The college football program that spent the first month of the 2025 season looking laughably incapable of winning now suddenly can’t lose.
One week after its stunning 42-37 upset of Penn State, UCLA earned a 38-13 road victory against Michigan State on Saturday, Oct. 11, potentially harkening one of the more abrupt and unexpected midseason turnarounds in modern college football history.
The Bruins weren’t just victorious against the Spartans, but dominant, outgaining them by a 418-253 margin and holding on to the ball 13 more minutes than their overwhelmed opponent.
Somehow, a team that started the season 0-4 and lost by 25 at home to New Mexico has a winning record in Big Ten play and is ahead of, among others, Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska in the conference standings.
What’s changed?
The Bruins’ woeful start prompted a seismic shakeup, with the school firing former UCLA All-American DeShaun Foster after the Sept. 12 loss to New Mexico, just 15 games into his ill-fated head-coaching debut.
A potentially more consequential move awaited. On Sept. 30, three days after managing just 14 points in a loss at fellow Big Ten cellar-dweller Northwestern, the Bruins announced they had mutually agreed to part ways with first-year offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. In his place stepped Jerry Neuheisel, the 33-year-old former UCLA quarterback and the son of longtime college football coach Rick Neuheisel.
The results have been immediate. With Neuheisel and his golden locks leading the way. What had been a languishing Bruins offense has come alive, with high-priced transfer Nico Iamaleava looking every bit like the five-star recruit he was coming out of high school in Long Beach.
Just look at the numbers:
Points per game
- First four games: 14.3
- Past two games: 40
Yards per game
- First four games: 321.3
- Past two games: 426.5
Rushing yards per game
- First four games: 124.3
- Past two games: 253.5
Maybe the biggest difference has been seen in Iamaleava, who has started to fulfill some of the dreams UCLA fans had for him when the Bruins signed him to a lucrative name, image and likeness deal months after he helped lead Tennessee to the College Football Playoff.
In his team’s two wins, Iamaleava has thrown for 346 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions and averaged 7.2 yards per attempt while adding 131 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. In the first four games of the season, he threw for 788 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt while managing 204 rushing yards and only one touchdown.
Because of those tweaks, a UCLA season that was barreling toward historical infamy eight days ago could conceivably end with a bowl berth. It won’t be easy, of course. The Bruins have games remaining against top-10 Ohio State and Indiana teams, both of which come on the road. The team with the worst win percentage left on its schedule was 4-1 heading into this weekend.
But the fact this is even a discussion has been remarkable. What was college football’s biggest laughingstock and cautionary tale until very recently is now one of the sport’s most compelling stories.
