{"id":771637,"date":"2026-05-04T02:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771637\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T02:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:16:24","slug":"standouts-from-the-ucla-football-spring-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771637\/","title":{"rendered":"Standouts from the UCLA Football Spring Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bob Chesney<\/a><\/b> era is here and several Bruins\u00a0football fans got to witness the start of the next chapter at the UCLA Spring Game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.<\/p>\n

It was also chance to check out the players on the roster, especially with so many new names in town.<\/p>\n

The talent was evenly spread among the white and blue teams, putting it on display on both sides of the ball. Though it was a small sample size, there was good production from several Bruins.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at a few\u00a0players that stood out. Side note, I tried to get as accurate stats as possible, so the numbers provided are approximate and unofficial.<\/p>\n

– Madden Iamaleava<\/a><\/b>, quarterback<\/strong><\/p>\n

The younger brother of starting signal caller Nico Iamaleava<\/a><\/b> took first reps\u00a0for the white team, as he is in contention for the backup quarterback spot along with Colton Gumino<\/a><\/b> and Ty Dieffenbach<\/a><\/b>, who also had a productive spring game. Madden had a slow start, but improved as the game progressed. Aside from a few incompletions and sacks, he was able to connect on two touchdown passes, the second of which was the game winner. That score came on\u00a0a 45-yard pass that found a wide open Kenneth Moore III<\/a><\/b>.\u00a0By my estimate, he threw for about 141 yards, with three passes over 30 yards.<\/p>\n

(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)<\/p>\n

– Lucien Holland<\/a><\/b>, defensive lineman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both defenses limited scoring, especially early on due to the activity of the pass rush.\u00a0Holland was one of the defenders that\u00a0stood out. From what I could see, he had three sacks (getting into the backfield and tapping the quarterback), including one for about an eight-yard loss. He also forced a fumble and a\u00a0quarterback pressure. His ability to shed blocks\u00a0and bursting into\u00a0open space helped him to consistently disrupt the offense.<\/p>\n

– Anthony Woods<\/a><\/b>, running back<\/strong><\/p>\n

Woods did not have many chunk plays though appeared to be the most utilized\u00a0running back in the first half. From my count, he had about 20 rushing yards, including a\u00a0six yard run on first and goal for the game’s first touchdown on the white team’s fourth drive in the second quarter. Woods should be in the mix to be the starting role and on Saturday showed that he is a reliable option. Additionally, Jaivian Thomas<\/a><\/b> and Troy Leigber<\/a><\/b> had notable performances and showcased the Bruins depth at running backs.<\/p>\n

– Semaj Morgan<\/a><\/b>, wide receiver<\/strong><\/p>\n

Morgan has been one of the more outstanding players in spring and Saturday showed why. Though Brian Rowe had the catch of the game with a one-handed grab, Morgan was the most productive, in my opinion. Though the blue team was not able to score on its first drive, Morgan helped the march downfield as he connected on a pass from Madden that went for about 35 yards and\u00a0finished with approximately 46 receiving yards. His ability to separate allowed him to create space with the\u00a0defender, giving him opportunities to make plays.<\/p>\n

– The defensive pass rush<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not just about one person\u00a0and more about the production that\u00a0lacked last year. The defensive lineman and linebackers did a solid\u00a0job of getting into the backfield and disrupting the offensive flow for both teams. By my count, UCLA<\/a><\/b> had six “sacks” and possibly up to eight or nine tackles for a loss. Again, these numbers are not official, but it did display\u00a0the aggressive pass rush. In addition to Holland, the Bruin defenses got some good productivity from Samuel Omosigho, Dallin Havea<\/a><\/b>, and Gavin Blum<\/a><\/b>. If this is an indication of how the pass rush will perform in the fall, then it should be quite\u00a0entertaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bob Chesney era is here and several Bruins\u00a0football fans got to witness the start of the next…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":771638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-771637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116513905186643509","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}