{"id":65718,"date":"2024-10-05T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T20:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=65718"},"modified":"2024-10-05T16:50:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T20:50:09","slug":"penn-state-beats-ucla-27-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/10\/05\/penn-state-beats-ucla-27-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Beats UCLA 27-11"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn State beat UCLA 27-11 in a Big Ten matchup in Happy Valley. \u00a0The Nittany Lions followed a familiar formula in this game. \u00a0Despite a scoreless first quarter, the offense hit its stride by halftime and ran away with it in the second half. \u00a0On the other hand, UCLA continued with its challenging early season schedule and combined heavy travel with an early kickoff. \u00a0While the Bruins put forth a solid effort, the Stripe Out at Penn State was too much for UCLA to overcome. \u00a0UCLA’s only touchdown came with 16 seconds left in the game when the Bruins were trailing 27-3 and the Penn State defense’s backups were in. \u00a0They scored only three points against the starting defense. \u00a0Time will tell if the first touchdown in 149 minutes for UCLA’s offense will be a spark for them moving forward, with a game against Minnesota looming next week.<\/p>\n

Following last week’s win<\/a> over Illinois, as expected<\/a> this matchup was more one-sided in the favor of Penn State. \u00a0The Nittany Lions move to 2-0 in the Big Ten and 5-0 overall. \u00a0There was discipline on both sides of the ball. \u00a0After the game, head coach James Franklin simply stated, “Penalty-wise we did good today.” \u00a0While the season has started well, it has not been perfect. An area of concern exiting this game is the abundance of slow starts to games. \u00a0The slow starts have impacted the offense in particular.\u00a0 Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has made adjustments as necessary. \u00a0However, there will be a game where a fast start is needed.\u00a0 The competition continues to ratchet up with a trip to USC next on Penn State’s schedule.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways: Penn State Beats UCLA 27-11<\/h2>\n

Balancing Allar’s Attack<\/h3>\n

Quarterback Drew Allar<\/a> was able to spread receptions around to his receivers in this game. \u00a0He completed 17 passes, to eight different receivers. \u00a0No Penn State player had more than three catches. \u00a0Allar’s throws were spread among the usual contributors. Additionally, to some players that have started slower than expected this season. \u00a0After the game, Franklin said, “Each week there’s a different guy stepping up. \u00a0Now people are going to be concerned about all those guys.”<\/p>\n

Junior wide receiver Liam Clifford<\/a> led all players with 107 receiving yards in this game. \u00a0It was his first career 100-yard game. \u00a0He was a big play contributor, gaining those 107 yards on only three catches. \u00a0Clifford’s longest reception of the game covered 57 yards. \u00a0That is the second-longest completion of the season For Penn State, only behind a 59-yard reception by Omari Evans<\/a> against Kent State. \u00a0In this game, Evans only had one catch for three yards.<\/p>\n

Star tight end Tyler Warren<\/a> continued his strong 2024 campaign. \u00a0He only had three receptions for 29 yards, his lowest yards in any game this season. \u00a0However, one of those catches was his third receiving touchdown of the season. \u00a0It was Allar’s only touchdown pass of the game. \u00a0Warren will continue to be a focal point for the offense<\/a> moving forward, especially as the Big Ten schedule ramps up from here.<\/p>\n

All Eyes on Allen<\/h3>\n

Penn State has the luxury of arguably the strongest running back room<\/a> in the country. \u00a0The depth that comes with two superstars at the position comes to the forefront if one goes down with an injury. \u00a0That is exactly what happened in this game. \u00a0Kaytron Allen<\/a> was put in the spotlight for this game, as Nick Singleton<\/a> was not able to play.<\/p>\n

