A week after being shutout in the first half against San Diego State, the UCLA Bruins put up over 600 yards of offense and dropped a 50-burger on the Purdue Boilermakers, picking up a 52-38 win to begin the Big Ten Conference season.
Nico Iamaleava's best game of the season
The UCLA offense looked terrific in this one. Nico Iamaleava had his best game through the air since joining UCLA, tossing for 276 yards and three touchdowns. As good as Iamaleava was, the rushing attack was even better.
UCLA's rushing game is just getting better and better
Wayne Knight continued to look like the real deal, putting up 177 rushing yards and two more rushing touchdowns. It hasn’t been cheap yardage either, Knight has been the star his statline suggests, knocking off opposing tacklers or running right past them. Knight is up to 10 rushing touchdowns this
season. UCLA had six rushing touchdowns as a team last season.
Nico Iamaleava can't keep putting his body on the line
The only downside about the success of the running game is the absolute beating that Iamaleava has taken. Iamaleava was replaced by his younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, twice in the game.
It hasn’t just been on runs where Iamaleava has gotten hit, wearing big shots on dropbacks. Iamaleava’s toughness isn’t to be questioned but he doesn’t have the frame to take these sorts of hits for an entire season.
Sammy 'Superman' Omosigho showed up for the Bruins
Linebacker Sammy Omosigho has been simply terrific for UCLA this season and he just got better on Saturday. Omosigho forced two fumbles, made 12 tackles and two sacks. Much was made about Trent Hendrick coming to UCLA but Omosigho is the linebacker transfer that has made the biggest difference.
UCLA's secodary was sliced and diced on Saturday
Aside from Omosigho the UCLA defense was… rough. Giving up 38 points to Purdue was a surprise but Ryan Browne made it look very easy through the air, throwing for 378 yards. Even the Purdue punter threw for 47 yards against a UCLA secondary that has looked like a weakness so far this season.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Instant takeaways from UCLA football's 52-38 victory over Purdue
