Purdue Football: UCLA Preview
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UCLA Bruins
Game Information
Week: 3
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Location: Pasadena, California
Time: 11 PM EDT
TV: Big 10 Network
Head Coach – Bob Chesney
Seasons at School (as head coach): 0
Coaching Record at School: 2-0
Overall Coaching Record: 134-52
Salve Regina (23-9)
Assumption (44-16)
Holy Cross (44-21)
James Madison (21-6)
UCLA (2-0)
2026 Results
@ California: W – 45-24
San Diego State: W – 28-10
2025 Stat Leaders
2026 Stats Leaders
Offense
Passing Yards: Nico Iamaleava – 335
Touchdown Passes: Nico Iamaleava – 0
Rushing Yards: Wayne Knight – 168
Rushing Touchdowns: Wayne Knight – 6
Receiving Yards: Brian Rowe Jr. – 91
Receiving Touchdowns: None
Total Touchdowns: Wayne Knight – 6
Defense
Tackles: LB – Samuel Omosigho – 21
Sacks: LB – Samuel Omosigho, LB – Jalen Woods, DL – Sahir West, DB – DJ Barksdale – 1
Tackles for Loss: LB – Samuel Omosigho – 4.5
Interceptions: Ta’Shawn James
Team NCAA Rankings
Total Offense: #54 – 451 Yards Per Game
Total Yards Allowed: #107 – 410 Yards Per Game
Rushing Offense: #23 – 277 Yards Per Game
Rushing Yards Allowed: #73 – 119 Yard Per Game
Passing Offense: #100 – 184 Yards Per Game
Passing Yards Allowed: #116 – 291 Yards Per Game
Turnover Margin: #12 – +2
Game Plan
In my preseason preview, I focused on quarterback Nico Iamaleava; that was a mistake. He’s been the weak spot for the Bruins over the first two games. The bad news is that UCLA is 2-0, despite their quarterback’s 0-for-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. That’s mainly due to James Madison transfer running back Wayne Knight emerging as one of the most explosive backs in the country. The 5’7”, 193-pound back is averaging 3 touchdowns a game. He makes his living running wide right, with 4 of his 6 touchdowns and 3 of his 4 10+ yard runs coming off the right side of the offensive line. He’s joined in the backfield by Anthony Woods, a 5’11”, 195-pound back who, interestingly enough, does most of his damage off the left side of the line. While Nico hasn’t done much in the passing game, he’s still dangerous in the run game. Like Wayne Knight, he’s done most of his yards off the right end.
The above paragraph boils down to this: Purdue’s defense has to set an edge and force the Bruins into the teeth of the defense, because if it comes down to a foot race to the corner, Knight, Iamaleava, and Woods are going to win. Now, onto the part some of you aren’t going to like. The book on Nico is to keep your safeties as deep as possible and make him consistently execute in the short passing game. He’s only completing 63% of his passes, and his best area of the field, by far, is the deep middle (20+ yards down the field, between the numbers), where he’s completed 5 of his 7 attempts for 172 yards. He’s only completing 54% of his passes in the short zone (1-19) and 50% in the intermediate zone (10-19). The scout says to be conservative in coverage, and Nico will eventually throw you the ball. Purdue tried that last week, and Gio Lopez didn’t cooperate. I’ll say this: Lopez looked like a different QB at Wake after being reunited with his South Alabama offensive coordinator. Nico has looked exactly like Nico this season. I’m not sure this is the game where Coach Kane tightens up the pass defense, despite last week’s frustrations.
To reduce things even further: The defensive line needs to set the edge in the run game and challenge Nico to beat them with short and intermediate routes in the passing game. If they manage that, they can pull off the upset. If they don’t contain UCLA’s outside runs, the Bruins will be tough to beat.
The good news is that Fame Ijeboi looks like the real deal, and UCLA’s run defense has been vulnerable. Cal’s running back, Adam Mohammed, went for 120 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries and caught 7 passes for 43 yards. That looks similar to Fame’s stat line from last week. In both week one and week two, the Bruins struggled to stop runs in the A gap (between the center and guard). I expect a heavy dose of inside runs from Fame on Saturday.
If Fame can get the inside run game going, Ryan Browne will have a chance to take the top of the defense with play action. Cal did most of their damage by throwing the ball deep down the sidelines. My hope, perhaps my dream, is for Purdue to have a steady run attack complemented by a downfield passing game. Let’s go ahead and skip the redzone zone altogether with a few strikes from distance.
The Bruins should be favored in this game. They’re 2-0 and playing at home.
Purdue matches up well with them and is a live underdog on the road.
Make sure you get a nap in on Saturday, because late-night, former Pac-12 action can get wild.
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