In Reply to: LA Daily News posted by BruinBlue on September 26, 2026 at 20:54:38
By Ian Quillen
PUBLISHED: September 26, 2026 at 2:04 PM PDT | UPDATED: September 26, 2026 at 3:30 PM PDT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In Bob Chesney’s fourth game as UCLA’s football coach, his run-oriented offense featured a new, critical wrinkle: the direct snap.
Wayne Knight opened the scoring on one such 45-yard carry and Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas also scored on runs from a direct snap during a 20-point second quarter in the Bruins’ 54-3 romp over Maryland on Saturday.
It marked the largest road conference victory since 1955 for the Bruins, who improved to 4-0 – one season after winning just three games – and 2-0 in the Big Ten.
“I thought we finally played a complementary game of football, where offense, defense and special teams all got each other’s backs,” Chesney said. “And at the same point, when we got to make some plays, we made some plays.”
Knight finished with 100 yards on 10 carries after entering Week 4 as the FBS leader in touchdowns (eight), rushing touchdowns (eight) and yards per carry (8.85).
Nico Iamaleava completed 15 of 24 passes for 209 yards and an 83-yard touchdown to Aidan Mizell on his final throw of the day. The senior signal caller grabbed at his right arm after the pass over the flat, but the game was also out of hand when younger brother Madden took over late. Chesney said there was no concern with Nico postgame.
“He did a good job of staying in that game today,” Chesney said. “It was probably a little too late for him to be getting hit in that game, but at the same point, to stand in there and throw that touchdown was really good by him. And to see Mizell open it up and run was exciting as well.”
Troy Leigber completed UCLA’s second consecutive 50-plus point performance with a 63-yard run long after it was clear Chesney would become the first UCLA coach to begin his career 4-0 since the legendary Red Sanders did so in 1949.
Yet the offense was merely explosive. One week after allowing 38 points to Purdue, the defense was truly impressive, albeit against a Maryland team that looked shaken by the pressure on embattled coach Mike Locksley following last weekend’s loss to Virginia Tech.
“It was just fundamentals, doing the things we lacked last week,” Bruins senior linebacker Sammy Omosigho said. “And we’re tying to focus on that each week. Of course we had a better outcome this week, but we still have to get better.”
The Bruins picked off Terrapins sophomore quarterback Malik Washington four times, with Ta’Shawn James and Scooter Jackson returning theirs for touchdowns during the third quarter.
Mason Rivera and Trent Hendrick also had picks. By the time it was over, UCLA had outgained Maryland 475-181 overall and 266-39 on the ground while holding the Terrapins to just 1 of 15 on third down.
Maryland entered with a plus-four turnover margin.
“Any time you have two pick-sixes, it’s a pretty impressive day,” Chesney said. “Especially against a team that has not turned the ball over at all … .”
It wasn’t clear UCLA’s strong start would continue when Bruins offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy faced a fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter of a scoreless game, with Knight to that point limited to four yards on four carries.
So the Bruins lined Iamaleava out wide and Knight in the shotgun. Knight took the snap, followed pulling guard Julian Armella and Thomas as a blocking back through the left side of the line, then sprinted untouched into the second level and eventually the horseshoe end zone at Maryland’s SECU Stadium.
“My job was to try to pull any defenders out to the flat,” Iamaleava said. “Wayne just being Wayne. He had a great lead block by (Thomas). The O-line opened up a great hole for him.”
Knight also had a 33-yard carry on an option pitchout during UCLA’s second drive, a four-play, 62-yard march aided by a Maryland facemask penalty. Woods finished it with two direct snap runs, a 13-yard dash to the left on first down followed by a 1-yard punch-in.
Thomas got in on the fun on a 3-yard TD carry that completed a 75-yard drive prolonged by another Maryland facemask offense.
That made it 20-0, with Iamaleava yet to be called on to make a big play.
“You don’t want to just hand the ball off and play with 10 guys all the time, right? So you get into this read game where the quarterback’s going to keep it,” Chesney said. “We just didn’t want him to get hit too much either. I thought the wildcat option was something that we could employ to put ourselves in position where we still could get the same advantage numerically speaking but not putting him in a whole lot of danger.”