This post was updated Oct. 7 at 1:44 a.m.
UNIVERSITY PARK – A switch seems to flip in the Bruin locker room at halftime.
In fact, the team’s season could be defined by a cycle of two clashing stories.
One half almost silences naysayers, the other forces the crowd to seek the nearest exit – consistency has been a fleeting ghost.
This time, with a dreamy first half and nightmarish second, UCLA football (1-4, 0-3 Big Ten) was bowled over by No. 7 Penn State (5-0, 2-0) to a 27-11 tune Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Bruins silenced the Nittany Lions for the first 23 minutes of the affair, after which the latter’s 11th-ranked offense took flight at its home runway and the former appeared to enter a tailspin.
“They continued to make plays and our depth isn’t exactly where we would want it to be,” said coach DeShaun Foster. “So a few guys are going to get tired in these situations, but offensively, if we can just find a way to cut the game in half and just keep the clock moving, I think we’ll do a good job.”
Dubbed an understudy with just five completions to his name, Justyn Martin’s potential was shrouded in shadows before Saturday’s matchup.
The redshirt sophomore’s unassuming exterior littered concerns over the Bruins’ offensive production – it’d be his first collegiate start with redshirt senior quarterback Ethan Garbers sidelined due to injury.
But concerns were for naught – particularly in the first half.
A Martin-led Bruin unit delivered a breath of fresh air through the start of Saturday’s duel. The Bruins forced the Nittany Lions to a three-and-out on their opening drive, summoning Martin to launch his first career pass as a starting quarterback.
“It was a last minute decision. I didn’t really know too much going in,” Martin said. “I didn’t have nerves. I was more excited. … We didn’t get the outcome that we wanted, but I’m proud of how our offense played. I’m proud of how our whole team played, and they supported me throughout the entire week up to now.”
Behind a refurbished offensive line featuring redshirt sophomore Niki Prongos at left tackle, redshirt sophomore Sam Yoon at center and redshirt senior Josh Carlin at right guard, Martin kept the chains moving against Penn State’s No. 4 ranked defense.
By the end of the first quarter, his 9-for-11 passing figures far exceeded Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar’s 50% completion rate – and the Bruins held a 44-yard advantage in total offense.
“(I’m) very encouraged,” Foster said. “Just knowing that we do have a backup quarterback that can play. He was able to execute and he did exactly what he did this week (in practices). Took command of the offense and just made plays.”
On a third-and-10 situation for Penn State with about four minutes left in the first frame, Allar spiraled around the pocket before his escape routes were dwindled by senior linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo’s relentless pursuit – and UCLA picked up its first sack since Aug. 31 against Hawai’i.
“We knew we had been struggling in the last few weeks, so really trying to get after it,” Oladejo said. “It felt good. I thought we left some more on the table.”
Penn State’s unforgiving barrage of UCLA’s defense was foreshadowed in its 16-play, 82-yard second-quarter drive that culminated in Allar’s third rushing touchdown of the season. In a methodical march down the field, running back Kaytron Allen’s explosiveness on the ground and Allar’s precision through traffic baffled a collapsing Bruin front.
Martin mustered some kind of response, uncorking a 53-yard deep pass to Harden for the longest of the quarterback’s career. Instead of touching the end zone, though, the Nittany Lions’ defensive front pressured Martin into a scramble, but kicker Mateen Bhaghani – reaching a career-high 9-for-10 on the season – delivered a 25-yard field goal.
UCLA’s first offensive touchdown since its Sept. 21 matchup against LSU dragged till the fourth quarter, when Martin pieced together a clock-chewing 16-play drive, mixing runs and short drives to troop down the field.
“The biggest thing for us is to finish, no matter what the score is,” Martin said. “We didn’t come out here to lay over, we came out here to win and play to the last snap. So that’s just not how I am as a person, that’s not how our team is. We’re going to finish regardless.”
What little hope the Bruins held flickered out, crushed as their fragile traces of optimism were buried into the dirt.
After receiving the second-half kickoff, UCLA’s drive initiated with heedful optimism but quickly spiraled into chaos. Harden was punched to the gut on the first snap before disaster struck on third down, and Martin was swallowed whole by the Nittany Lions as the Bruins lost 14 yards and punted from the shadows of their own end zone.
It was a drive that promised little, delivered less and culminated in a field position that shifted command to Penn State – setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The Bruins’ third quarter came to a grinding close with negative 14 yards, just one first down and failure to advance past their own 29-yard line.
Martin and UCLA’s offensive front gave the team a pulse to start Saturday’s affair, but it seemed as though Penn State pulled the plug out by game’s end.
The 73-yard drive was ultimately capped off with a one-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior wide receiver Logan Loya. A two-point conversion ensured the team would dodge its first single-digit showing of the season.
The infamous Beaver Stadium slowly emptied of 110,047 Nittany Lions fans after its annual “Stripe Out” game.
It may not have been the most climactic way for the fanbase to celebrate its tradition, but at least the Nittany Lions did stripe – and wipe – the Bruins back to Westwood.
