Nico Iamaleava receives AP, Big Ten Player of the Week honors

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava had the performance of his career during Saturday's 42-37 upset of Penn State on Oct. 4. To say the Bruins were an underdog going into the game after an 0-4 start to the year would be an understatement, but an explosion of offense led by Iamaleava led the Bruins to not only their first win of the season, but their first win against a top-10 opponent since 2010.

Iamaleava was involved in scoring a career-high five touchdowns in the game between passing and his own rushes into the end zone. He totaled a career-high 128 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the game and highlighted the onslaught with a 52 yard rush downfield in the third quarter, UCLA's longest rush in a game this season. It was the fourth time this season that Iamaleava led the Bruins in rushing and his 128 yards on his own two feet were the most in a game by a UCLA quarterback since Brett Hundley rushed for 131 yards in  game on Nov. 1, 2014.

"I was just taking what the defense was giving me. They were playing great coverage on the back end and it was time for me to use my legs," Iamaleava said after the game. "We were able to convert some big third downs and keep the job going."

For his outstanding offensive effort Iamaleava was named both the Associated Press Player of the Week and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. On top these honors, Iamaleava was also named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 list and the Manning Award's "Stars of the Week" list for Week 6.

On Tuesday, even more awards rolled in for Iamaleava after his massive performance. The UCLA quarterback was also named the Maxwell Award Player of the Week, the Davey O'Brien Award Quarterback of the Week and the Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week.

In addition to the his three rushing touchdowns, Iamaleava connected on two passing touchdowns to wide receivers Kwazi Gilmer and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. With Iamaleava's help the Bruins outscored the Nittany Lions 27-7 in the first half, putting more on the board in two quarters than the Bruins had in a full game all season. The junior quarterback was able to show off his passing prowess in addition to his legs in the game with 168 yards on 17-24 passes, including a 43-yard pass in the second quarter, his longest off the season. 

Iamaleava has been the most anticipated player in the program since he arrived from Tennessee in the transfer portal this season and in one of the biggest upsets this season, he was able to show the entire college football world exactly what he's made of.