The biggest upset of the 2025 college football season occurred on Saturday when UCLA defeated No. 7 Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl. The upset was even more shocking considering the Bruins, who entered the day without a win and were 24.5-point underdogs, made a change at offensive coordinator during the middle of the week of preparation.
When Tino Sunseri and the program parted ways, it opened the door for 33-year-old Jerry Neuheisel to be promoted to the play caller. Neuheisel pushed all the right buttons during his team’s stunning win, while UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava had a career day and accounted for five touchdowns in the win.
Jerry’s father, longtime college coach (including a stint at UCLA) and CBS Sports analyst Rick Neuheisel, was locked in on the action and his live reaction was captured at the CBS studios as the Bruins pulled out the shocking upset.
“Get him down,” Neuheisel yelled on the final play. “Get him down. Yeah!”
The elder Neuheisel explained how his son needed to be “careful” not to overload his players with too many new plays with such little time to prepare.
Nico Iamaleava delivers career-defining win as UCLA shocks No. 7 Penn State
Cameron Salerno
“He got the job the middle of the week, so he had to be real careful about how much new went in,” the elder Neuheisel said. “He’s got a special quarterback and he’s got a special head coach.”
To say Rick was proud of his son would be an understatement.
Rick Neuheisel was the head coach at UCLA from 2008-11 while Jerry played quarterback for the Bruins before joining the coaching staff, first as a graduate assistant, in 2018. He worked his way up to wide receivers coach and later became assistant head coach and tight ends coach under DeShaun Foster, who was fired on Sept. 14 after an ugly home loss to New Mexico.
After the win, UCLA players carried Neuheisel off the field, while fans in the stands chanted “Jerry” throughout the game.
