No. 7 Penn State Football Upset By UCLA 42-37
No. 7 Penn State football (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) fell to UCLA (1-4, 1-1 Big Ten) 42-37 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins took the lead on the first drive of the game and never looked back. Penn State never took the lead and simply didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to sneak out the win. UCLA clinched its first win over Penn State since 1967 behind a signature performance from Nico Iamaleava.
How It Happened
UCLA running back Anthony Woods got took the Bruins’ first offensive play six yards on the ground. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava zipped it to wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer for the first down. The Bruins continued a solid first drive behind a 15-yard rush from Jaivian Thomas.
Iamaleava uncorked a 22-yard run, trucking some Nittany Lions in the secondary to push the Bruins to Penn State’s 12-yard line. After a 1-yard rush from Woods, Iamaleava hit Gilmer for an 11-yard score and UCLA’s first lead of the season.
UCLA recovered an onside kick on the kickoff to start at Penn State’s 42-yard line. Iamaleave rifled a pass Titus Mokiao-Atimalala down the sideline for a 24-yard pickup. A.J. Harris almost picked off Iamaleava’s pass on third down. The Bruins settled for three points and went up 10-0 midway through the first frame.
Nick Singleton ripped a 7-yard run on Penn State’s first offensive play. Drew Allar hit Kyron Hudson for five yards on the next play for a fresh set of downs.
Allar tossed the ball to Singleton down the right side for a 13-yard gain at UCLA’s 39-yard line. Allar found Hudson on the run for another 15 yards. UCLA linebacker JonJon Vaughns split Penn State’s offensive line and wrapped up Singleton on the subsequent play for a 2-yard loss. The Nittany Lions regained momentum with an 11-yard catch by Andrew Rappleyea.
Kaytron Allen scored from 13 yards out for Penn State’s first score of the day.
Thomas powered through for a 5-yard run to end the first quarter with UCLA at its own 46-yard line.
Zuriah Fisher knocked the ball out of Iamaleava’s hands on second down, but the Bruins signal caller fell right back on it. Thomas tabbed another 11 yards down the left side for a first down. UCLA picked up another first down as Iamaleava picked out Rico Flores as the Bruins entered the red zone.
Iamaleava took a shot at the end zone to tight end Jack Pedersen that was almost intercepted once more before Pedersen tipped the ball away. Iamaleava ripped a 20-yard run on 3rd-and-15 after a false start call, bodying Dom DeLuca on the play. DeLuca stayed on the ground for a minute before walking off under his own power. Freshman linebacker Cam Smith checked in for his first career snap before DeLuca trotted back on the field.
Iamaleava zipped a pass right past Fisher to Mokiao-Atimalala for a touchdown. UCLA took a 17-7 lead on a 17-play, 75-yard drive that ate up just over eight minutes of clock.
Allar overthrew Trebor Peña on 2nd-and-6 on Penn State’s ensuing drive. On third down, Allar looked to Hudson under pressure before UCLA defensive back Rodrick Pleasant knocked it down the three-and-out. Bruins wideout Mikey Matthews returned Gabe Nwosu’s punt seven yards to UCLA’s own 32-yard line.
UCLA quickly picked up its 12th first down of the game behind a 6-yard Iamaleava pass to Gilmer. Iamaleava tossed a deep shot to Gilmer for 43 yards, splitting King Mack and Elliot Washington in coverage to set up UCLA at Penn State’s 8-yard line.
Jalen Berger picked up five yards before Iamaleava kept it for a 3-yard touchdown. UCLA took a 24-7 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Allar handed the ball of to Peña on the first play of Penn State’s next drive, but the Bruins wrapped him up well before the sticks for a 10-yard loss. Allar and Hudson connected for 20 yards as the Nittany Lions picked up a first down.
Allar floated a deep ball for Devonte Ross, who drew a pass interference call. The penalty set Penn State up UCLA’s 44-yard line going into the two-minute warning.
A pair of Singleton runs and a scramble from Allar set up fourth down for the Nittany Lions before UCLA called its first timeout of the half. Allar faced immediate pressure on 4th-and-2. UCLA’s Jacob Busic registered the sack for an 11-yard loss and turnover on downs.
Iamaleava completed two passes as UCLA’s Mateen Bhaghani knocked in a 54-yard field goal as time expired. The Bruins led the Nittany Lions 27-7 at the half.
Penn State lost four yards on its first offensive play of the half with a pass to Peña in the flat. Allar found Luke Reynolds over the middle before Key Lawrence punched it out of his hands. UCLA took possession at Penn State’s 38-yard line.
Audavion Collins broke up a pass to Gilmer on 3rd-and-10. Bhaghani missed wide right from 56 yards out as the Nittany Lions took the field at their own 46-yard line.
