Flat and listless, Penn State traveled to 0-4 UCLA Saturday and fell behind 27-7 by halftime.
They rallied furiously in the second half but lost 42-37 as the Bruins' Nico Iamaleava riddled them for five touchdowns, three passing and two on the ground. It marked the first time a winless team with a record of 0-4 or worse had beaten a Top Ten opponent in 40 years, an upset by a 24.5-point underdog that had fired its head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.
Tight ends coach Rick Neuheisel, son of CBS broadcaster and former Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel, called plays. With a game plan they'd practiced for two days, Iamaleava hit Kwazi Gilmer with an 11-yard touchdown pass five minutes into the game. Then the Bruins executed an onside kick and scored a field goal. In all, they scored the first five times they had the ball as the PSU offense sputtered.
After the game Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin said, "We did not handle last week’s loss well. We also lost some players in that game, during the week. Then, everything else. Travel. Everything else. Did not come out with the right energy to start the game. … That’s my responsibility."
Nico Iamaleava at his best is a top 3 qb in college football pic.twitter.com/S3pUYq4b01
— John (@iam_johnw) October 4, 2025
One of the preseason favorites to win the national title, they'll have to win the rest of their games to make the playoffs, including No. 1 Ohio State in the Horseshoe and No. 8 Indiana in November. A double overtime loss to the Ducks last week wrecked them.
For Oregon, it makes Saturday's game against the Hoosiers even more important. It's important anyway because it's the next game, but part of what teams are evaluated on in terms of playoff rankings is who've they've beaten and who their opponents have beaten.
There's a large swath of college football fandom and college football punditry that loves to downgrade the Ducks. PSU's collapse gives them the perfect opportunity. Oregon's best win, going into Happy Valley and fighting off the White Out in double overtime, suddenly appears fraudulent.
It wasn't. Dan Lanning and his 5-0 warriors ruined Penn State. They beat them twice. Even so, if the Ducks stumble at home to Indiana, they'll plummet in the polls. They're likely to slip down a bit today when the AP vote is released. Miami and Oklahoma had big wins yesterday.
The knock on Dan Lanning has been that he can't win big games. Yet every time he wins one, the game gets downgraded.
If anything, Penn State's faceplant shows how difficult it is to travel three time zones, go on the road and beat a motivated opponent. The Ducks did it in a raucous atmosphere before 111,000 hostile fans, a tense, tight atmosphere with a young team.
UCLA's win proves once again that in the NIL/Transfer Portal era anybody can beat anybody. That's the lesson Oregon should take away.
Ultimately Lanning and his team don't care so much about rankings and reputation. They'll remain beady-eyed focused on becoming the best version of themselves. Yet now Indiana stands as their one chance to face a top-ranked team before the playoff committee decides who gets in.