What Tim Skipper Said After UCLA's Thrilling Win

The UCLA Bruins (3-4, 3-1 Big Ten) survived one of the most grueling games of the season against Maryland on a game-winning field goal to top the Terps 20-17.

UCLA kicker Mateen Bhaghani iced the game with a 23-yarder to push his Bruins on top. The game-winning drive started at their own 27-yard line with 35 seconds remaining, and a 35-yard Anthony Frias II run put the Bruins in field goal position.

The game was a defensive clash, as the teams traded three-and-outs for the better part of the first three quarters. UCLA was 7-17 on third downs and Maryland was 6-17.

ucl — Oct 11, 2025; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; UCLA defensive back Key Lawrence (4) holds a towel with the Michigan State logo after defeating the Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

Bruins interim head coach Tim Skipper leads his squad to three straight wins amid a storybook turnaround.

Below is a transcript of Skipper's postgame press conference:

opening statement

“Tough games, you are going to need everybody. We preach all the time, you never know when your moment is going to happen. You just keep working hard, you keep executing, keep sawing wood, and when your opportunity comes take full opportunity of that. It was a whole team effort – you can name a lot of people that contributed to this thing.

Oct 11, 2025; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; UCLA Bruins interim head coach Tim Skipper looks up at the video board in the fourth quarter at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

"We talked strain, we talked grinding, every single play matters, we preach that. But literally tonight, every single played mattered. Even the squib on the kickoff, they start lateraling, your heart stops dropping. Someone has to made a play and make a big hit, and then we are out of there. We thought we were done, and they told us there are two seconds left – we have to go back and execute. It took everybody.

"Frias is a hard-working dude. He’s buried on the depth chart at the beginning of the year, but he just kept working – never complained. He had his opportunity tonight and he took full advantage of it tonight. Nico is the ultimate competitor. He was down on the ground, he was down and feeling really bad, and he got up and kind of walked it off.

"Then they said you’re okay, and he said I’m going. He went out there and led a phenomenal drive. He stuck in that pocket and delivered the ball, got us down there – big run, and then we executed the field goal. That was awesome to see guys keep fighting and straining. Nobody pointed fingers, that’s the main thing. It got tight. It was really tight down there on the sidelines. Nobody was pointing fingers. We were just like we are a play away, we are a play away. We are almost there. They came true and we figured out a way to finish it off.”

Michigan State's Jordan Hall, left, tackles UCLA's Anthony Frias II during the third quarter on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

on the Bruins’ defense

“We definitely would want to have that drive back. There are some plays we wish we could get back. We threw a lot at those guys this week. We wanted to stop the run. And then when we got in the longer yardage stuff, we had all kinds of defense, and the guys learned it in a short amount of time and we executed it pretty well. I think we could have had a couple more turnovers out there, that we left hanging. But the guys bought in. We kept another offense under 400 yards, they had 337 yards. We played four quarters, just one drive got away from us. We can build from that and we will keep on working."

on keeping Maryland quarterback Malik Washington quiet

“Like I was saying, he is a great player. I want to tip my hat to Maryland. They came out here on a long trip and they went out there and fought. Our whole goal was to see if we could confuse them as much as possible. In order to do that, our guys had to learn a lot. We’re looking at splits, we’re looking at formations, and then we are getting into the defense we want to get in. It’s pretty advanced. I’m happy and excited that we could do that. It was good to see that tonight, and we will keep building from that. Without having a spring ball and a training camp with the defense, to see how much we had in for this game, and then to execute it, is phenomenal.”

ucl — Oct 11, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins quarterback Malik Washington (7) throws from the pocket during the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

on defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle

“He taught me defense. 1997 is when I met him. I’m a freshman playing football, and he taught me how you play defense. That friendship has just kept on building and building. It was awesome for me to actually work with him and learn even more. I’m still learning from him, it has not stopped at all. He’s the godfather of defense. He thinks up of all these schemes.

"He hammers film, he watches all day and night, and then we come up with these plans, and we execute them. We were only in this thing for a month, and the guys just get that, that’s a compliment to coach Coyle and the defensive staff, teaching the guys and getting them to execute it. I’m very pleased with the defense, I’m pleased with everyone fighting through it. But the defense kept us in it and we got it done."

ucl — Nov 30, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins helmets during pregame warmups before playing the Fresno State Bulldogs at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

on his reaction to Nico Iamaleava going down in the fourth quarter

“I just took a deep breath. I’ve been around football enough to know sometimes when it looks the worst, it is not – and sometimes when it doesn’t, it is. You just take a deep breath, let the medical staff do their jobs and we figure out where we are. I know with Nico when I saw him start to walk off and his face started to come back normal, I was like we have a shot here. We have a shot. Then they cleared him, and I was like, let's go. I was hoping we didn’t have to get to this, where he needed that drive. But we ended up needing it, and he executed it. Ultimate competitors compete, he didn’t want to come out. He went out there and he did his thing.”

on his team being able to thrive the last few weeks

“I think it’s all about belief, belief. The guys believe, they believe. There is nothing that happens throughout the game that is going to take away confidence. You don’t really know that until you get in a tight game like that. I found out today that the guys believe. I kind of knew that, but when you get in a tight game like this, and everything is not going your way and all these things, and you find a way to pull it out, and nobody pointed fingers. That tells you something. I think belief is the key word. The guys believed all the way to the end and I’m glad we got it done.”

ucl — Oct 11, 2025; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) looks for an open receiver in the second quarter at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

on continuing the momentum, and motivating this football team

“We talked about things we needed to do to win. Our whole motivation this week was the standard is the standard, and that’s playing winning football, executing and doing what we needed to do. Disciplined football also, that goes hand in hand. We have identified out style of play. Now we need to match it every single Saturday. That will continue every single week. Preach from day one, always be on the rise, that is our standard, and next is going to need to be better than it was today.”

on Coach Skipper’s coaching history

“My dad coached forever and he’s retired now. My brother is coaching with the Buffalo Bills. My parents and my brothers, all of that is just flowing through me. When we’re sitting at dinner, we’re just talking ball. We’re talking through situations. All of that stuff just goes through your mind. My dad is a big clock management guy. The clock management sheet that I have, which is in my pocket right now, is his. As soon as the game got under five minutes, I just held that sheet the whole time. It just brings me back to all of those memories. I can hear my dad saying ‘Just work the game.’ It worked man, and the final result was in our favor.”

ucl — Sep 27, 2025; Evanston, Illinois, USA; UCLA Bruins interim head coach Tim Skipper talks to a official during the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

on Nico Iamaleava bouncing back from a difficult start to the game

“I’m not going to put it all on Nico. Three are a lot of things that happened. Maryland did a great job of giving us a lot of different looks. Our ground game was hit or miss. It was tough sledding out there. But for the whole entire offense, those guys had to stick together. It’s the whole unit. 11 guys and one heartbeat. Nico was being a leader. The leader went down, and maybe he’s out. All of that stuff matters. The belief was still. All three phases had moments that were good. We won this as a team.”

on next week’s Big Noon Kickoff against Indiana, in Bloomington

“To be honest, what’s hitting me, is that a month ago I was talking to you guys and if you told me we’d be in a Big Noon game, I’d be telling you that you’re just trying to mess with me. That is awesome. It means we’re doing something right. We’ll get ready to go. We’ll leave on Thursday and we’ll play on Saturday. We’re going have a good week of practice, and then we’re going to battle it out.”

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