UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava Secures Big Ten Honor After Week 6

The redshirt sophomore had one of the best games of his college football career, leading the Bruins to an improbable 42-37 win over No. 7 Penn State on Saturday, reminding everyone that he was under center for a College Football Playoff team just last season.

This conference player of the week award is Iamaleava's first of his career. While with Tennessee, he won four SEC Freshman of the Week awards. Iamaleava was also named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 list and Manning Award "Stars of the Week" list for Week 6.

The Bruins looked like an entirely different team from start to finish, opening the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass, followed immediately by a surprise onside kick recovery.

Former UCLA tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel was promoted to offensive play caller following the departure of offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, and the Bruins' offense became cerebral. UCLA went into halftime up 27-7 on the Nittany Lions.

Iamaleava had his "Welcome To Westwood" moment, finishing the game scoring five total touchdowns -- two passing and three rushing -- while throwing for 166 yards on 17-of-24 completions and rushing for 128 yards on 16 attempts.

Nico Just Needed Time

It took some time, but Iamaleava finally showed Bruins fans and the college football landscape what he's capable of, and all he needed was some time.

No, literally.

UCLA's offensive line had its best game of the season. Iamaleava had time to dial in, make passes and effectively escape the pocket and scramble when he needed.

The Bruins' signal-caller was among the most pressured quarterbacks in the country going into Saturday's win, which contributed to his slow start to the season.

Kudos to UCLA's front five, because it was a major factor in Iamaleava's "Welcome to Westwood" moment.

Iamaleava's Week 6 Grade

The Bruins needed all of Iamaleava's 294 total yards and five total touchdowns. His 156.4 passer rating and 97.4 ESPN QBR were each of Iamaleava's highest ratings of the season.

If the Bruins can turn around the season, as steep a climb as it may be, not only will they look back at this win against one of the nation's top teams at the time, but they'll also coin Iamaleava's performance as the turning point.

Before this game, the highest grade we've given the Bruins' star quarterback was a B- for his second-half efforts against UNLV. Iamaleava exceeded even that half by far, for a sustained performance all game.

For Iamaleava's big game against Penn State, we give him an A-.