The Illinois game is over, and now, Penn State shifts its focus to UCLA.
UCLA is off to a rough start while Penn State is 4-0 and No. 7 in the country.
The 28.5-point spread reflects the differences between the two teams.
Here are five things to know about UCLA before it comes to Happy Valley.
PENN STATE-UCLA: THEY’RE IN LA
The University of California, Los Angeles is, in fact, in Los Angeles. Coach DeShaun Foster reminded us of this at Big Ten media days.
Thanks to UCLA HC DeShaun Foster, Mike Gundy now doesn’t have the worst Media Day performance of 2024 pic.twitter.com/XIcBqnACyQ
— The Jump Sports (@TheJumpSports) July 24, 2024
PENN STATE-UCLA: A ROUGH START
UCLA is 1-3, which on the surface, looks bad. Considering the three losses have been by 29 (Indiana at the Rose Bowl) 17 (at LSU) and 21 (Oregon at the Rose Bowl), and the one win one win is over Hawaii by three at home, it’s fair to say it looks even worse beneath the surface.
THE QUARTERBACK
UCLA’s starting quarterback is a man named Ethan Garbers. Garbers put up respectable numbers last season, completing 67% of his passes and throwing 11 touchdowns to three interceptions. UCLA was also better as a team, finishing 8-5. This season, Garbers has completed 57.3% of his passes, throwing three touchdowns and six interceptions. This Penn State defense, which allowed 39 yards of total offense in the second half against Illinois, probably isn’t the right opponent to get right against.
AT OR NEAR THE BOTTOM
UCLA is 17th of 18 Big Ten teams in scoring defense, giving up 30.8 points per game. It’s dead last in passing defense, giving up 291 per game (averaging nearly 22 more than the next closest team.) This could be big for Penn State QB Drew Allar, who threw for just 135 against Illinois. Offensively, UCLA is dead last in scoring, averaging less than 14 points per game. It’s a little better in passing, averaging 205 yards which is good for 12th. But UCLA’s run game has been nothing short of a disaster. The Bruins run for 57 yards per game. The next closest team, Minnesota, averages 101.4. Yikes.
A LONG TIME COMING
This will be the first time Penn State and UCLA have played since 1968, when Penn State won, 21-6 at the Rose Bowl. UCLA leads the lifetime series, 4-2, with all games taking place consecutively from 1963 to 1968. Penn State went undefeated in ‘68 and is looking to do the same in ‘24.
