All these hits have finally caught up Niko Yamaleava.
Having withstood one punishing blow after another, UCLA The defender will miss Saturday's game. vs. top-ranked Ohio State at Ohio Stadium due to concussion symptoms related to hits he took last weekend against Nebraska, said a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Yamaleawa participated in the first part of Tuesday's practice, the last session reporters watched this week.
His absence against the Buckeyes appears to mean the top reserve Luke DuncanThe redshirt sophomore, who has never hit a home run at the college level, will make his first career start.
Yamaleawa's ability to take hits and continue to play was a major topic of discussion earlier this week between reporters and UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper. The quarterback was easily his team's leading rusher, averaging 52.7 yards per game nearly twice as fast as the running back. Jayvian Thomas (30.8), the second most productive player on the team.
The skipper praised Yamaleava's fearlessness, saying the 6-foot-6, 215-pound redshirt sophomore didn't want to slide or run out of bounds.
“Nico is the first tall, skinny dude I know that will put his pads down on you and not be afraid, he'll always go forward and get yards and stuff like that,” Skipper said Monday. “He has small legs and skinny arms, but he’s not afraid at all.”
The skipper also acknowledged the need to keep Yamaleawa available by not allowing him to take more hits than necessary.
“Obviously, he’s your starting quarterback,” Skipper said. “You don't want him to get hit hard and stuff like that, but if they're going to give him running lanes, you might as well take advantage of them. I joke with him all the time: “Hey, every now and then, you might want to roll a little.” But you know, when you have a natural runner like him, you just let him do his thing.”
Immediately after UCLA lost to Nebraska 28-21.Yamaleava did not indicate that all the hits he received affected his performance. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, and also ran 15 times for 86 yards.
“Yeah, man, man, I played football a long time and I got hit a lot in a lot of games,” Yamaleava said. “So I don't think it affected me that much. Overall, we just need to play better overall and finish out games.”
