Ty Dieffenbach waited years for his shot now UCLA is counting on him to step as their QB

Ty Dieffenbach took a snap from the center, faked a handoff and dropped back before throwing a short pass early in practice Tuesday.Then it was on to a series of slightly longer passes before the UCLA quarterback completed one drill in which a teammate tried to knock the ball out of his hand and another drill in which staffers took turns whacking him with blue pads.It all looked so routine.It had such a familiar feel. And yet it was nothing like anything Dieffenbach had experienced before.He’s now a starter at the most pivotal position for the 12th-ranked team in the country after Nico Iamaleava sustained a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for the season.If that sounds like a lot to handle for a college kid to handle, consider what Dieffenbach pushed through in high school.He won the starting quarterback job as a sophomore, beating out a senior.

He bravely faced his mother’s bout with breast cancer and was a steadying senior captain who served as the face of the program after a teammate died. When his final high school season ended prematurely because of injury, he stuck around to mentor his replacement rather than abandon a team that went 1-9.So, no, taking over as the Bruins’ quarterback midway through the season is probably not going to fluster him.“I believe he lives for it, man, and he’ll have that sense of quiet in him that he’s tough and this isn’t too big for him,” Dustin Croick, who was Dieffenbach’s coach at Agoura High, told the California Post.The coach FaceTimed his former star Sunday, one day removed from the biggest game of his life.Replacing Iamaleava midway through the Bruins’ game against Oregon, Dieffenbach threw the touchdown pass that provided the decisive points and fearlessly managed the offense during a 17-15 victory.“I thought his poise was really inspiring,” tight end Josh Phifer said, “because being in the huddle and just seeing that your quarterback is not really nervous or freaking out at all and ...