UCLA football (3-4, 3-1 Big Ten) extended its win streak to three with its 20-17 come-from-behind victory over Maryland (4-3, 1-3) at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Daily Bruin Sports senior staffer Kai Dizon gives five takeaways from the Bruins’ first fourth-quarter comeback win in over a year.

Skip in the CD

The Bruins sure aren’t one-hit wonders, but their CD skipped Saturday.

Fortunately for UCLA, it was able to get its Discman level just in time to hear its fight song play.

After leading Penn State by as many as 20 points Oct. 4 and beating Michigan State 38-13 Oct. 11, UCLA was tested in a contest where it trailed twice and was never separated by more than one score.

The offense that had powered the Bruins in their previous two wins was shaky Saturday. After scoring on their third possession, the Bruins failed to score a touchdown on their subsequent nine drives.

And after junior defensive back Scooter Jackson snared what could’ve been a game-sealing interception, the defense allowed a game-tying touchdown on Maryland’s next possession.

But ultimately, the Bruins did enough.

The defense bailed out the offense plenty, with Maryland only scoring on one of UCLA’s three turnovers – a pick-six thrown from the 4-yard line.

The Bruin offense scored 13 in the fourth quarter – including a 33-second-long game-winning drive.

In the end, in spite of all the hiccups, UCLA completed its first fourth-quarter comeback since the 2024 season opener against Hawaiʻi.

Same song and dance

Seven games into the season – through the wins and losses – one thing has yet to change.

UCLA is still getting penalized at an alarming rate.

The Terrapins accepted 10 penalties on the Bruins for 85 yards.

If you want to take away the block in the back penalty called on sophomore wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer – who didn’t appear to actually come into contact with any opposing player – that’s still nine penalties for 75 yards.

This season, 59 penalties have been called on UCLA for 515 yards – or an average of 8.4 penalties per game for 73.6 yards. Those are yards that could very well cost UCLA in a tight contest down the road – with four of its five remaining opponents appearing in Oct. 12’s AP top 25.

Nearly a third of the Bruins’ penalties are on false starts.

A single player – redshirt senior offensive lineman Courtland Ford – has cost UCLA 58 yards on eight penalties.

It’s a puzzling predicament for a team that has seemed to rectify all of its problems from its 0-4 start.

Second chances

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava had his first two-interception game since Sept. 7, 2024. He also lost the ball on a fumble less than six minutes into the fourth quarter.

But two possessions later, he led the Bruins down the field for an eight-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a go-ahead touchdown.

Iamaleava had to be helped off the field less than two minutes later, with what looked like a game-ending knee injury.

But with the game tied and just under 40 seconds left on the clock, Iamaleava was back on the field – completing a 14- and 19-yard pass on the Bruins’ 68-yard drive.

Iamaleava’s comeback performance was hardly the only one Saturday.

Junior kicker Mateen Bhaghani missed what would’ve been a game-tying 56-yard field goal with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter but found the uprights on his next two attempts – a 42-yarder that put UCLA up by seven and the game-winner from 23 yards out.

Additionally, redshirt senior running back Anthony Frias II had a moment he’s been waiting for since he began his Division I career in 2022.

His 55-yard run in the second quarter scored his first career touchdown and was the Bruins’ only touchdown until the final 3:33 of the game. And the 97 rushing yards Frias finished with beat his previous career high of 43 – coincidentally coming against a Fresno State team led by interim head coach Tim Skipper.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala recorded his first triple-digit receiving yard game – reeling in 102 of Iamaleava’s 221 passing yards – beating his career high of 89 yards he set two seasons ago.

Depth and tenacity are a necessity for any team with postseason aspirations

UCLA showed off both Saturday.

Let it ride

UCLA played a relatively bad game of football against a solid Power Four opponent and won.

Saturday’s win does not happen under the old regime.

Like everything, the way 2025 is remembered will ultimately depend on how things end. But for now, this is an absolutely remarkable turnaround that doesn’t happen without Skipper, senior defensive analyst Kevin Coyle and assistant head coach and tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel.

As suggested by their way-too-long titles, Coyle and Neuheisel are just play-callers – not even bestowed with the titles of interim coordinators.

But why should any of the trio just be limited to interim positions?

How many people expected this turnaround when the Bruins fired coach DeShaun Foster?

How about when UCLA lost both its offensive and defensive coordinators soon after?

When Foster was shown the door, the college football world spent days talking about how bad a job UCLA’s head coaching position is and how the Bruins would never be able to build a successful football program in the Big Ten.

But Skipper took the interim job – the second of his career – and has taken this team to heights that seemed impossible just weeks ago.

Skipper has repeatedly spoken to Coyle’s impact on the team’s defense and himself, having played for the coach from 1997 to 2000.

It’s a similar story on the other side of the ball. Neuheisel has undoubtedly been helped by offensive analyst Noel Mazzone, whom he played for a decade ago.

There might be a different tune by the end of the season, but for now, how could you want to tear this group apart?

Bring on Bloomington

Ahead of his first season as Indiana’s head coach, Curt Cignetti showed up on the Big Ten press trail with an attitude few thought he could back up in his first season at a historically inept football program.

But he did – leading the Hoosiers to their first-ever College Football Playoff last season and a program-record 11 wins.

In July 2024, Cignetti said Indiana would come into the Rose Bowl and “kick somebody’s ass.”

And they did, clobbering the Bruins 42-13.

Things are very different over a year later.

The No. 2 Hoosiers are a perfect 7-0, and Cignetti signed an eight-year, $93 million extension Thursday.

Meanwhile, UCLA is a 24.5-point underdog heading into Bloomington, Indiana, with the whole country waiting to watch Saturday’s Big Noon Kickoff.

But do you remember what happened the last time the Bruins were 24.5-point underdogs?