Nico Iamaleava Injury Update, Latest on UCLA QB's Return Timeline After Upset Win vs. Oregon

UCLA's promising 2026 season took a rough turn on Monday.

Star quarterback Nico Iamaleava suffered a knee injury during Saturday's 17-15 win over Oregon that is expected to end his season, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.

Pete Nakos of On3 reported it was a torn ACL.

Iamaleava suffered the injury late in the first half and didn't return for the remainder of the game, finishing the contest 10-of-17 for 162 yards and two interceptions. But the Bruins managed to beat the Ducks without him behind Wayne Knight's 103 rushing yards and a touchdown and a defense that forced a whopping seven turnovers.

Iamaleava was replaced by Ty Dieffenbach, who threw just six times, completing three, for 43 yards and a touchdown.

"When someone goes down and someone's got to step up, I say it every single time, is that you're either exposed or you're revealed, right? One of the two is gonna happen," UCLA coach Bob Chesney told reporters after the game. "When your number gets called, for Ty to step up in that moment, when Nico couldn't go, and he put himself in a spot where he was revealed for knowing our run game, knowing what to get us into."

Iamaleava, 22, was having a decent season, throwing for 982 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 62.1 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown.

After breaking out as a sophomore with Tennessee in 2024 (2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns, five interceptions, 358 rushing yards, three rushing scores), Iamaleava struggled as a passer last season in his first year with UCLA (13 touchdowns, seven interceptions), though he was effective on the ground (505 yards, four touchdowns).

And with No. 12 UCLA 5-0 on the season and facing a pretty favorable schedule down the stretch, a berth in the Big Ten title game and a potential College Football Playoff seed aren't out of the question. It will be a far taller task without Iamaleava, however.