"UCLA is gonna ask for refund": Nico Iamaleava gets flamed by fans after horrendous performances in Bruins' 23-30 loss to UNLV

Nico Iamaleava's tenure with the UCLA Bruins is off to a horrifying start. After losing their season opener against the Utah Utes, they suffered another loss, this time to the UNLV Rebels in Week 2.

The quarterback completed 29 of 41 passes for 255 yards. Iamaleava scored two total touchdowns with an interception to his name. Despite this, UNLV secured the victory over the Bruins with a 30-23 final score.

Fans on social media lashed out at Nico Iamaleava after DeShaun Foster's team suffered two consecutive losses to kick off his second stint.

Iamaleava began his collegiate journey with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2023. After two seasons, Josh Heupel and his team decided to part ways with him this offseason after he demanded a better NIL deal. In April, the quarterback transferred to join the UCLA Bruins, while the Vols acquired Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar.

During their 10-43 season-opening loss to Utah, Nico Iamaleava completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards. He scored one passing touchdown with one interception to his name.

In the post-game press conference, Iamaleava expressed his disappointment about starting his UCLA journey with a 0-2 record.

"I think it just starts with me, man," Iamaleava said as per Yardbarker. "I've got to be better coming out. I started out a little slow on the first drive coming out. Overall, we got to clean up a lot of stuff.

"It's tough man. I hate losing, man. "It's a tough position to be in. But it tell us how much harder we've got to work."

DeShaun Foster shares his thoughts on Nico Iamaleava's performance after 30-23 loss to UNLV

Despite the harrowing performance, the UCLA coach shared a positive outlook about the quarterback.

Foster heaped praise on Nico Iamaleava's second-half performance while also admitting to their offensive shortcomings.

"He's a gamer," Foster said as per SI. " He's somebody that wants to make big plays. He's asking for the ball. Asking to be put in certain situations. You love when you have a quarterback that wants to put it on his shoulders and carry the team to victory. We're just coming up short."

The Bruins next take on the New Mexico Lobos on Sept. 12. It will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 10:00 pm ET. Can Iamaleava make a comeback for the team in Week 3?

About the author

Priyam is a College Sports content executive at Sportskeeda with a master's in Advertising and Marketing Management and over two years of experience as a writer. When it comes to reporting, Priyam believes doing a technical deep dive is one of his biggest strengths and he loves to dissect plays on the field and factor out the strengths/weaknesses of players.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Priyam sees Nick Saban as the greatest coach of all time. He is also rooting for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milore after following his progress over the years. The Michigan Wolverines football team is another of his favorite programs and it will be interesting to see how both these teams perform in new coaching eras.

When he’s not reporting, Priyam is usually at the gym or indulging in music. He has been a guitarist and a drummer for the past 17 years and finds his time of peace when playing music.

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra