Just a few weeks ago, Maryland football’s trip to California seemed like an almost guaranteed victory.
The Terps were undefeated and UCLA was winless. A chance to take a step toward becoming bowl eligible, even if Maryland lost consecutive home games.
But now, the outlook of the game has completely changed. UCLA dismissed head coach Deshaun Foster and then convincingly won two consecutive conference games.
The Terps, on the other hand, blew back-to-back fourth-quarter leads at home.
“A lot of reason for frustration for us, the last couple of weeks of not being able to finish and get it done,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “I also will say that there’s also a lot of optimism in our program because of how we’ve played this first half of the season. The frustration stems from knowing the kind of team that we have.”
In seemingly the blink of an eye, the fortunes for each program flipped, and thus, expectations have changed.
Maryland will look to correct its many mistakes as the season has gone in a different direction, while UCLA looks to ride momentum to a third consecutive win at home.
Can UCLA ride the wave?
The Bruins lost their first four games of the season and seemed like a dead football team.
UCLA was not competitive in losses to Utah, UNLV, New Mexico and even Northwestern, despite occurring after the coaching change.
But something clicked after the 0-4 start. Interim Head Coach Tim Skipper found life in this program and sparked two improbable victories.
“We’re facing a team in UCLA that’s been given life, they’re coming off a big road win a week ago against Michigan State,” Locksley said. “They’re playing really hard for their interim coach, Coach Skipper… He’s done a great job the last few weeks of rallying those guys and you can tell they’re playing very fearless as if they have nothing to lose.”
UCLA upset, then-No. 7 Penn State, 42-37, and sent that program into a spiral. Just over a week later, the Nittany Lions parted ways with their head coach, James Franklin. As things currently stand, UCLA’s season is more alive than Penn State’s — that would’ve been unfathomable a few weeks ago.
Last week, the Bruins destroyed Michigan State on the road and led for the entire game.
UCLA isn’t the same team it was three weeks ago.
Redshirt Sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava returned to looking like the player he was at Tennessee after struggling to start the season after transferring in the spring.
Iamaleava started for Tennessee in the College Football Playoff last season, but a holdout led him to move to UCLA.
This season, Iamaleava has thrown for 1,134 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also rushed for 335 yards and four touchdowns. In the last two weeks, he’s thrown five touchdowns for 346 yards and rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns.
Iamaleava’s top target is sophomore receiver Kwazi Gilmer, who has 313 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. Redshirt senior Titus Mokiao-Atimalala also has three touchdown receptions thus far.
Iamaleava leads UCLA in rushing, but the Bruins have three running backs who have produced this season. Jaivian Thomas, Anthony Woods and Jalen Berger have combined for 408 rushing yards on the season.
UCLA assistant coach Jerry Neuheisel has been a big story for the Bruins. He’s taken over the play calling and has been credited with the last two victories.
On defense, redshirt senior linebacker JonJon Vaughns leads UCLA with 58 total tackles and two sacks. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Isaiah Chisom has also been strong with 54 total tackles and two sacks.
UCLA’s defense has yet to have an interception this season, but has four forced fumbles.
The biggest question for UCLA on Saturday is which team will take the field against Maryland. Will it be the team that started the season or the team of the past two weeks?
Can the Terps recover despite the long road trip?
The Terps will visit the Rose Bowl for the first time on Saturday and will embark on their second west coast road trip under Locksley.
Maryland’s west coast contest last season was a 39-17 loss at the hands of then No. 1 Oregon.
Maryland’s goal of returning to bowl eligibility will rely on Saturday’s game. Maryland has played well in every game this season, but finds itself in a two-game skid.
Freshman quarterback Malik Washington has consistently performed this season and received high praise.
“Maryland’s got one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. We thought, hey, we’ll disguise on him, we’ll try to fool him, my man didn’t get fooled,” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said on the Pat Macafee Show Thursday.
This season, Washington has thrown for 1,506 yards, 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He averages 251 yards per game and has a 62% completion rate.
That said, Washington hasn’t been able to come through in the clutch, failing to score on back-to-back potential game-winning drives.
Maryland, as a whole, has a lot to clean up heading out west. The Terps were very undisciplined last week and missed several tackles.
The Terps are a young team and it has shown over the past two weeks, but will have to eliminate those mistakes if they want to win in California.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EST from the Rose Bowl on WMUC Sports.
