chesney

It was a brotherly battle at UCLA’s spring football game on a clear Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl.

At the helm of the opposing white and blue teams, respectively, quarterbacks Nico and Madden Iamaleava led the split halves of the Bruins squad during a well-attended end to the first spring camp under the direction of new coach Bob Chesney.

Fittingly, Madden tossed the go-ahead touchdown pass from near the logo to a wide-open Kenneth Moore III, putting his blue team up 24-17, the eventual final score.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him just play football,” Nico said of his brother. “So it was fun seeing him out there operate.”

UCLA defensive back Osiris Gilbert knocks the ball out of the hand of UCLA receiver Shane Rosenthal during the spring game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Nico’s team, with play-calling help from Bruins women’s basketball coach Cori Close throughout the second half, got to fourth-and-goal situations twice as the game wound down. One ended in a missed field goal by Mateo Orosco, who had made a 57-yarder, and the other concluded with the blue team storming the field after a pass from quarterback Ty Dieffenbach was incomplete with 10 seconds left.

The addition of the guest play-callers, Close and women’s water polo coach Adam Wright, led to a variety of trick plays throughout the game. Multiple flea-flickers went for big yards, and offensive lineman Mike McDonald took a rushing attempt as a part of the fun atmosphere that Chesney said he wanted to foster at the game.

To come up with one of the plays, Chesney said, Close messaged Rams coach Sean McVay for advice.

“We put some of those plays in so that she would be able to execute what she wanted to. She just came up a little short and I think she did a really good job of motivating her team,” Chesney said of Close’s second-half calls. “Coach Wright just really dialed it in and was able to strike when he had to and put that game away.”

Just before Moore caught his first touchdown in a Bruins uniform, he was running another deep route when he ran into a referee, breaking up what may have been an explosive play.

“Why’d you let the referee cover you?” Chesney asked, posing as a reporter during Moore’s interview.

“That was great defense,” Moore said in response, sporting a smile. “He was so stealthy.”

It had been a few years since the Bruins held a traditional spring game at the Rose Bowl, with previous coaches favoring lower-profile practices that were dubbed spring showcases. This year’s game also comes after the Bruins in February announced that the iconic Pasadena stadium would remain their home, at least this year, amid ongoing litigation over the university’s right to potentially break its lease and play home games at SoFi Stadium.

UCLA receiver Landon Ellis catches a touchdown pass in front of Jhase McMillan (23) and Curtis Gerrand (35) during the spring game at the Rose Bowl Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Chesney said holding a traditional spring game was like a “practice run” for the upcoming season. Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Bruins stayed in a hotel together and had walk-throughs on the field as well as meetings and pretty much anything else they could do to simulate a game. Chesney and many players got their first look at the Rose Bowl lit up at night during a visit Friday.

“To get a chance to walk in here and just feel this and see all of these surroundings and the things that took place in this venue is pretty special,” Chesney said. “We addressed that a little bit last night as a team, and made sure we understand the respect that this place deserves and understand the attitude of gratitude that we should have for the ability to play here.”

Defensive back Cole Martin, a Pasadena native who was on the blue team, called this spring game “magnificent” when asked to compare it to last year’s spring football practice finale. He specifically noted playing at the Rose Bowl as a reason for the strong atmosphere and an important experience for new UCLA players.

“First time in the Rose Bowl, first touchdown as a college player, I mean, it’s awesome,” Martin said, looking at the freshman Moore. “It doesn’t get better than that.”

Walking by reporters during the game, Bob Stiles, who made a famous goal-line stop on a two-point conversion to seal UCLA’s upset win over Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl, concurred. “This is fun,” Stiles said.

Running back Anthony Woods was a standout on the white team, scoring the first touchdown of the game on a six-yard run and going for multiple big gains early.

Receivers Mikey Matthews for white and Landon Ellis for blue scored the other two touchdowns on red zone crossing routes.

The other 10 points, besides the four touchdowns and field goal, were given out equally for victories in side competitions in between the first and second quarters and third and fourth quarters. Both were won by blue, aiding its seven-point win.

On defense, cornerback Osiris Gilbert broke up multiple passes and had a few hard hits, linebacker Samuel Omosigho earned a sack, and linebacker Malaki Soliai-Tui forced a fumble.

Chesney said he was happy with his team’s performance, noting penalties, like the various defensive pass interference calls, as a key area for improvement.

UCLA coach Bob Chesney pats running back Anthony Woods on the helmet during the team’s spring game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

“It went well,” Chesney said. “I wouldn’t say unbelievable. I wouldn’t say terrible. Most of the time, it was somewhere in between.”

Both Nico Iamaleava, for the offense, and Martin, for the defense, said the units had things to work on, but they were proud of how much they improved during spring camp. With a bit of a break before preparation for the fall ramps up, Iamaleava’s message to the team was simple: “Stay together.”

Chesney echoed the sentiment, saying building on the intensity and development from the spring, rather than starting again during the summer, will be key to the Bruins succeeding during the season.

“We’re back, baby,” Chesney said to fans right before the fourth quarter began. “We’re back.”

Spring practice continued for the UCLA football program Tuesday morning at Spaulding Field and for the most part head coach Bob Chesney was pleased with his team’s progress.

It marked the sixth of 14 practices leading up to the annual spring game on May 2 at the Rose Bowl.

