talent under coach Chip Kelly, the Volunteers offered Matthews a scholarship out of Mission Viejo High. A tight connection between Iamaleava and Matthews had formed through seven-on-seven tournaments and high school games.
“We already had, like, built that connection just beforehand,” said Matthews, a transfer from California who posted career highs with 32 catches for 272 yards and one touchdown last season. “So when I knew he was coming here, it was just like a blessing, just happy to have him here and just knowing that he’s going to give me that rock whenever, and knowing that he’s going to throw that ball. So it was cool just to have him here.”
Football junkies
Matthews has an Xbox in his hotel room and a new roommate in defensive back Brett Barry — “That’s my dawg now,” Matthews said — to learn about. There are so many possibilities to keep the wide receiver busy late into the night.
His top priority is inactivity. All he wants to do when his final meeting of the day ends around 9:30 p.m. is see how quickly he can get into bed before waking up for the next meeting.
“Once I’m done with meetings,” Matthews said, “I’m brushing my teeth and going right to sleep. I’m tired.”
It would be easy for fatigue to set in as the Bruins approach the final week of training camp in Costa Mesa. A schedule rife with practices, meetings and recovery — not to mention bonding events such as a beach day and karaoke — has left players sinking deeply into their hotel beds.
But there’s an upside to so much football for players who embrace every X and O. Matthews said the wide receivers were staying after every practice to catch at least 100 passes from a ball-launching machine.
“We all love football,” Matthews said, “so it’s not like we’re complaining, and while we’re doing this, while we’re doing that, it’s everyone just locked in, heads down, and we’re all just grinding.”
As the Bruins approached the final week of training camp, Foster said he wanted to know who had fully grasped the nuances of the way the team wanted to run things.
“Who really knows the playbook in and out, you know?” Foster said. “Let’s get the coaches on the side and let’s start getting into more scrimmaging and stuff like that.”
Linebacker Jalen Woods said a Saturday afternoon practice spanning nearly 2½ hours might have been the longest of camp, just part of Foster’s efforts to simulate a game-like environment with three weeks left before the season opener against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl.
“I feel like for us to be ready for a game,” Woods said, “like, we need these long practices.”
The bonding has also had its perks. Foster identified freshman defensive lineman Robert James III, who will be sidelined indefinitely by a lower-body injury, as the team’s best singer. Players have also performed other impromptu requests in an effort to bond.
“It’s beneficial that we do stuff like skits, and stuff like that, like doing funny stuff here and there to show everybody’s personality on the team,” Woods said. “Just a side that we don’t see, like on the football field. So, it’s basically like getting to know your teammates, and I feel like it’s going to pay dividends in the long run, trying to make a push for a championship.”
Etc.
Safety Key Lawrence suffered an apparent right leg injury early in the practice session and had to be helped off the field and into the trainers’ area. … Foster said offensive linemen Courtland Ford and Reuben Unije, who were limited in practices earlier in the week, were managing “a little bit of wear and tear.” Offensive lineman Yutaka Mahe, recovering from a lower-body injury, is on schedule to return soon, Foster said. … As of Friday, UCLA’s new practice fields on campus remained a big pile of dirt. Foster said the team had plenty of options, including Drake Stadium and the intramural fields, if the new practice fields were not completed by the time players returned to campus next weekend. … Wyatt Mosier, a redshirt sophomore linebacker, has been awarded Nick Pasquale’s No. 36 as a tribute to Mosier’s ability to embody the spirit of the late wide receiver. Foster said he wanted “somebody that was gonna come out here and leave everything on the field, and that’s the way that Wyatt practices.” … As a thank-you gesture from UCLA in response to recent wildfires, first responders can get $4.73 tickets for the season opener.
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