Allen picked up a first down behind a 13-yard run on 3rd-and-1. Allar broke off a 10-yard scramble before a Hudson holding call brought it back. On the next play, Allar connected with Khalil Dinkins for a 40-yard touchdown down the sideline.
Dinkins gets in for six
— Onward State (@OnwardState) October 4, 2025pic.twitter.com/G3DE8gQAhC
Woods pounded a 12-yard run to open UCLA’s next drive. Iamaleava ripped another run for 11 yards and. a first down before DeLuca wrapped him up around midfield. Amare Campbell rushed through a wide-open hole in UCLA’s offensive front for an 11-yard sack, forcing a 3rd-and-19. Penn State got home again on third down with a Zane Durant sack for a 6-yard loss.
Dani Dennis-Sutton blocked Will Karoll’s punt at UCLA’s 33-yard line. Liam Clifford recovered the ball at the 6-yard line and ran it in for the score as Penn State pulled within one possession.
Chaz Coleman wrapped up Thomas at the line of scrimmage as the Bruins offense retook the field. Iamaleava picked out Flores before Mack blew him up, forcing 3rd-and-7.
Iamaleava escaped the pocket and broke off a 52-yard run to set up shop at Penn State’s 20-yard line. Iamaleava punched it from one yard out for the touchdown. The Bruins lined up for two, but a false start forced UCLA to put the field goal unit on. Bhaghani knocked it through the uprights to give UCLA the 34-21 lead with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter.
Allar responded with a long run of his own, picking up 20 yards on first down. Despite the chunk, the Nittany Lions quickly found themselves in a 4th-and-1 situation. Singleton powered through for the first down with a 6-yard run.
Allar scrambled once more for 10 yards to pin Penn State at UCLA’s 30-yard line. Singleton rattled off a 1-yard rush to end the third quarter.
Allar overthrew Hudson on the first play of the final frame to force 3rd-and-9. Allar took a quarterback draw for 27 yards down to UCLA’s 2-yard line. Allen punched it in for the touchdown.
The Bruins offense retook the field with 14:26 remaining in the contest. Campbell forced a 1-yard loss on an Iamaleava keeper. Iamaleava found the whole through Penn State’s defensive front once again, this time for a 26-yard pickup on the ground to the 50-yard line.
On 3rd-and-4, Iamaleava tossed a 5-yard pass to Matthews to move the sticks. Zakee Wheatley forced a 4th-and-1 a few plays later, but Durant jumped and handed UCLA the free first down.
Woods took a direct snap 17 yards down the sideline as the Bruins reached 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard line. Dennis-Sutton forced a 2-yard loss on a Thomas run to the right. Iamaleava scrambled seven yards on 3rd-and-goal for UCLA’s fifth touchdown of the game. He and Gilmer connected in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion. The Bruins led 42-28 with 6:41 left in the game.
Allar commenced Penn State’s next drive with an 11-yard scramble. He picked out Reynolds for a solid 17-yard chunk before he scrambled again for eight yards. Peña took an underneath pass 12 yards to UCLA’s 15-yard line, where Allar lofted a touchdown pass to Hudson on the near side. Penn State pulled within one score with 4:11 left in the contest.
Woods fell down in the flat on a catch to force 4th-and-1 for UCLA. Iamaleava kept it for the conversion attempt, but Wheatley stopped him to give the Penn State offense possession at UCLA’s 32-yard line.
Allar tossed a pass to Singleton for a first down pickup at UCLA’s 17-yard line. Allar slightly overthrew a shot to Reynolds in the end zone. Singleton lost one yard on the ensuing rush before Reynolds picked up nine yards over the middle. On 4th-and-9, Scooter Jackson disrupted the handoff and forced the turnover on downs.
UCLA lined up for the punt after the Bruins gained no yards on three rushes. Karoll ran out the back of the end zone for the intentional safety with 17 seconds left on the clock.
Penn State got the ball back, but UCLA quickly doused the flame. The Bruins took home the 42-37 win.
Takeaways
- The Penn State defense didn’t show up in the Rose Bowl. There’s no two ways about it. The Nittany Lions let up 42 points and let Nico Iamaleava run amok with 294 all-purpose yards and five total touchdowns.
- Penn State’s offensive line was not up to par once again. Allar consistently had to make plays with his feet and scramble out of the pocket due to almost-immediate pressure. The Penn State quarterback finished with 78 yards on 11 rushing attempts, leading the team.
- While Penn State’s defense had arguably its worst game of the season, Dom DeLuca immediately stepped up for the Nittany Lions in Tony Rojas’ absence. DeLuca led the team in total tackles with 12 and had five individual stops and one tackle-for-loss.
What’s Next?
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to take on Northwestern in the Homecoming and Stripe Out Game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 11, at Beaver Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
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