“The defense took strides today,” said Chesney, who was hired as the Bruins’ 20th head football coach on Dec. 26, replacing DeShaun Foster (fired after an 0-3 start in 2025) and interim coach Tim Skipper. “There were a couple turnovers in there. This was our second day with the officials, it was a different group and they were throwing some flags today. We just have to understand the game we’re in. As you get further along the referees step aside, but early in the season they’re excited to do their jobs and we gave them enough to throw laundry at so we’ll go back and check it all out.”

Receiver Semaj Morgan caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, tight end Brayden Lofton made several fine catches, Troy Leigber rushed for a touchdown, and Donavyn Pellot and Robert Stafford III had interceptions on defense as the squad is motivated to rebound from a 3-9 season (3-6 in Big Ten) — its worst since its debut season under Chip Kelly in 2018.

“Practice six is usually when it dips a little bit,” said Chesney, who led James Madison to the Sun Belt Conference championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff last season. “On defense we did not, on offense we probably slowed down just a little bit. I didn’t feel a dip from the group, which is great, but usually around now is when that starts to happen. [Practices] six, seven, eight are a little bit of a fight and then you gotta come back when you get to nine, 10 and 11. I thought they did a good job today, not a great job, but you have those days. It’s the nature of the beast. I didn’t see any steps backward from anybody, just a little bit of a lull from what they were bringing the other day. ”

One position group that has impressed Chesney since he arrived in Westwood is running back — a unit that returns a number of players.

“Everybody has their pluses and minuses, everyone has things they’re really good at and things they’re mediocre at and our job every day is taking what’s mediocre and turning it into good — and eventually great — and playing to their strengths,” Chesney said. “Each of them has their own running style. I’ve been impressed with them, they’re one of the stronger groups on this team. It’s necessary as a running back for that to be the case. You have to be durable enough, you have to keep your pad level low and keep your body healthy because there’s probably not another position out there that takes as much of a beating … you’re getting tackled by guys who are sometimes much bigger than you.”

Defensive back Scooter Jackson was not at Tuesday’s practice but Chesney expects him to be back Thursday. Offensive lineman Jordan Davis is dealing with a shoulder injury.

“He’s got range, he just doesn’t feel like he has the full strength yet … but he’s close,” Chesney said of Davis. “On Saturday it was a little worse than it is today, so he’s slowly getting better.”

Chesney praised cornerback DJ Barksdale, an All-Sun Belt selection who transferred from James Madison — a player he knows well.

“The nickel and slot corner is important in the bubble game and the screen game,” Chesney said. “You’ve got to be able to fight through some things physically. You’re also tied in a lot as the bonus in the run game and then there’s times when you’re not there and you’re playing straight man-to-man on the other team’s quickest, best receiver so the skillset you’ve got to carry, the confidence you’ve got to carry and the physicality you’ve got to carry is significant. DJ possesses all of those.”

Chesney is excited about the depth in the defensive backfield.

“Rob [Stafford] did a good job,: he said. “In the red zone he’s been really sticky in coverage and he’s done a really nice job. He’s starting to click with his playbook and understand it and that’s kind of where everyone is at this stage of the game, we’re in practice six so everything we’ve done up to this point is six days of full speed stuff. Osiris [Gilbert] made a really big play on a ball that we had trouble with Saturday. To learn and carry that over from the previous practice into the film room and actuality execute it out here was great to see. Jhase McMillan is doing a great job. We’re rotating them through, we put them in different positions to test them in fire and see who can handle all of it. They’re a little more involved in the running game now, Cover 2 things and corner pressures, blitzing off the edge, they’ve done a really nice job.”

Asked who has stood out in the trenches, Chesney cited Aiden Gobaira, Julian Armella and Riley Robell.

“What’s impressed me most about Julian is his passion for this game,” Chesney said. “He’s got to harness that the right way. I’m sure there’s moments when you play with that much emotion and passion it can tip over, but I’ve been impressed with that part. He uplifts a lot of people when he’s out there. There’s never a moment where he’s just out here and it’s not important — it’s all important to him and that’s infectious.”

Pressuring the quarterback is a defensive priority for Chesney and his staff. A year ago the Bruins tied for last in the Big Ten in pass defense, allowing opponents to complete 66% of their passes.

“On the defensive side we have to continue to take bigger steps,” he said. “Our pass rush looks good, the interior pass rush is something we have to work on. A lot of the games that we’re playing inside we’ve got to continue to fine tune things because obviously the offense knows they’re coming and the element of surprise gets defeated The defense is doing a nice job setting them up, then it’s cool watching the chess match go on between both sides.”

Chesney is known for his emphasis on special teams and the Bruins ran drills throughout Tuesday’s practice focused on that phase of the game.

“I don’t want it to be an afterthought — I want to make sure it’s involved in everything we do,” Chesney stated. “I want it to feel like a game as much as it possibly can but I also want our long snapper, our holder, our kickers and our protection guys to know that the whole team is relying on you so when we put them in those situations at the end to pin the ball, they have to know they have to hold up their end of the bargain.”

What has surprised Chesney most in his first few months in Westwood?

“The alums who come out continually and who like being around this program is something I’d hoped for,” Chesney said. “I understood that practices were maybe different and closed and not open to everybody before, but it’s open to all of our alums and to high school coaches. I’d hoped it would happen and to see it actually transpiring day to day is exciting.”

UCLA’s next practice is Thursday on Spaulding Field at Wasserman Football Center.