Wayne Knight leads balanced UCLA offense past Purdue 52-38 in high-scoring Big Ten opener

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Wayne Knight ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns, Nico Iamaleava threw two of his three touchdown passes to Semaj Morgan, and UCLA defeated Purdue 52-38 on Saturday night in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

A balanced offense helped Bob Chesney join Terry Donahue in 1976 and Jim Mora in 2012 as the third Bruins coach in the past 50 years to start his tenure 3-0.

UCLA ran for 369 yards, and Iamaleava was 19-of-31 passing for 276 yards with his first scoring throws of the season. Anthony Woods’ 16-yard touchdown run on UCLA’s first drive of the third quarter put the Bruins back in front after falling behind for the only time.

“In the end, we knew we were running the ball, they knew we were running the ball, and we were still able to run the ball,” Chesney said.

Ryan Browne had 378 yards passing and three touchdowns — two of which went to Xavier Townsend — with an interception, but the Boilermakers (1-2) dropped their 19th consecutive conference game. Fame Ijeboi added two touchdown runs.

UCLA linebacker Sammy Omosigho forced two fumbles, taking his total to four during a three-game streak. Knight turned each of those extra possessions into touchdowns, and they proved to be the difference in a track meet where Purdue finished with 488 total yards.

“We got a lot of things to fix, and it’s unfortunate because I think there were a lot of really good performances on the offensive side,” Boilermakers coach Barry Odom said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”

In and out

Iamaleava came out of the game twice because of injuries. He cut a finger on his throwing hand in the second quarter, scuttling a promising drive into one that ended with a field goal after UCLA scored touchdowns on its first three possessions. A hit from Purdue linebacker Charles Correa sent Iamaleava back to the sideline in the third quarter, but he was able to return after a few plays to finish out the game.

“Man, just what a warrior,” Chesney said. “He just wanted to keep fighting, keep playing, and I’m sure he’s going to feel it a little bit tomorrow morning.”

The takeaway

Purdue: Townsend was electric in the open field, starting with a dump off over the middle against a jailbreak blitz that he turned into a 75-yard touchdown reception on the Boilermakers’ first play from scrimmage. Townsend ended up with six receptions for 162 yards, 152 of which came after the catch.

UCLA: The Bruins hadn’t topped 500 total yards in a game since the 2023 LA Bowl in what ended up as Chip Kelly’s final game as head coach. UCLA finished with 645 total yards, its most in a conference game since a wild comeback win at Washington State in 2019.

Up next

Purdue: Hosts No. 3 Notre Dame next Saturday.

UCLA: Visits Maryland next Saturday.

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