UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster throws shade at UNLV after Rebels player trash talks former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava

UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster got a little snarky on Wednesday while responding to some trash talk that was directed toward former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Iamaleava, who transferred from Tennessee to UCLA in April, made his first start for the Bruins last weekend in UCLA's 43-10 loss against Utah.

The former Vol passed for 136 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the loss.

Earlier this week, UNLV defensive back Aamaris Brown told reporters that nothing stands out to him about Iamaleava.

“Nothing really sticks out to me about him, honestly” said Brown when asked about Iamaleava. “You know in the past, there’s been talk about ‘five-star this, five-star that.’ I have been around plenty of five-star and four-stars — it don’t scare me. I have played competition technically higher than them, including Alabama and all that. Going against a guy like Nico, there’s no surprise, no excitement or nothing like that.”

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster responds to UNLV’s trash talk aimed at Nico Iamaleava

When Foster was asked about Brown's comments, the second year UCLA head coach quickly made it clear that's not how the Bruins do things.

"That's how their program operates," said Foster. "That's not how we operate. We're going to go out there and play ball and go from there."

I'm with Foster on this one. I've never understood why players trash talk other players before a game. The only thing that accomplishes is giving your opponent added motivation -- and why would you want your opponent to be more motivated to beat you?

(Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals how that worked out in the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs a couple of years ago.)

UCLA and UNLV will meet in Las Vegas on Saturday at 8:00 PM ET.

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