Five Things to Know About UCLA Ahead of Its Big Ten Visit to Penn State

The UCLA Bruins play their first Big Ten road game against the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium.

UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster looks on during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster has been showing his team clips of heavyweight fights, several involving Mike Tyson, for pregame inspiration this season. "I don’t thknk that we’ve reached our full potential, so I’m trying to just get them refocused on ourselves and get going," Foster told reporters in Los Angeles this week as the Bruins prepare to visit No. 7 Penn State on Saturday.

So far, UCLA (1-3) has taken its punches. The Bruins haven't scored more than 17 points in a game, have been outscored 110-43 in their three losses and might be without their starting quarterback this weekend. What else should Penn State know about UCLA? Here's a look.

Penn State could face a backup quarterback

Ethan Garbers, UCLA's starting quarterback, was sacked four times by Oregon last week and left the game in the fourth quarter. Foster took a very long pause when asked Monday whether Garbers would be available against Penn State.

"Maybe," Foster said. "... He's in good spirits. When I talked to Ethan, he told me he was playing. Unless we hold him out, he's going to try to get out there."

Garbers has had a rough start, with a 57.3-percent completion rate and six interceptions. He also has been sacked 12 times. If Garbers is out, redshirt sophomore Justyn Martin likely will start.

RELATED: What James Franklin said before the Penn State-UCLA game

UCLA's offense otherwise is struggling

The Bruins are not prolific offensively, ranking last in the Big Ten in scoring, rushing, total offense and sacks allowed per game. They have scored a conference-low five touchdowns in four games. Against Oregon, UCLA converted 11 first downs and produced just 172 total yards.

"Offensively we weren't able to get the ball going and move around as much as we would like," Foster said. "... Play within yourself, guys. Don’t get out there and try to do something out of the ordinary or something that you weren’t coached to do. We just need guys to settle down."

This has to be particularly difficult for UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. "He's got as good a resume as there is," Penn State coach James Franklin said of Bieniemy.

UCLA's defense has struggled, too

Granted, the Bruins have faced a rigid early schedule, hosting the Big Ten's highest-scoring offense (Indiana!) and Oregon while also visiting LSU, which is averaging 35 points per game. But a consistent thread has been pass defense. The Bruins rank last in the Big Ten in pass defense, allowing 291 yards per game. Opposing teams have completed 70.2 percent of their passes against UCLA. LSU converted six passes of 20+ yards against the Bruins, and the Hoosiers had four.

The kicker's quite good

UCLA kicker Mateen Bhaghani has scored 28 points, nearly half of the team's 59. Bhaghani is 8-for-9 on field-goal attempts, including a career-long from 54 yards against Oregon. He also made a 47-yarder at LSU.

The Bruins' travel schedule is nuts

UCLA did itself no scheduling favors this season, and neither did the Big Ten Conference or networks, as the Bruins open conference play with their second of three cross-country flights. What's worse, the Bruins get a breakfast kickoff (for them), even though Foster said that's no problem.

UCLA will kick off its first Big Ten road game at 9 a.m. Bruins' body-clock time (noon ET at Beaver Stadium). It's a tough ask for a team that played a night game last Saturday and is flying west to east, always tougher on the body than the reverse. No team in college football will fly more miles this season than UCLA, which will make trips to Hawaii, LSU, Penn State and Rutgers in its first seven games. UCLA also doesn't get a bye week after the Penn State game. Instead, it will host Minnesota on Oct. 12 before returning to the East Coast for an Oct. 19 game at Rutgers.

Foster said that he hopes to get UCLA into Beaver Stadium for a Friday walkthrough. And at least their practice schedue helps.

"These guys are up at this time [in the morning] practicing, so I don't think the time should be too much of a factor for us," Foster said.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.