Shocker! UCLA Upsets #7 Penn State, 42-37

Today's upset win was almost as unbelievable as it was improbable.

When time ran out on Penn State, the Bruins ran onto the field to celebrate today’s big upset. (Photo Credit: Joe Piechowski)

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I’m still not sure if I saw what I just saw.

Frankly, if there is a legitimate Bruin fan who says they predicted it, I’d probably call that fan a liar.

But it did, in fact, happen.

This is the kind of game that, years from now, every Bruin fan will claim to have been here, even though the announced (and probably inflated) attendance was just 39,256.

Heck, I was so certain that the Bruins were going to get killed today that I actually pre-wrote this headline yesterday:

“Blue Out” Blowout: Penn State Destroys UCLA, 52-0

For the record, I have NEVER pre-written a post-game headline before.

And to further confirm that I had written it ahead of today’s game I wrote this paragraph, and Dimitri even chimed in with the Editor’s Note to confirm that I had pre-written the headline.

I’m going to start off by saying I predicted this. In fact, I pre-wrote the headline yesterday morning (Ed. note: no seriously, I’m writing this on Friday to say he did in fact write this headline already - Dimitri). Not that it was hard. It was just predictable given the sad state of Bruin football.

Boy, was I wrong!

Dimitri sent me a text, claiming we won because I had pre-written that headline. Of course, I countered with the fact that we won because he wasn’t here at the game this week!

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The Bruins did the least UCLA thing they’ve done all year. They scored on the opening drive. After a touchback on the opening kickoff, the Bruins drove 75 yards down to the field to take their first lead of the season, scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Nico Iamaleava to Kwazi Gilmer, and it was 7-0, Bruins.

UCLA followed with a surprise onside kick which they recovered successfully. When the drive stalled at the Penn State six-yard line, Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 24-yarder to put the Bruins up, 10-0.

The Nittany Lions bounced back with a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own, scoring on an 13-yard touchdown run by Kayton Allen, cutting it to 10-7.

On UCLA’s remaining three drives of the first half, the Bruins scored on a six-yard touchdown pass which was caught by Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, on a three-yard touchdown run by Iamaleava, and another Bhaghani field goal. This time, it was a 54-yarder as time expired in the first half.

All told, it was a heck of a first half which saw UCLA score on every drive they had, and they led 27-7.

That momentum continued into the second half.

After the break, the second half began with Penn State taking the opening kickoff, but on the second play of the drive, Rodrick Pleasant recovered a Luke Reynolds fumble and the Bruins took over on the Penn State 38-yard line.

But for the first time in the game, UCLA was unable to move the ball at all. Bhaghani’s 56-yard field goal attempt was no good and the Bruins came up empty for the first time in the game.

Penn State managed to close the gap on their next drive when Drew Allar found Khalil Dinkins for a 40-yard touchdown which cut UCLA’s lead to 27-14.

The Bruins next drive stalled following a pair of sacks by the Nittany Lions’ defense. Will Karoll’s punt was blocked by Dani Dennis-Sutton and recovered by Liam Clifford at the UCLA six and Clifford ran into the end zone for another Penn State touchdown and, now, UCLA’s lead was just six, 27-21.

The next Bruin drive got a shot in the arm when, on third-and-seven, Iamaleava scrambled and was finally taken down 52 yards later at the Penn State 20-yard line. Five plays later, he took it himself from the one-yard line and UCLA stretched their lead back to 13, 34-21.

The Nittany Lions’ next drive was a ten-play drive, which only took 3:29. But it ended in a 2-yard Penn State touchdown run by Allen, which cut the Bruin lead to 34-28.

UCLA’s ensuing drive saw the Bruins move 75 yards in 13 plays including 26-yard run by Iamaleava, a 17-yard run by Anthony Woods, and seven-yard touchdown run by Iamaleava. The two-point conversion made it a 14-point lead for the Bruins, 42-28 with 6:41 to go.

The Nittany Lions managed to score another touchdown moving 75 yards in ten plays, but using up just 2:30 of the clock when Allar found Kyron Hudson for a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-score game again with 4:11 left.

The Bruins came very close to pulling defeat from the jaws of victory. Their next drive was just four plays long. The critical play came on third down. Iamaleava found Woods out of the backfield, and he should have had the first down, but he tripped and fell for no gain. On fourth-and one, Iamaleava lost two yards and turned it over on the Bruin 34.

Penn State pushed the ball down to the UCLA nine, but on fourth-and-two, the Bruin defense dropped Allar for a three-yard loss and UCLA took over on downs with just 40 seconds left.

But the Nittany Lions still had their full complement of timeouts. Eventually, it was fourth-and-eleven from the Bruins’ own 11. Rather than punt it away after Karoll had his other punt blocked, UCLA ate up as much time as possible and went out the back of the end zone for a safety.

Bhaghani kicked it off from the 20 and Corey Smith returned it to the 37, leaving Penn State just 17 seconds to move 63 yards, but they couldn’t move it at all and time ran out, giving the Bruins a 42-37 upset win.

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Iamaleava finished the day going 17 of 24 passing for 186 yards with two touchdowns. He also led the Bruins with 128 yards on the ground on 16 carries with three touchdowns. Gilmer was the top Bruin receiver with five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.

UCLA visits Lansing, Michigan next week to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Kickoff is set for 9 am PT on Big Ten Network.


Go Bruins!!!

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