Preview and Score Prediction for Penn State’s Road Trip to UCLA

Penn State is no longer undefeated after falling to Oregon 30-24 in front of a White Out crowd last Saturday, but the Nittany Lions have a chance to get right in their first and longest road trip of the season.

James Franklin and Co. are headed out West to face off against UCLA in the iconic Rose Bowl. The Bruins are calling for a “Blue Out” as they search for their first win of the season after a tumultuous start to the year.

Head coach:

After falling to 0-3 to start the season, UCLA parted ways with head coach DeShaun Foster in just his second season and named assistant Tim Skipper the interim head coach.

Skipper has been coaching since 2001, starting in the Division II ranks with Western New Mexico before transitioning to the FCS at Sacramento State and Fresno State (before it moved to the FBS).

He continued climbing the ranks, spending time with Colorado State, Florida, UNLV and Central Michigan, primarily serving as linebackers coach with some defensive coordinator experience.

Skipper then returned to Fresno State where he got his first head coaching experience in the New Mexico Bowl in 2023 after Jeff Tedford stepped down for health reasons. He remained as interim head coach for the entire 2024 season, finishing at 6-7 after losing the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to Northern Illinois.

In 2025, he arrived at UCLA as a special assistant to the head coach, before earning the interim tag. In his first game with the Bruins, they fell to Northwestern on the road.

Coordinators:

As of this week, former tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel has taken over the offensive coordinator position after the team parted ways with Tino Sunseri, who was in his first season with the Bruins.

Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback and son of former coach Rick Neuheisel, is in his eighth season of coaching and seventh with the Bruins after spending his first year as quality control analyst for Texas A&M.

He has no prior play-calling experience but has worked as both a wide receivers and tight ends coach.

Defensively, UCLA brought in Kevin Coyle from Syracuse as a midseason acquisition following Foster’s departure. Coyle began the season as a senior defensive analyst for the Orange. He replaces Ikaika Malloe, who had been with the team since 2022 and held the defensive coordinator role since 2024.

Coyle has a coaching track record dating back to 1978, and he has previous stints as defensive coordinator for the Merchant Marine Academy, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Maryland and Fresno State, as well as the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Coyle and Skipper worked together at Fresno State from 2022-24.

“He’s like the godfather to me for football,” Skipper said of his new hire. “He did a lot of teaching me the game … to have the opportunity to get him here is major.”

Kodi Whitfield is in his second season as the Bruins’ special teams coordinator. He holds degrees from Stanford, Oregon and UCLA, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2020 and 2021. His unit ranks poorly overall, per PFF grades, but is coming off its best performance of the season last Saturday.

Standout players:

On Monday, Penn State head coach James Franklin listed quarterback Nico Iamaleava, running back Anthony Woods, wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, linebacker Isaiah Chizm, safety Cole Martin, defensive tackle Keanu Williams, safety Key Lawrence, defensive tackle Gary Smith III, kicker Mateen Bhaghani, kick returner Anthony Frias II and punt returner Mikey Matthews.

Iamaleava’s transfer this offseason drew national attention after an ugly departure from Tennessee related to an NIL dispute. The former No. 3 overall recruit in the 2023 class has yet to live up to expectations, playing well against inferior competition and struggling against tougher competition with the Volunteers and struggling against all competition with the Bruins.

This season, Iamaleava is 81-for-124 for 788 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s also carried the ball 44 times for 204 yards and a score. Gilmer has been his favorite target with 19 grabs for 225 yards and one score.

Woods is one of the highest ranked players on the team, per PFF, though the sample size is limited. He has just 25 carries for 127 yards and one touchdown this season but totaled over 2,000 yards across two seasons with Idaho before transferring in.

Smith grades as the best player on the team through four games, per PFF. The sixth-year player has 22 tackles and would set a career high with three more on Saturday after being injured all of last season.

Record:

The Bruins enter Saturday’s game as the only power conference school with a zero in the win column. UCLA kicked off the season with a 43-10 loss to Utah, followed up by a 30-23 loss to UNLV and 35-10 loss to New Mexico, which led to Foster’s firing.

Last week, the Bruins battled but fell to conference for Northwestern 17-14 in by far their best defensive showing of the season.

Series history:

Penn State trails the all-time series 4-3 beginning with six consecutive meetings from 1963-68. The Nittany Lions won the first matchup 17-14 before dropping four straight games, two at each team’s stadium.

Penn State secured its second win in 1968 with a 21-6 win on the road before a 55-year drought. UCLA’s move to the Big Ten reignited the series, with the Bruins traveling to State College last season for a 27-11 loss.

For the second consecutive season, the two will meet as conference foes with the Nittany Lions looking to even the series.

Prediction: Penn State 37, UCLA 6

Despite showing signs of life last weekend, UCLA has been one of, if not the worst power conference team this season. The Bruins have made recent coordinator changes, which could rally the team or lead to more confusion for a squad that ranks among the worst nationally in penalties per game.

Even if the Nittany Lions’ offensive struggles continue, the defense should have no issue shutting down a subpar offense with poor offensive line play. Iamaleava is undoubtedly a talented quarterback, but he doesn’t have the pieces around him to score on a talented Penn State defense, even without injured linebacker Tony Rojas.

A 12:30 p.m. local kick after a cross-country trip in a quiet stadium may lead to a sleepy start, but the talent disparity on both sides of the ball should be more than enough for the Nittany Lions to win comfortably.