If it’s weird seeing Ohio State play UCLA in mid-November in a Big Ten game, it’s because it is. Conference realignment has given us these matchups that may take some time to get used to.
Saturday’s game is also the third night game the Buckeyes are playing at home this season. That’s something fans will want to get used to. It’s a game Ohio State should win, and win comfortably. UCLA built some momentum with a three-game winning streak early in Big Ten play, but their last three games — all losses — have shown that they are still not a very good team.
Nonetheless, it’s still up to the Buckeyes to go out there and play to their standard and move to 10-0. With that, let’s take a closer look at the UCLA Bruins.
Quarterback: Nico Iamaleava
Iamaleava remembers playing in The Shoe all too well, not faring well at all against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff last December.
Now with the Bruins, Iamaleava has 1,659 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also leads the Bruins in rushing yards with 474 yards and four touchdowns.
The Bruins’ offense is Iamaleava. He’s done a lot, but it hasn’t really helped UCLA be a juggernaut offensively this season. In nine games, he has 200-plus passing yards in three of them and four games with over 50 rushing yards.
Four Players to Watch on UCLA
1. JonJon Vaughns (LB)
Vaughns is UCLA’s leading tackler with 88 total tackles and 38 solo tackles. He has three tackles for loss, a pass break-up, and a fumble recovery, along with his tackling prowess.
This is a multi-sport athlete, with Vaughans starring on the mound and at the plate with UCLA Baseball. Vaughans won a national championship with St. John Bosco in 2019 and is in his sixth season with the football program.
2. Scooter Jackson (DB)
Jackson came over to UCLA with 55 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and nine pass break-ups in his two seasons with Utah Tech. So far this season, Jackson has two interceptions, three pass break-ups, and a forced fumble.
3. Jaivian Thomas (RB)
After Iamaleava, Thomas is UCLA’s leading rusher at 277 rushing yards. He’s coming off a season where he rushed for 626 yards and seven touchdowns on 100 carries at California in 2024.
4. Kwazi Gilmer (WR)
Gilmer leads UCLA with 33 receptions and 395 yards, with two touchdowns to go along with those numbers. He already has more receptions and receiving yards than he did in 2024.
Interim Head Coach: Tim Skipper
Skipper is 3-3 as UCLA’s interim head coach, and this is not his first instance where he’s been in that role. He served as Fresno State’s acting head coach in 2023 and interim head coach in 2024 while head coach Jeff Tedford addressed health concerns. The Bulldogs went 7-7 in those 14 games with Skipper.
Prior to UCLA, Skipper served in coaching roles at Central Michigan, UNLV, Florida, and Colorado State.
Skipper was a four-year starting middle linebacker at Fresno State from 1997 to 2000. He earned an appearance on both the 1999 and 2000 watch lists of the Butkus Award, presented annually to the nation’s top linebacker. A two-year defensive captain and three-time All-WAC selection, he ranks second in school history with 418 career tackles, including 117 in his first campaign, when he earned freshman All-America recognition.
In addition, Skipper comes from a family of coaches. His father, Jim, coached for four decades before his retirement in 2019. Tim’s brother, Kelly, has been in the profession since 1989 and currently coaches running backs for the Buffalo Bills.
Interim Offensive Coordinator: Jerry Neuheisel
The son of former UCLA head coach and current CBS college football analyst Rick Neuheisel, Jerry has been with the Bruins since 2018. He started as a graduate assistant before coaching wide receivers and tight ends.
Jerry also played quarterback at UCLA from 2012 to 2015, before continuing his football career abroad. He led the Obic Seagulls of the Japanese X League to the Japan X Bowl in 2016, completing 67.5% of his passing attempts for 1,456 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Interim Defensive Coordinator: Kevin Coyle
Coyle becoming the interim defensive coordinator at UCLA exemplifies the unprecedented nature of the season in Westwood. He came to UCLA after spending the first month of the 2025 season as a senior defensive analyst at Syracuse, where he helped the Orange to a 3-1 record to start the year.
Senior defensive analyst is Coyle’s actual title at UCLA.
In addition to this season, Coyle was Fresno State’s defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2024. It was Coyle’s second stint as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator, the previous stint having been from 1997 to 2000. He was a senior defensive analyst in 2019 with the national champion LSU Tigers, and he also served as defensive coordinator at Maryland and Syracuse in the 1990s.
Coyle has extensive NFL coaching experience. He was the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins from 2012 to 2015. Before that, he was with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2001 to 2011, coaching cornerbacks and defensive backs. Coyle has been considered by some to be one of the top defensive coaches in the Bengals’ franchise history.
Working with the franchise under two head coaches, not only did he develop one of the NFL’s top cornerback tandems of the late 2000s, Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, but the Bengals’ defense as a whole ranked seventh in the 2011 season, largely as a result of their ninth-ranked pass defense (211.6 passing yards allowed per game). He was also well known for reviving the careers of free agents such as Chris Crocker and Gibril Wilson.
During his tenure, the Bengals earned playoff berths three times, and in 2005, they had their most wins (11) since 1988. That season, the Bengals’ defense led the league in interceptions with 31. He was also the Bengals’ defensive backs coach from 2016 to 2017.
A walk-on defensive back at the University of Cincinnati, Coyle began his coaching career as a graduate assistant there from 1978 to 1979.
Keys to the Game
1. Knock the Bruins out early
This is a game to put away early. UCLA is coming out east for a night game in November. Make them feel like they have no chance of winning.
2. Pressure Iamaleava
It worked last December, and it can work again on Saturday night.
3. Run the ball
The Buckeyes are close to really getting the running game going. It’s been a tough watch, at times, this season, but the talent is there within the position to get it going and be a factor down the stretch.
4. Special teams
It’s a key in every game, but especially as we approach The Game.
Score Prediction: Buckeyes 41 – Bruins 10
This game shouldn’t be close. If Ohio State plays to its standard, this game should be in their control from the start.
