UNIVERISTY PARK — The 30-24 overtime loss to Oregon at home on Saturday night was obviously a big disappointment to the Penn State football program and its fans, and it put a giant exclamation mark on the importance of every remaining game on the Lions’ schedule.
Amid all the conversation and analysis about the loss, perhaps Penn State head coach James Franklin summed it up best.
“We battled, we were resilient,” Franklin said in his post-game interview, “and we had a chance to win the game at the end.
“I’m proud of the guys in the locker room, obviously disappointed and not satisfied one bit, but I’m proud of the way our guys battled and gave ourselves a chance to win the game at the end.
“We’re going to watch this tape. I think we’re going to feel like we had tons of opportunities to win this game. There’s going to be a lot to learn from it, obviously. The way college football is today, there’s going to be very few teams that finish the end of the season unscathed.
“We’ve got to learn from this. We need to have a great week next week. We’ve got to tune out all the noise, and we’ve got to get better from this and get on a roll for the rest of the season.”
The great week Franklin was talking about will culminate with a game in the Rose Bowl on Saturday, October 4 against 0-4 UCLA.
The Bruins have not yet gotten it together this season, but this may be their chance to set a trap for PSU after the Lions’ tough, White Out loss to Oregon.
So far, UCLA lost to Utah,43-10, UNLV, 30-23, New Mexico, 35-10, and Northwestern, 17-14, last week in its first Big Ten game.
In its four games, UCLA has averaged 14.3 points per game and gained 321 yards per game.
The Bruins run for 124 yards per outing and pass for just under 200 yards with 4 touchdowns. They have, however, thrown three interceptions and the quarterback has been sacked nine times for 48 yards in losses.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava, 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, leads the offense in both passing and rushing.
He’s completed 81-of-124 passes for 788 yards and four touchdowns while also running 44 times for 204 yards and another touchdown.
Running back Anthony Woods carried 25 times for 127 yards, and the team’s leading receiver is Kwazi Gilmer with 19 receptions for 225 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, linebacker Jonjon Vaughns is the top tackler, and the Bruins so far have four sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Last year, UCLA came into Beaver Stadium with a record of 1-4 and fell to the Lions, 27-11. After another loss, though, the Bruins finished with four wins in their final six games and ended with a record of 5-7 for the season.
Penn State’s numbers are much better, but last week against Oregon, the Lions lost the total offense battle, 424-276.
Drew Allar completed 14-of-25 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while the Lions ran 35 times for 139 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions also did not force a turnover nor record a sack.
The Lions, however, after going down 17-3 early in the fourth quarter rallied for two touchdowns down the stretch to tie the game in regulation.
Allar hit Dante Ross for a 35-yard touchdown with 10;30 to play that made the score 17-10.
Then, after a 15-play, 62 yard drive as time ran out, Allar found Ross for the tying touchdown from the 7-yard line to tie the game at 17-17.
In the second overtime, down by six points with a chance to win the game, Allar’s pass to the right side was intercepted by a jumping Dillon Thieneman and the game ended.
The trip to Pasadena will be the Lions’ first away game, and it will be the team’s second Big Ten contest.
Penn State is 2-4 against UCLA all time.
Kickoff is at 3:30 PM EDT from the Rose Bowl on CBS.
