Penn State defensive star makes it clear who is to blame for embarrassing loss to UCLA
The Penn State Nittany Lions were left shellshocked after their 42-37 loss to UCLA in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday. Boasting a four-score advantage from betting services heading into the road trip, Penn State appeared to be a prime bounce-back candidate after losing to Oregon at home in double overtime last week. Instead, James Franklin’s Nittany […]
The Penn State Nittany Lions were left shellshocked after their 42-37 loss to UCLA in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday. Boasting a four-score advantage from betting services heading into the road trip, Penn State appeared to be a prime bounce-back candidate after losing to Oregon at home in double overtime last week. Instead, James Franklin’s Nittany Lions crumbled.
Blame immediately went all around as the team’s 2025 run is already in jeopardy. With two losses before facing Ohio State, Indiana, and a possible Big Ten championship opponent, there’s no room for error. The Nittany Lions gambled by investing heavily into bringing its veteran offensive stars back and hiring defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, and none of it has worked well.
Penn State watched former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava pass for 166 yards and two scores, but then also added 128 rushing yards and three touchdowns. It was a full-unit failure, and the offense couldn’t overcome the pressure.
Dani Dennis-Sutton says everyone, not just Jim Knowles, to blame
Penn State star senior Dani Dennis-Sutton waited to enter the NFL until after giving it one more go in college. The results, thus far, have been disappointing. Penn State is the first top 10 team to lose to a 0-4 or worse opponent in 40 years.
While Knowles can point to a defense that ranked eighth in scoring entering this week, it all fell apart against a terrible UCLA offense. Suddenly, it seems as though Franklin might’ve been caught with a bad hire, as the Buckeyes improved their defense with Matt Patricia as their coordinator after passing on matching the offer for Knowles.
Dennis-Sutton doesn’t want to hear any of it, though.
“They’re a great team…We lost the game. It’s embarrassing, it’s bad. We all got to look in the mirror. It’s not one person, it’s not one coach, it’s not one player. It’s literally everybody,” Dennis-Sutton mused after the shocking outcome.
He’s certainly not wrong for feeling this way, but there are people to primarily look at. Knowles’ defense is notoriously complex and not player-friendly, and that’s showing. On the other side of the ball, Drew Allar has stagnated, and the unit has been average against bad opponents.
Penn State now has little time to make this work as they travel to Ohio State in the coming weeks. Nov. 1 will be here before you know it, and we’ll see if this Penn State team can turn around its fortunes, or if Knowles will still be in the crosshairs of the fans’ ire.