Singleton seemed healthy last week against Illinois. \u00a0However, he was listed as questionable on the injury report for this game, with an undisclosed injury. \u00a0It was seemingly a game-time decision. \u00a0After the game, Franklin said the team, “Found out right before kick we would not have Nick today.” \u00a0Of Singleton being out, added Franklin, “That caught us off guard.” \u00a0Obviously, the combination of Allen and Singleton is a differentiating factor for Penn State’s offense. \u00a0Singleton’s status will be an area of focus moving forward. \u00a0Franklin said that he expects to have Singleton back next week.<\/p>\n

Allen rushed 21 times, a season-high for him. \u00a0Over those carries, he produced 78 yards and a touchdown. \u00a0His longest run of the game was 11 yards. \u00a0While the rushing attack was not as much in favor of Penn State as it has been in past games, both Allen and Allar had rushing touchdowns. \u00a0Allar’s score was a one-yard sneak to start the game’s scoring.<\/p>\n

Kicking Competition Continues<\/h3>\n

The continued kicking competition<\/a> was a part of the game to watch in the lead-up to the game. \u00a0Sander Sahaydak<\/a> won the job entering the season, for the second season in a row. \u00a0However, for the second season in a row, he seems to have kicked his way out of the job.<\/p>\n

Freshman kicker Ryan Barker<\/a> was given his opportunity in this game. \u00a0He did well with it. \u00a0Before this game, Barker had converted both of his extra point tries, one in the win against Kent State<\/a>, and one against Illinois. \u00a0Against UCLA, he remained perfect on extra points, converting three more. \u00a0Barker was also successful on both of his field goal attempts. \u00a0He converted from 25 and 40 yards.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers: Penn State Beats UCLA 27-11<\/h2>\n

Penn State beat UCLA by a score of 27-11. \u00a0Here are some of the key statistics that underpinned the Penn State win.<\/p>\n

Offense<\/h3>\n

Passing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State threw for 237 yards, compared to 167 for UCLA. \u00a0Allar completed 17 of 24 for 237 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. \u00a0For UCLA, Justyn Martin<\/a> completed 22 of 30 for 167 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.<\/p>\n

Rushing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State had 85 yards, compared to 93 yards for UCLA. \u00a0Allen led all players with 78 yards on 21 carries. \u00a0Allen and Allar scored rushing touchdowns. \u00a0Keegan Jones<\/a> and Jalen Berger<\/a> led UCLA with 38 yards each. \u00a0UCLA did not have a rushing touchdown.<\/p>\n

Receiving: <\/strong>Clifford led all players with 107 yards, on three catches. \u00a0Trey Wallace<\/a> was second on the team, with 46 yards on three receptions. \u00a0For UCLA, T.J. Harden<\/a> had five receptions for 59 yards, and Logan Loya<\/a> had six catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Defense\/Special Teams<\/h3>\n

Defense:\u00a0<\/strong>Tony Rojas<\/a> led Penn State defenders with eight tackles. \u00a0Jaylen Reed<\/a> had three tackles and a sack. \u00a0Carson Schwesinger<\/a> led UCLA with 15 tackles, and Oluwafemi Oladejo<\/a> had 10 tackles and a sack.<\/p>\n

Special<\/strong> Teams:<\/strong> For Penn State, Barker converted on both of his field goal tries, and all three extra point attempts. \u00a0Riley Thompson<\/a> had two punts, averaging 36.5 yards per punt. \u00a0For UCLA, Mateen Bhaghani<\/a> made his only field goal attempt and did not try any extra points. \u00a0Brody Richter<\/a> punted four times, averaging 45.0 yards per punt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo courtesy: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penn State beat UCLA 27-11 in a Big Ten matchup in Happy Valley. \u00a0The Nittany Lions followed a familiar formula in this game. \u00a0Despite a scoreless first quarter, the offense hit its stride by halftime and ran away with it in the second half. \u00a0On the other hand, UCLA continued with its challenging early season […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":65723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[32817,7983,837,309,208],"class_list":["post-65718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-big-ten-football","tag-james-franklin","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-ucla-bruins"],"modified_by":"Maggie Yarnell, Senior Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}