BERKELEY – It was a revival of “Pac-12 After Dark,” with all the required craziness.
Plenty of offense. Huge momentum shifts one way, then the other.
Just when it seemed like UCLA had lost its mojo in coach Bob Chesney’s debut, the Bruins stayed on brand by conjuring some late magic.
But there was another twist to come Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, and a frightening one for UCLA.
The Bruins briefly lost Nico Iamaleava before the veteran quarterback returned near the end of his team’s 45-24 victory over the Golden Bears, taking the final knee to make his new coach a winner and ease fans’ concerns about his status.
Relying heavily on the run game, UCLA scored the final 21 points to pull away.
“It was a lot of fun,” Chesney said. “That was a battle.”
With the score tied in the fourth quarter, the Bruins needed some help to reverse their fortunes.
“The word is the resolve of the team,” Chesney said, “and you felt it shift a little bit on the sideline at one point and got it a tie game, so it’s not like we were in a tough spot, we just needed to make sure we maximized our next opportunity and these guys never wavered.”
After UCLA safety Tao Johnson went down with an injury, his backup became an unexpected hero. Ta’Shawn James made the first two interceptions of his career to spark his team’s late surge.
“It felt great,” James said of his interceptions, “because we truly needed it and just to step up and be that guy to make the play is just a feeling that I really can’t describe. … Going back-to-back, man, it really just felt like a movie.”
It started when a pass went off a Cal receiver’s hands and into those of James. On the very next play, Bruins running back Wayne Knight ran for a 31-yard touchdown.
Voila, the Bruins were suddenly on their way, especially after James came up with another interception and Knight added another rushing score — his career high third of the game — to quiet most of the sellout crowd except for a pocket of fans chanting “U-C-L-A!”
Bruins running back Anthony Woods poured it on with a 53-yard touchdown with 1:17 to go amid a fast-emptying stadium.
James, a transfer from Iowa State and one of the team’s 63 newcomers, was the defensive star.
Knight finished with 71 yards rushing in only eight carries, part of a UCLA rushing attack that produced 279 yards and six touchdowns. Woods had 118 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries.
Iamaleava completed 14 of 22 passes for 184 yards and one interception that Chesney said wasn’t his fault because the receiver wasn’t where he was supposed to be.
UCLA’s offense showed plenty of explosiveness early. The Bruins produced seven plays of 20 or more yards in the first half, matching their season high from an entire game in 2025, before finishing with 12 of those plays.
But it was Cal who moved the ball more convincingly to open the second half. A drive that relied heavily on Adam Mohammed ended with the Golden Bears running back charging into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown that pulled his team into a 24-24 tie late in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Cal’s defense started to put more pressure on Iamaleava, sacking him twice in the third quarter.
Iamealava was hurt on a running play in which he initially got up before badly limping and going back down to the turf and requiring medical attention as his younger brother Madden entered the game as his replacement.
“His calf kind of got cleated,” Chesney said of Nico Iamaleava, “so he tried – it just kept cramping up … so we’ve got to do some work on that and get that cleaned up.”
Iamaleava said was OK after getting “caught up in the bottom of the pile.”
Added wide receiver Mikey Matthews: “A dirty play.”
Said Iamaleava: “Nah, I’m not going to say that … it was a good tackle.”
Iamaleava’s return ensured that the Bruins could fully savor the start of what they hope is a glorious new era. Players appeared to be genuinely enjoying every moment, excitedly completing jumping jacks on the sideline before kickoffs.
“I don’t think you can score points if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing out there,” Chesney said. “I don’t think you can stop people if you’re not having fun doing it.”
The scoreboard reflected their enjoyment, one win down and the rest of the season to go.
“If you have this effort and this energy,” Chesney said, “that’s a good start.”
