A lot went wrong for Penn State in its loss against UCLA. Despite many negatives, there were still some positives to take away from the loss
Penn State made the cross-country trip to UCLA, just like it did last year against USC. In both games, the team struggled against teams that had rough starts to the season, but the Nittany Lions couldn't pull out the win against the worst of the two teams today.
Penn State fell to 0-4 with a loss to lowly UCLA, and while there is a lot of bad things to take away from this game, there is still some good from this game.
Drew Allar bounces back from an inconsistent game
Despite all of the negatives from this game, Drew Allar was one of the more positive players in the game. Although Penn State's offense didn't see much time in the first half, Allar was on point and threw accurate passes.
That continued into the second half as the quarterback did everything he could to will the team back into the game. A couple of big time passes as well as using his feet at opportunistic times allowed the Nittany Lions to remain in the game.
After taking a lot of the blame in the first loss, this game isn't and shouldn't be on him. Allar went 19-for-26 for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He added 78 yards on the ground, including a career-long 27-yard rush late in the game.
If the defense held up at all, Allar's performance would've been more of a bright spot for the Nittany Lions when they return home.
Defense with no response to Nico Iamaleava, run game
Penn State has a tendency to struggle with dual-threat quarterbacks. That continued in today's loss as Nico Iamaleava tore up the Nittany Lions defense through the air and on the ground.
Iamaleava entered the game as the leading rusher for the Bruins and still leads the team. He finished the day with 16 carries for 128 yards and three touchdowns.
Multiple times the blue and white had UCLA in 3rd and long situations, but Iamaleava's legs earned a first down, including his 52 yard rush after Penn State pulled to within a score.
A team that entered with a struggling run game had no problems today. It wasn't just Iamaleava who found success on the ground game. Running backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas both ran for 60 or more yards and often times started drives with 5+ yard rushes.
It all ended with designed quarterback runs inside the 10-yard line that featured all three of Iamaleava's rushing touchdowns.
For a team that was struggling on offense, the Bruins had no problems against what was thought to be one of the top defenses in the country.
Kaytron Allen gets more production on fewer carries
The decision-making for the running back duo hasn't been great thus far. Entering the season, the duo was expected to split carries, with the hotter running back likely getting more. In prior years, that was Nick Singleton. However, this year it's been Kaytron Allen.
Despite Allen being significantly more productive, Singleton is still getting the ball more. The running backs should've dominated this game against one of the worst rush defenses in the country. But the play calling seemed to want to get Allar going rather than attack the struggling running defense.
Allen had just eight carries for 50 yards and two touchdowns. The struggling Singleton had 11 carries for 39 yards. What was thought to be such a positive for the season has turned into a lot of question marks, especially with the offensive line underperforming. In most cases, Allen's high production the last couple of weeks would earn him additional carries, but that has yet to happen.
After two straight losses, it'll be interesting to see if a change to the running game happens against Northwestern.
Campbell shines, Rojas' injury still leaves big gap in defense
There isn't another linebacker on Penn State that replicates the speed that Tony Rojas brought. Rojas' presence was greatly missed, especially in the running game.
However, Amare Campbell was still a bright spot on the defense despite the gashes that UCLA made. Campbell made 10 tackle, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Despite Dom DeLuca notching 12 tackles in the game, the Nittany Lions could still be in search for the linebacker next to Campbell with Rojas out long-term.
A multitude of younger players could see additional playing time if the linebacking core still can't find answers.
The pass rush was non-existent for most of the game
Penn State totaled three sacks. Two came on the same drive, but other than that the line showed no presence against Iamaleava.
With significant time to throw, Iamaleava was able to find his targets accurately to extend drives. The rotation has remained the same with Dani Dennis-Sutton seeing the most time and Jaylen Harvey and Zuriah Fisher rotating in. However, Chaz Coleman seemed to be the pass rusher who made the biggest difference on the other side of Dennis-Sutton in his limited time.
Despite being a freshman, Coleman should be on the field more often than he has been after proving his pass-rush ability.
If the Nittany Lions want to stay alive, the pass rush is going to have to come alive and without a solidified duo, they haven't quite found the answers yet.
Penn State is going to be asking a lot of questions this week. If the Nittany Lions answer those questions will be a different story. The blue and white have just six days to prepare for Northwestern, which defeated UCLA last week.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Five takeaways from Penn State's upset loss to UCLA
Category: General Sports
