UCLA’s football program has turned to quarterback Ty Dieffenbach to lead the 12th-ranked Bruins after starter Nico Iamaleava suffered a knee injury expected to end his season.
Dieffenbach stepped in midway through UCLA’s game against Oregon last weekend, throwing the touchdown pass that proved decisive in a 17-15 victory. Tight end Josh Phifer said Dieffenbach’s calm under pressure settled the rest of the offense.
“I thought his poise was really inspiring, because being in the huddle and just seeing that your quarterback is not really nervous or freaking out at all and just ready to go attack makes the rest of the offense just feel comfortable too,” Phifer said.
The moment capped a long and difficult road for Dieffenbach, who won the starting quarterback job at Agoura High School as a sophomore despite never having played the position before, beating out a senior for the role. During his time there, he supported his mother through a battle with breast cancer and served as a steadying senior captain after a teammate died, becoming what his former coach called “the face of the program” amid heavy media attention.
“That was a lot for a kid like that to take on because there was a lot of media attention around that, not to mention losing a teammate and all that,” said Dustin Croick, Dieffenbach’s coach at Agoura High. “He was the face of the program at the time and he just handled that really well.”
Dieffenbach’s senior season ended early because of injury, but he stayed on to mentor his replacement on a team that finished 1-9 rather than step away. He went on to commit to UNLV before Pittsburgh recruited him late; he never played in two seasons there amid a coaching change at offensive coordinator. He then transferred to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he started but struggled, throwing for 1,305 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions in a 4-8 season.
A prior relationship with former Holy Cross offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy brought Dieffenbach to UCLA for his senior year after Kennedy followed head coach Bob Chesney from James Madison. He arrived with no guarantee of playing time, competing behind Iamaleava and the starter’s younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, for the backup role.
That changed last weekend at Autzen Stadium when Nico Iamaleava went down with the knee injury, thrusting Dieffenbach into the starting job.
Croick said he believes Chesney is well suited to developing Dieffenbach as a player.
“He probably believes in Ty and he’s all about just getting better every day, and that’s what Ty needs,” Croick said.
UCLA (5-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) hosts Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, with Dieffenbach now at the controls of the offense.
“He believes in himself,” Croick said. “Regardless of Pitt or Cal Poly and what happened there, he’s going to grind, he’s going to work. … I’m biased, but I think he’s going to kill it. This is the opportunity that he’s been waiting for.”
