Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava is 3-1 in his last four starts for the UCLA Bruins.

Iamaleava, who transferred from Tennessee to UCLA near the end of spring practice, got off to a slow start with the Bruins this fall, but that was to be expected after joining the program during the summer.

The former Tennessee quarterback has played his best football this season with Tim Skipper serving as the interim head coach and Jerry Neuheisel serving as the interim offensive coordinator.

UCLA is set to host Nebraska this weekend.

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule shares his thoughts on UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule met with reporters earlier this week to preview the Cornhuskers’ matchup against the Bruins.

Rhule was quick to praise Iamaleava as an “elite” quarterback.

The third year Nebraska head coach also noted that Iamaleava’s dad, Nic, was in Lincoln during the summer for a seven-on-seven event.

“He’s elite,” said Rhule when asked about Iamaleava. “He’s an excellent player. He obviously leads them in passing. He leads them in rushing. So it’s really the tale of two seasons. Take out the first part of the year right there and they’re 3-2 in the Big 10, they’re 3-2 under Coach Skipper.

“In the Penn State game, he was their leading rusher. He willed them. And it was really not even designed runs — it was drop back quarterback scrambles versus man. It wasn’t even undisciplined passing lanes — he’s just that athletic. They were running him on some designed quarterback runs earlier, [but] he started getting hit a lot. I’m sure coming off a bye, there will be some designed quarterback runs. And so I have the utmost respect for him as a player. His dad was here this summer at the Adidas seven-on-seven. Great guy to get to know. We recruited his younger brother (Madden). So I have a lot of respect for the way he plays….he’s an elite player.”

Iamaleava’s dad said in June that he’s “excited” for UCLA’s game against Nebraska while also calling Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola a “great kid”.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Nic to On3 this past summer of UCLA’s game against Nebraska. “Dylan’s a great kid. Great family. Trained together with the boys back home. It’s been great seeing him on campus. He’s doing amazing things here. I’m excited for him.”

Raiola, unfortunately, broke his fibula and recently underwent surgery. The Nebraska quarterback will miss the rest of the reason due to the injury.

Nebraska and UCLA will kick off at 9:00 PM ET on Saturday night.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as ‘His dad was here this summer’ – Nebraska’s Matt Rhule shares his thoughts on UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava.

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