One of the most anticipated football seasons in Penn State history was officially spoiled on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Southern California.
Sure, Penn State still has seven more games to play for pride, but the Lions (3-2, 0-2 in Big Ten) who opened the season ranked No. 2 in the country, can forget about the playoffs following a 42-37 loss to previously winless UCLA (1-4).
UCLA was so inept in its first four games that it had literally never led for even a single second in games against powerhouses
such as UNLV and New Mexico. On Saturday in the Rose Bowl. the Bruins never trailed. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Penn State ever touched the ball.
Then, they spent the entire second half holding off a desperate Penn State rally.
That included stopping the Lions in the final two minutes on a fourth down play that Penn State ran repeatedly last week in crunch time in its overtime loss to Oregon. That frustrating finish came after Zakee Wheatley had made a clutch fourth down tackle to give the Lions the ball deep in UCLA territory.
At the end of each half, Penn State made puzzling decisions in handling the clock with possessions.
UCLA took an intentional safety in the game’s closing seconds, allowing Penn State a “drive” with an attempt to win the game. That drive ended with some a short completion to Nicholas Singleton, an incomplete pass to the sideline, and a failed couple laterals that ended up with Drew Allar on the ground with the ball.
While the offense did strange things, the defense barely showed up.
UCLA had already scored more points than it had all season in the first half as Nico Iamaleava looked the part of a five-star quarterback. The Bruins never punted in the first half.
His scrambling, especially in the second half, kept Jim Knowles and Lions frustrated and set up a pair of touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the final 30 minutes.
Penn State is home next Saturday as they’ll look for their first conference win against Northwestern.
