Aftter UCLA Loss, Penn State's Defense Says, 'We Can't Just Keep Doing This'

Was Penn State's defense prepared to face Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava? The Nittany Lions answer.

UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) runs for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

PASADENA, California | Penn State captain Dom DeLuca and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton repeated the phrase six times after the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions lost to UCLA 42-37 on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. In different variations, DeLuca and Dennis-Sutton said, “We’ve got to look in the mirror.” Here's what they'll see.

Penn State became the first top-10 team in 40 years to lose to an opponent that was 0-4 or worse, and the win marked UCLA’s first over a top-10 team since 2007. Look no further than to the Nittany Lions’ defense as to why several Bruins fans stormed the field as the game ended.

Jim Knowles' defense allowed 42 points, 435 yards and a 62.5-percent conversion rate on third down. All to a team that ranked 132nd in the country in scoring offense, 125th in third-down conversion percentage, 117th in total offense, 105th in rushing offense, 98th in turnover margin and 97th in passing offense.

Penn State's defense also gave up scores on five straight first-half possessions, totaling 27 points, to a team that had scored just 20 first-half points (none in the first quarter) in its previous four games combined.

“We just weren't ready to play, I guess,” Dennis-Sutton said. “I don't have an answer [to] exactly why we lost. Obviously, as a unit on defense, it was a terrible start. We let them score. It was just a bad day for our defense. I don't know exactly why, or what the answer is, but it was a bad day.”

A bad day for the ages

OH WOW.
Nico Iamaleava takes the hit and makes the play. pic.twitter.com/vqqr3JGxPG

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 4, 2025

It was an historical day on many fronts for Penn State, just not in any positive way. In addition to breaking two college football droughts that spanned 40 and 18 years, UCLA rushed for 269 rushing yards, the most against Penn State since Michigan gained 418 in 2022. Penn State had not allowed 40+ points in a regular-season game since losing to No. 2 Ohio State in 2022.  

Against UCLA and Oregon, Penn State allowed a score on 12 of its last 19 defensive series and touchdowns on nine of 17. That’s after holding Oregon, the nation’s sixth-ranked scoring offense, to three first-half points.

That’s alarming for a team that ranked among the top-10 nationally in scoring defense the past four years. However, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava played the best game of his career against a Penn State defense that didn’t know what to do with him. 

“He had [128 rushing] yards, and a lot of those yards came at critical points,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “[A] couple times we spied him, and when we spied him, he was able to either make the spy miss or run away from the spy.

"Obviously, we lost a significant player for us last week [in linebacker Tony Rojas]. Normally, that would be his responsibility, but at the end of the day, we spied, and he ran away from the spy. We spied, he made the spy miss, and a couple other times they caught us in man coverage without a spy, and we got out of our rush lanes, and he made a ton of plays.”

What happened to Penn State’s defense?

"It's like watching Vince Young as he gets out of the pocket right here."

Gary Danielson with high praise for Nico Iamaleava. pic.twitter.com/wFrZYO8pH6

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 4, 2025

The Nittany Lions had few answers for Iamaleava anywhere. The quarterback completed  71.4 percent of his passes, including 10 straight during one stretch, and rushed for career-highs in yards (128) and touchdowns (three). He had a hand in all five Bruins’ touchdowns while also pulling through in key moments.

Just a few plays after Penn State blocked and returned a third-quarter punt for a touchdown,  Iamleava pranced for a 52-yard run on 3rd-and-7 to halt the Nittany Lions’ momentum. DeLuca said that, to prepare for Iamaleava, the defense let plays go longer in practice to simulate his scrambling ability. Linebacker Amare Campbell said that practice went well, but the defense showed a lack of focus during the game.

“I really don’t have a reason,” Campbell said. “That’s on us as players. We’ve got to focus on our assignment. Whatever lack of focus we had today, we need to get that out and we need to refocus.”

“We understand the defense, we understand what we’re supposed to do,” DeLuca added. “But there’s always some gray area that we’ve got to clarify with the coaches where we want to improve and how we want to play better. If we want to play better, we’ve got to be on the same page and we’ve all got to do our jobs at a high level.”

Penn State got away with the sloppiness in non-conference play. But once the Nittany Lions opened their conference schedule, it’s been a different story. Defensive tackle Zane Durant said the team must be more detailed. DeLuca said he and his teammates must ask more questions in practice. 

“[We] just can’t make this a routine,” DeLuca said. “We can’t just keep doing this. I mean, we’ve just got to come back to work. We’ve got to prepare, we’ve got to ask questions where we’re confused, or even get in the film room more and make sure everyone is on the same page and prepare better.”

“I know me personally, I ask questions about everything,” Durant added. “I don’t like going into the game with things I don’t know. I would encourage our guys to do more of that. I mean, you don’t know if somebody knows or not unless they ask. That’s only on them.”

UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) hugs new offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 42-37 at the Rose Bowl. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images