Well, that happened.

Penn State dropped a devastating upset loss to the 0-4 UCLA Bruins Saturday afternoon in what is one of the worst upsets in program history. The Nittany Lions never led the Bruins as they quickly fell down 10-0 before taking an offensive snap in the first quarter.

Penn State’s defense was repeatedly gashed by UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The Tennessee transfer had his best game by far as a Bruin, tallying a 71% completion rate for 166 yards and two passing touchdowns. Iamaleava also had 128 yards rushing and three rushing touchdowns, including a 58-yard scamper that led to a touchdown in the second half.

“A couple of times we spied him, and when we spied him, he was able to either make the spy miss or run away from the spy,” James Franklin said postgame.

Franklin revealed that, so far this season, linebacker Tony Rojas has been the main defensive spy for opposing quarterbacks. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, Rojas went down with a long-term injury in practice early this week, leaving Penn State with scarce options to replace him.

Yet, Dominic DeLuca filled the role of will linebacker for the Nittany Lions as expected. Although he co-led the team in tackles with 12, it was clear that Rojas was missed in the middle of Penn State’s defense.

“I feel bad for Tony. Hell of a guy, hell of a player. Losing him was hard. I mean, next man up, and we gotta play fast. We gotta be able to execute still,” DeLuca said postgame.

DeLuca’s, like Franklin’s, main takeaway from a defensive standpoint was Penn State’s immense struggle with containing Iamaleava through all four quarters.

“Not just as a runner, even as a thrower, he’s a great quarterback all around and do a lot of things with his legs, do a lot of things with his arms. He’s a great player and just got to prepare better for it,” Dom DeLuca said postgame about Iamaleava.

Penn State’s defense couldn’t wrap Iamaleava up as he consistently exposed gaps in the defense and made the Nittany Lions pay for every small mistake.

“You just gotta be able to plaster, get to your guy, just cover up, and be able to vice your own. We all had missed tackles today, especially me. That doesn’t help at all. I’ve just gotta be able to play fast and on your hip and be able to play hard,” DeLuca said.

Amare Campbell, Penn State’s season leader in tackles, was near the top of the stat sheet once again for the Nittany Lions as he produced 10 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

Campbell is emerging as one of the true leaders of the Penn State defense, as he has been a voice inside the locker room for the Nittany Lions, according to defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton. The junior was also vocal during halftime as Penn State fell into a 27-7 hole.

“I feel like we did a poor job today containing the quarterback, Campbell said postgame. “We all got to do our assignments. That’s on us players being focused and everybody doing their job. I feel like today there was a lack of focus.”

Campbell said the Nittany Lions were prepared for the looks Iamaleava and the Bruins offense were going to give them as a whole, but a lot of Iamaleava’s long runs and plays were off-script, leaving the defense hanging in the balance.

“We knew they had a lot of quarterback run game on first and second down, early downs, but not as much as third downs. A lot of his rushing yards weren’t designed runs. There were a lot of scrambles, so that’s something we got to work out: containing a pocket, squeezing the pocket, and closing that open B gap,” Campbell said.

Campbell was also tasked with spying Iamaleava, but failed to do so effectively on at least one third-down conversion. Campbell said it comes down to taking accountability and that there’s not a single person to put the blame on, as it’s a team game and one single defensive effort that came up drastically short against the Bruins.

DeLuca, an official captain for the Nittany Lions, said postgame that Penn State’s season is not over and that “there is a lot of football left” and that the defense will continue to improve upon mistakes and take it “day by day.”