Wayne Knight rushed for three touchdowns in his UCLA debut, but the Bruins’ 45-24 win over host California on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., came at a cost with quarterback Nico Iamaleava sustaining an apparent right leg injury.
In the teams’ season opener, UCLA separated from its former longtime Pac-12 Conference counterpart with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs from Knight, both set up by interceptions.
Ta’Shawn James picked off Jaron-Keawe Sagapoluetele after UCLA’s pass rushers flushed the Cal quarterback out of the pocket. Sagapolutele’s pass attempt on the move deflected off receiver Ian Strong, and James was there to make the play at midfield.
On the ensuing snap, Knight broke off for a 31-yard rush. It was Knight’s second score of the night — the first coming on an 8-yard run in the second quarter — and the Bruins’ second touchdown of 31 yards after Anthony Woods broke off one of the same distance in the second.
Woods ran for another long score late in the fourth quarter, closing out his 118-yard night with a 53-yard touchdown.
Earlier in the period, James again set up UCLA’s offense with another interception of Sagapoluetele. That led to an eight-play, 46-yard drive that consumed 4:03. Knight’s third touchdown run, this one of four yards, effectively slammed the door on Cal.
However, Iamaleava scrambled on a play during the possession and was dragged to the turf by his leg. The quarterback came up limping and spent the remainder of the drive on the sidelines. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, came in but did not attempt a pass.
Nico Iamaleava completed 14 of 22 passes for 184 yards and was intercepted by Kingston Lopa. His status was unclear after the game.
Sagapoluetele went 24 of 41 for 271 yards in the quarterback showdown and threw a pair of touchdowns. He capped Cal’s opening drives of 11 plays and 75 yards respectively with a 9-yard scoring strike to Chase Hendricks, then found Mason Mini for an 8-yard touchdown just before halftime after completing a 49-yard pass to Strong.