UCLA extends its turnaround, beating Maryland 20-17 with 3 late scoring drives led by Nico Iamaleava

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 23-yard field goal with two seconds to play, and UCLA beat Maryland 20-17 Saturday night to extend its improbable season turnaround with a third consecutive victory.

Nico Iamaleava passed for 221 yards and led three scoring drives in the final six minutes despite going down with an apparent knee injury during that wild stretch for the Bruins (3-4, 3-1 Big Ten), who managed to stay on the upswing in their roller coaster of a season.

“I think it’s all about belief, (and) the guys believe,” UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “There’s nothing that happened throughout the game that’s going to take our confidence away, and you don’t really know that until you get in a tight game like that. I found out today that these guys believe.”

Iamaleava threw a go-ahead, 14-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Matthews with 3:33 to play, and Bhaghani’s first field goal put the Bruins up 17-10 with 2:09 to play shortly after Scooter Jackson intercepted Malik Washington’s pass deep in Maryland territory.

But Washington, who passed for 210 yards, led the Terrapins (4-3, 1-3) on a dramatic drive, hitting Jalil Farooq for an 8-yard TD with 40 seconds left.

Iamaleava, who appeared to have a serious injury only moments earlier, returned to the field and drove the Bruins 68 yards in 31 seconds.

“I knew with Nico, when I saw him start to walk off and his face started to come back normal, I was like, ‘Hey, we have a shot here,’” Skipper said with a grin.

Iamaleava completed two passes for 33 yards before Anthony Frias — who made an early 55-yard touchdown run for UCLA — made a 35-yard run to the Maryland 5 to set up Bhaghani’s tiebreaking field goal.

“It just shows how much of a leader (Iamaleava) is,” Matthews said. “He came back and pushed through. He has that dog in him, no matter what.”

The Bruins rallied to win despite committing three turnovers in these schools’ first meeting since 1955, including an interception returned 8 yards for a touchdown by Maryland’s Jamare Glasker in the third quarter. UCLA also went nine straight drives without scoring before Matthews’ TD catch.

After an 0-4 start that included the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster and the departure of both coordinators, UCLA has dramatically reversed course over the past two weeks with stunning victories over Penn State and Michigan State under Skipper.

This victory wasn’t nearly as eye-catching, but the Bruins’ defense kept Maryland’s offense out of the end zone until the final minute of regulation.

In their Rose Bowl debut, the Terrapins lost their third straight game after a 4-0 start. Maryland blew a late lead in all three defeats, including this heartbreaker about 2,700 miles from College Park.

“We’ve lost three Big Ten games by a combined 10 points in the last three weeks,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “I’m not going to ask what is the issue, or why this keeps happening. Why is a victim question, and I’m not a victim. I’m going to ask what we need to do or what I need to do to be able to get us to finish these games.”

Maryland entered the Rose Bowl leading the nation in interceptions, and Glasker recorded the Terrapins’ fourth pick-6 of the season. Jalen Huskey also made an interception deep in Maryland territory in the second quarter.

“I thought our defense played lights-out,” Locksley said. “They scored points. They got turnovers. … They played well enough for us to win. The other two phases, we didn’t play complementary football, but I do like the fight they showed.”

Frias put UCLA up 7-3 in the second quarter with his first career touchdown on that 55-yard romp. The Kansas State transfer had never scored in his first 36 games over four collegiate seasons.

Maryland linebacker Trey Reddick was ejected for targeting in the second quarter. Huskey was also ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter.

Takeaways

Maryland: Washington’s growing pains and the Terps’ inability to hold a lead are brutal, but this defense still has the potential to be special — and it’ll have to be with Indiana, Illinois and Michigan coming up.

UCLA: Nobody knows what to expect next from this team. A serious injury for Tennessee transfer Iamaleava would have put this season back in a blender, but the Bruins are still showing remarkable pride and poise under Skipper.

Up next

Maryland: A bye before hosting the Hoosiers on Saturday, Nov. 1.

UCLA: At Indiana next Saturday.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/college-football