Penn State won its first game against UCLA since 1968 thanks to a 27-11 victory on Saturday afternoon in front of a striped-out Beaver Stadium crowd. In the first meeting between the Nittany Lions and Bruins as Big Ten opponents, Penn State got off to a slow start on offense before putting the Bruins to sleep behind a strong defensive effort.
UCLA started Justyn Martin at quarterback with Ethan Garbers listed as questionable prior to the game, and Martin seemed to give Penn State’s defense a few problems early on. But the Nittany Lions defense, led by leading tacklers linebacker [autotag]Tony Rojas[/autotag] and safety [autotag]Zakee Wheatley[/autotag], held the Bruins out of the end zone until the final 20 seconds of the game. UCLA had gone nearly 150 minutes of game time without scoring an offensive touchdown.
[autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] completed 17 of 24 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown, including a 57-yard pass over the middle to [autotag]Liam Clifford[/autotag], who led all players with 107 yards. [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] came within a yard of his first touchdown with Penn State, and [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag] added three catches for 29 yards with a touchdown.
Star running back [autotag]Nicholas Singleton[/autotag] did not appear in the game after being listed as questionable on Penn State’s pregame player availability report. So [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] took the lead on the ground with 21 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Despite only managing three points, UCLA’s offense did give Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen a few things to work on heading into Penn State’s remaining schedule, starting with a top-25 matchup on the road next week.
Penn State will be on the road for its first Big Ten road game of the season next week when they visit another Big Ten newcomer, USC. Penn State will play its first game at USC since 1991.
UCLA will look to rebound and snap a three-game losing skid in Big Ten play with a home game against Minnesota next week.
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