'We're back, baby!' UCLA coach Bob Chesney restores Bruins' festive spring game experience

UCLA coach Bob Chesney directs players during the Bruins' spring game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) It was a brotherly battle at UCLA’s spring football game on a clear Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl .

At the helm of the opposing white and blue teams, respectively, quarterbacks Nico and Madden Iamaleava led the split halves of the Bruins squad during a well-attended end to the first spring camp under the direction of new coach Bob Chesney . Fittingly, Madden tossed the go-ahead touchdown pass from near the logo to a wide-open Kenneth Moore III, putting his blue team up 24-17, the eventual final score. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him just play football,” Nico said of his brother.

“So it was fun seeing him out there operate. ” UCLA defensive back Osiris Gilbert knocks the ball out of the hand of UCLA receiver Shane Rosenthal during the spring game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. (Allen J.

Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Nico’s team, with play-calling help from Bruins women’s basketball coach Cori Close throughout the second half, got to fourth-and-goal situations twice as the game wound down. One ended in a missed field goal by Mateo Orosco, who had made a 57-yarder, and the other concluded with the blue team storming the field after a pass from quarterback Ty Dieffenbach was incomplete with 10 seconds left. The addition of the guest play-callers, Close and women’s water polo coach Adam Wright, led to a variety of trick plays throughout the game.