COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The UCLA football team secured a 54-3 victory at Maryland in a Big Ten road contest in front of 40,125 fans at the Terrapins’ SECU Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) claimed a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, after neither team scored in the opening frame. UCLA led Maryland at halftime 20-3, before putting the game’s outcome out of reach midway through the third quarter. The Bruins outscored Maryland (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) by a 14-0 margin in third quarter and 20-0 in the final frame.
UCLA has opened the season with a 4-0 record for the first time since 2022, also logging the program’s first four-game winning streak since the 2022 campaign.
“We want to play our best football and do it one play at a time, and I think that is where our guys have done a really good job,” said Bob Chesney, The Angelo M. Mazzone III UCLA Head Football Coach. “I don’t want to be in a situation where we are limiting ourselves or where we make excuses. For us, just playing our best football. And I thought that we finally played a complementary game of football, where the offense, defense and special teams all got each other’s backs. Overall, it was a good day at the office.”
A pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns by UCLA with 11:20 to play (Ta’Shawn James) and 8:16 remaining (Scooter Jackson) in the third quarter helped the Bruins build a 34-3 cushion against Maryland (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten). James intercepted a pass from Maryland quarterback Malik Washington and took the ball 39 yards for the touchdown. Nearly three minutes later, Jackson picked off a pass and hauled the football 65 yards for the score.
The back-to-back interception returns marked UCLA’s first game with multiple pick-sixes since 28-20 road win in the team’s season opener at Virginia on Aug. 30, 2014. UCLA finished the game with four interceptions, the program’s best single-game total since totaling six interceptions at Utah on Oct. 3, 2013.
Bruins’ running back Wayne Knight led a strong rushing attack for UCLA, totaling 100 net yards in 10 carries and one touchdown. Troy Leigber picked up 83 yards on the ground on just five carries, including a long of 63 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Four players each registered a rushing touchdown in the win at Maryland – Knight, Leigber, Jaivian Thomas and Anthony Woods.
Knight’s 45-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down situation helped UCLA take a 7-0 lead with 13:31 remaining in the second quarter. Knight has scored at least one rushing touchdown in each of the Bruins’ four games this season, marking the longest such scoring streak in his collegiate career.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 15 of 24 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown. Iamaleava connected with eight receivers on a rainy afternoon in College Park, Md.
The Bruins’ defense limited Maryland to one field goal near the conclusion of the first half. Maryland was held to just 181 net yards on offense, including 142 yards through the air and 39 yards on the ground.
UCLA’s 51-point margin of victory on Saturday marked the program’s largest ever in a Big Ten game, and the largest overall against a conference opponent since defeating Arizona, 66-10, on Nov. 3, 2012. In addition, the 51-point margin marked the program’s highest such margin of victory in a conference road game since blanking Washington State 55-0 in 1955.
Paired with last week’s 52-38 win at home over Purdue (Sept. 19), the Bruins have scored at least 50 points in back-to-back games for the first time since 1993. It’s the first time in which UCLA has notched 50-plus points in consecutive conference contests since 1973.
UCLA will return to action at No. 20-ranked Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 10, following a bye week. The game time at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium has not been determined. The Bruins will return back to the Rose Bowl to face Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 17 (time TBD).