Penn State sets brutal history not done in 40 years in loss to UCLA

Douglas Santo

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Penn State sets brutal history not done in 40 years in loss to UCLA image

The Penn State Nittany Lions went on the road to face the UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl in what was supposed to be a get-right game for the Nittany Lions.

The Bruins came in 0-4, with losses to Utah, UNLV, New Mexico and Northwestern.

On the flip side, Penn State came in ranked No. 7 in nation after suffering its first loss of the year to No. 2 Oregon in an overtime thriller last week. The Nittany Lions were expected to roll over the Bruins to get back on track. However, that was far from the case.

Penn State Sets Brutal 40 Year History

With the loss to UCLA, Penn State became the first top 10 team to lose to an 0-4 or worse opponent in 40 years.

The narrative under head coach James Franklin has always been the Nittany Lions can't win the big games. But, what's saved them has been the ability to always beat the bad teams.

That wasn't the case on Saturday. Penn State came off a heartbreaking loss to Oregon a week ago, and laid an egg in the first half against UCLA.

The Nittany Lions went down 27-7 at halftime, and couldn't put enough stops and scoring together to finish a second half comeback.

After an 0-3 start, UCLA fired its head coach, and then after a fourth straight loss to start the season, the Bruins fired their offensive coordinator as well. With an interim coach and offensive coordinator, the Bruins knocked off Penn State to get their first win of the season.

UCLA had not led for a single second in a game this season entering Saturday, and led the entire way against Penn State. The Bruins offense that was averaging less than 20 points per game, and put up 42 points on the No. 7 team in the country.

There was celebration in Pasadena, and heartbreak Happy Valley. Could this be the end of James Franklin's tenure at Penn State? The Nittany Lions were supposed to be national championship contenders in 2025, and now they might not even make the College Football Playoff.

Douglas Santo

Douglas Santo is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. As a senior at Arizona State University, he will complete his B.A. in sports journalism with a minor in business in December 2025. Before his time with Sporting News, Douglas covered the NFL and MLB for Athlon Sports and contributed as a digital reporter for Arizona PBS/Cronkite News. He is also the head of Sun Devil Daily, managing all content produced about Arizona State Sports.