What We Learned From Penn State's Win Over UCLA

The Nittany Lions outscored the Bruins 24-3 in the middle quarters to work through a sluggish start and move to 5-0.

Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (13) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | No. 7 Penn State improved to 5-0 on Saturday with a 27-11 victory over UCLA at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions started slowly but eventually ground out a solid win over the Bruins. Here are the top takeaways.

The Nittany Lions' run game stalls without Singleton 

Without running back Nicholas Singleton, who was listed as questionable on Penn State’s availability report and ultimately didn’t play, the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack stalled. 

Kaytron Allen had 21 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. True freshman Quinton Martin Jr. was the No. 2 back on Saturday, finishing with one carry for one yard and three catches for 18 yards. But Penn State’s 85 total rushing yards and 2.8 yards per carry were both season-lows — and the yardage was Penn State’s lowest since totaling 49 at Ohio State last year.  

“Obviously not having a guy like Nick Singleton is significant, but it was a tremendous opportunity for Kaytron to get a few more touches, and it was also a great opportunity to get Quinton in there,” Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game.

Quarterback Drew Allar and the passing game compensated with another steady performance. Allar was 17 of 24 for 237 yards and a touchdown, while Liam Clifford enjoyed a career-high 107 yards on three catches, highlighted by a 57-yard deep ball in the fourth quarter. 

Penn State punted on its first two series but took control from that point. A 16-play, 82-yard touchdown drive put the Nittany Lions in front, and they followed with two more touchdowns and a field goal on their next three drives.

“UCLA is a really good team,” Allar said. “They had a top-15 defense in the country last year, and a lot of the same players are still there. We knew it was going to be a challenging game. When we got our rhythm going, we were hard to stop. It’s just about getting into a rhythm quicker and me getting the ball out faster.”

Penn State's defense keeps making key stops

UCLA quarterback Justyn Martin made his first career start and looked solid for the most part. "I was impressed with him," Franklin said. "... He seemed very poised. The momen't didn't seem too big for him as a first-time starting quarterback."

But the Bruins struggled to capitalize on his early success. One of the game’s key plays was a fourth-and-1 from the Penn State 23-yard line on UCLA’s opening drive. Bruins running back T.J. Harden got the carry and was blown up by safety Zakee Wheatley for the stop. Linebacker Tony Rojas said the big play helped spark the defense.

“We just feed off of how we play,” Rojas said. “Whether one of us, whoever it is, makes a play, we feed off that energy, and it just leads to the next series. And the whole team, it really affects us.”

Two drives later, the Bruins made it inside the Penn State 10-yard-line after a 53-yard catch-and-run by Harden. Again, the Nittany Lions held strong and forced a field goal. 

Once UCLA fell behind in the second half and got away from the run, Penn State’s pass rush was able to tee off.  The Nittany Lions finished with seven tackles for loss and two sacks, one for Jaylen Reed and a sack split by Zane Durant and Amin Vanover. Edge rushers Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton were consistently in UCLA's backfield, getting hits on Martin and forcing incompletions. 

The Bruins scored a late touchdown to make it 27-11, but the Penn State defense clamped down when it mattered. So far this season, the Nittany Lions are allowing just 11.4 points per game.

Penn State continues its third-quarter dominance

Penn State has been taking over its games in the third quarter this season, and Saturday was no different. It starts with the defense, which has allowed just 87 third-quarter yards on 46 total plays this season — an average of 1.9 yards per play. As a result, the Nittany Lions have outscored opponents 45-0 in the third quarter this year. 

“Since [former defensive coordinator] Manny [Diaz] was here, we just came out after halftime with the mentality, ‘You’re not gonna score on us coming out of halftime. … We just have the mindset of, we’re gonna stop them every down,” Rojas said. 

Offensively, Penn State’s offense remained efficient on its two third-quarter drives, notching a field goal and a touchdown to stretch the lead to 24-3.

Penn State visits USC on Oct. 12 for its first Big Ten road game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

More Penn State Football

The Penn State-UCLA availability report

Tony Rojas wants to further Penn State's tradition as "Linebacker U."

Beaver Stadium named college football's "rowdiest" stadium

Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson