Heading into the Penn State Nittany Lions game against the UCLA Bruins, most expected head coach James Franklin would leave Pasadena with a decisive victory. After the Nittany Lions lost to the Oregon Ducks last week, they were a team that needed to get back on track. It felt like facing off against a 0-4 Bruins team was the recipe for success. 

UCLA was a 24.5-point home underdog against Penn State, and not many gave them a chance to even be competitive. After they fired head coach Deshaun Foster a couple of weeks ago, this team had every right to quit. Not only did they not throw in the towel, they managed to upset the Nittany Lions 42 to 37 in unbelievable fashion. 

On the Penn State side of things, this was a humiliating loss and completely derailed their national championship hopes for this season. Franklin, as well as quarterback Drew Allar, will now need to continue hearing the outside criticism, and there’s nothing they can do about it. They have no leg left to stand on, or excuse left to be made.

Heading into the contest, there was an interesting conversation that was had on the CBS Sports College Football Insiders show. They discussed who would give Penn State a better chance to win, Allar or Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava. When you first hear that question, most would roll their eyes and assume it’s a troll job. 

Drew Allar or Nico Iamaleava?

National college football writer Chris Hummer made his stance clear on the issue. He didn’t find it to be a ridiculous hot take at all.

“I think Penn State would be better right now if Nico was their quarterback,” Hummer said on the show. 

During the segment, both Richard Johnson and John Talty didn’t shoot down the premise of the question. The rise and fall of Iamaleava has been quite a journey to watch over the last few months. He went from a promising playoff signal caller for the Tennessee Volunteers to a NIL holdout, and now leading one of the worst teams in Power Four football. Yet, Iamaleava does have a certain appeal over Allar.

On the day, the 6-6, 215-pound Bruins signal caller managed to complete 17 of 24 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Iamaleava also rushed for 128 yards and three more scores on the ground on 16 carries, an average of eight yards per carry. The junior had his finest day as a member of the UCLA program, and one of his best college football performances overall.

Allar was not a major issue for the Nittany Lions during the game. The 6-4, 235-pound pocket passer completed 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 78 yards on 11 carries. There were much larger issues during the upset loss for the team.

In the end, this loss comes back to Franklin. He has developed an unfortunate reputation as a coach who can’t win the big game. A game like this, however, is one that Penn State should always win. Many people believed this could be the season that the Nittany Lions finally got over the top. Instead, you have arguably the worst coaching job that Franklin has ever done.

Penn State Nittany Lions News

Another loss rolled in for the Penn State Nittany Lions even after their heartbreaking defeat to Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks 

The Penn State Nittany Lions suffered another difficult loss to the Oregon Ducks last weekend. That isn’t the only loss for them over the last few days.

Ryan Roberts