knee injury

UCLA senior starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava will miss the rest of this season with a knee injury, according to a person with knowledge of the injury not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The injury is a blow for the No. 12 Bruins, who are 5-0 during coach Bob Chesney’s first season and have a favorable path to a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Iamaleava sustained the injury at the end of the first half of UCLA’s win over Oregon.

The quarterback was running with the ball when he was spun around and was tackled. He grabbed his leg as he was hit in the head by Oregon’s Bear Alexander. Iamaleava briefly returned for one play and Chesney said during a halftime TV interview the quarterback was fine after getting hit in the quad.

Iamaleava, however, did not return with the team after halftime and eventually emerged from the locker room in the third quarter wearing street clothes.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava is examined by medical staff while coach Bob Chesney watches Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

(Lydia Ely / Associated Press)

Before his exit, Iamaleava went 10 of 17 passing for 162 yards and two interceptions. Through five games, the quarterback tallied 982 passing yards, 144 rushing yards, five total touchdowns and four interceptions.

After Saturday’s win, Chesney said that he thought Iamaleava injured his thigh, but he noted the injury may have been more extensive and it would require a full medical evaluation.

Senior quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who had been listed third on the depth chart behind Iamaleava and his younger brother Madden, ran the UCLA offense during the second half. He completed three passes for 43 yards and one touchdown, helping the Bruins earn a 17-15 win.

“When someone goes down, and someone’s gotta step up, you’re either exposed or you’re revealed,” Chesney said. “One of the two is going to happen when your number gets called, and for Ty to step up in that moment when Nico couldn’t go and to put himself in the spot where he was revealed for knowing the run game, knowing what to get us into, the touchdown pass I thought he threw.”

Madden Iamaleava appeared in two games this season, taking over the offense against Purdue when his older brother went down with a shoulder injury and against Maryland with UCLA up multiple scores.

Chesney turned to Dieffenbach, who started last season at Cal Poly, during one of the biggest moments of the season. Dieffenbach said after the win he didn’t know he would be asked to lead the offense if Nico Iamaleava was knocked out.

UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach prepares to receive the ball during a win over Oregon Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

(Lydia Ely / Associated Press)

The decision to play Dieffenbach instead of Madden was based on the game script and the threat of Dieffenbach in the ground game, Chesney said.

“We are really on a week-to-week basis here, and this week we felt like we had to run a little bit more with the quarterback possibly, and that’s where I felt Ty had a really nice week and that put us in that spot,” Chesney said. “This is just one of those things that I’m sure if Madden would’ve went in there, he would have done a phenomenal job as well. But I thought Ty was the guy we decided on at this moment based on the previous week of practice.”

Chesney and Dieffebach acknowledged that the fight for the UCLA backup spot never ends.

“Every week is a battle between me and Madden for the two-spot, and I mean both of us were executing in practice,” Dieffenbach said. “… When I heard that I was [going to play, it was] just tunnel vision, just ready to go execute.”

Prior to helping earn UCLA’s first victory at Autzen Stadium since 2004, Dieffenbach spent the 2025 campaign at Cal Poly, where he started 11 games, throwing for 1,305 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions, alongside 321 ground yards and four scores.

Dieffenbach’s one-year stint in San Luis Obispo was preceded by two years at Pittsburgh, where he did not see any game action. The signal caller’s transfer to UCLA marked a return to Southern California for the Agoura High product, who started his high school career as a wide receiver but finished his three varsity seasons with 4,153 passing yards and 48 touchdowns.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart appears to have avoided a “devastating outcome” after leaving Monday night’s game against the Rams with a left knee injury, coach John Harbaugh told reporters following his team’s 28-6 loss at SoFi Stadium.

Harbaugh stopped short of confirming the multiple media reports that Dart suffered a sprained MCL when his leg bent in an unnatural manner after he was hit hard by Rams linebackers Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart early in the first quarter.

“That’s in the neighborhood of it, I would say,” Harbaugh said of those reports after the his team’s 28-6 loss. “We’ll get an MRI tomorrow and have a real good feel for it, and give you more information from there.”

SNY Giants reports that Dart could miss two to four weeks with the injury. Still, it could have been much worse. A torn ACL could have ended the season for the second-year quarterback who missed two games last year after sustaining a concussion.

“Never play to hurt anybody,” Young, a fourth-year player and 2025 Pro Bowl selection for the Rams, posted in an Instagram Story after the game. “I pray for a healthy recovery.”

Former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning seemed to fear the worst while watching the situation unfold live on their alternative broadcast of the game on ESPN2.

“Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no,” Peyton Manning said as he watched Dart writhe on the ground while holding his knee. “That is not what we want to see. Gosh!”

“Tough to watch,” Eli Manning said as a replay aired. “Hate to see that. Hope he’s OK.”

Dart was able walk off the field and into the locker room gingerly but under his own power. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that the former USC and Mississippi quarterback actually wanted to return to the game but was not allowed to do so by his team.

Instead, Dart watched the second half from the sideline in street clothes, with video appearing to show him telling someone, “They wouldn’t let me come back out.”

Veteran quarterback Jameis Winston filled in for Dart and completed 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards with one interception.

Dart was one of several key Giants (1-1) players to suffer injuries during the loss. Top pass rusher Brian Burns sprained his left ankle and left tackle Andrew Thomas sustained an apparent lower-body injury, with neither player returning to the game.

Wide receiver Malik Nabers had to pop his right shoulder into place after dislocating it during the first quarter. He stayed in the game but indicated afterward he would undergo X-rays the next day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.