Throughout the 2025 season, Nittany Sports Now will give you a profile of each opponent.
Opponent: UCLA
History: UCLA leads the all-time series 4-3, with Penn State winning the last two head-to-head matchups.
Penn State’s last matchup in Los Angeles against UCLA occurred in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1968 where Penn State won 21-6.
Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Tim Skipper (interim)
Home Field: Rose Bowl (capacity 92,542.)
Penn State has history of its own in the Rose Bowl as they participated in the first Rose Bowl game in the current stadium in 1923 against USC. Nearly a century later, Penn State played in the final traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Rose Bowl when the Nittany Lions defeated Utah 35-21 in the 2023 Rose Bowl.
UCLA made the Rose Bowl their home in 1982 and have won seven conference championships since moving to the iconic venue.
Outside the venue, statues of UCLA luminaries such as Jackie Robinson and Terry Donahue surround the iconic venue.
Donahue’s statue has unique intricacies with having 151 bronze roses, symbolizing his UCLA record of 151 wins.
Along with the bronze roses, there are five footballs representing the 5 Pac-10 championships Donahue coached the Bruins to.
Donahue is the first individual to participate in the Rose Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
Notable Football Alumni and Moments:
UCLA football is steeped with some of college and pro football immortals.
Outside of Donahue, future Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Dick Vermeil coached UCLA for two seasons (1974-1975). Vermeil became the first head coach to coach in both the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl.
Along with Vermeil, other Pro Football Hall of Famers include quarterback Troy Aikman, who led the Bruins in the late 1980s before winning three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.
Safety Kenny Easley, a dominant safety of the early 1980s rivaling his USC counterpart Ronnie Lott. Easley was the original Seattle Seahawk nicknamed The Enforcer prior to the Legion of Boom’s Kam Chancellor.
Tackle Jonathan Ogden won the 1995 Outland Trophy anchoring UCLA Bruins offensive lines in the mid-1990’s before becoming the first ever draft pick of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
Donahue’s UCLA teams also set an NCAA record with eight consecutive bowl wins from 1982 to 1991, a record that stood until Bobby Bowden’s Florida State Seminoles won 11 in a row from 1985 to 1996.
Key Current Players:
Nico Iamaleava (Quarterback)
Iamaleave made waves during the preseason by “opting out” at the University of Tennessee.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The desire was a combination of compensation and returning closer to home.
It hasn’t been a great start for the Long Beach native as he has seen his head coach DeShaun Foster be fired and there has been a lack of support for him offensively.
Currently, Iamaleava is the leading rusher for UCLA with 204 yards and has the lone rushing touchdown on the season for the Bruins.
Through the air, Iamaleava has been efficient with completing 65.3% of his passes but lacks any vertical threats to maximize his arm as UCLA has averaged 197 passing yards per game and has only scored 14.2 points per game ranking 134th out of 136 FBS schools.
JonJon Vaughns, Isaiah Chisom (Linebackers)
Despite allowing 31.2 points per game (119th nationally), the Bruins have a pair of linebackers that rank in the Top 20 nationally in tackles.
Redshirt senior Vaughns leads the team with 47 tackles (18 solo).
Former Oregon State linebacker Chisom, who transferred in this season has 42 tackles (19 solo).
They Said It.
“Coach [James] Franklin always has those guys ready to go. He’s a top-notch coach in this profession, and you see it by the product you watch film on.”
– Tim Skipper UCLA interim head coach
