Penn State coach James Franklin had little sugarcoating for the No. 7 Nittany Lions’ 42-37 loss to UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, a stunning defeat that snapped PSU’s 34-game winning streak against unranked teams. The Bruins — previously winless and playing with an interim coach and offensive coordinator — pulled off the upset behind a five-touchdown performance from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 128 yards and three more scores.
The loss marked back-to-back setbacks for Penn State following a double-overtime defeat to Oregon last week in a top 10 showdown, and raised questions about the Nittany Lions’ ability to respond under pressure and their path forward.
“We’ve got to tune out all the outside noise,” Franklin said postgame when asked about preventing his team from spiraling further. “I thought our guys worked hard at doing that last week, but obviously not well enough. … There’s going to be a lot out there to divide, divide, divide, and we’ve got to tune all that out and stick together.”
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The loss also marks the first time the Nittany Lions are 0-2 to start conference play since the shortened 2020 season.
Below is everything Franklin said postgame Saturday:
Opening statement:
“First of all, gotta give UCLA and their coaching staff a ton of credit. Gotta give their quarterback a ton of credit. We obviously had a hard time stopping him all day long, but I think the opening sequence of the game was significant — with the touchdown and then the surprise onside (kick) that we talked about all week long, that they were going to take significant risks in this game. And that was obviously two really significant drives and plays in the game.
“From that point on, we were battling. Obviously went in at halftime in a challenging situation, came out and then battled in the second half, but not enough to win the game. So give UCLA credit. Give their quarterback a ton of credit.
“We made mistakes today that we normally don’t make — had a ton of missed assignments, turnovers at critical times, penalties at critical times, things that we really don’t do and have not done for a very long time. So, give UCLA credit.”
On why it was hard to contain Iamaleava:
“Yeah, he had 153 yards, and a lot of those yards came at critical points. 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. To your point, obviously we lost a significant player for us last week (linebacker Tony Rojas), who normally would have that responsibility. But at the end of the day, we spied and he ran away from the spy, we spied and 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.”
On why Penn State wasn’t prepared, focused after Oregon loss:
“Obviously, we did not handle last week’s loss well. We also lost some players in that game, and then everything else — travel, everything else — we did not come out with the right energy to start the game. And before you know it, obviously they get a touchdown drive and an onside kick, and now you’re fighting. They gain confidence, and we’re fighting for the next three quarters. So, that’s my responsibility, and I didn’t get it done.”
On if the defensive effort was up to Penn State’s standard:
“Yeah, especially when you talk about the first half, third down was not very good. We could not get off the field. Again, they did a really good job of staying on schedule. In the second half, when we were able to get them off schedule a few times, that’s when Nico really hurt us a few times. I didn’t feel like watching the game it was an effort thing, but I did think we made a bunch of mistakes based on what I saw and what I heard on the headsets.”
On the fourth-and-2 call in the red zone:
“Obviously, it’s a QB power read where we had an opportunity to get the ball on the edge, divide the defense and get the quarterback downhill based on the read. And they brought edge pressure, and we knew it was coming. They beat the block, and we weren’t able to get around it. They got penetration; the read gave us the give read, and they had two guys right at the point of attack for not only on the ball carrier, which would have been (Trebor) Pena, but also Drew (Allar).
“So, give them credit for the aggressive cover-zero call. But we also have to make sure we’re making the blocks at the point of attack.”
On how he makes sure Penn State handles this loss better:
“We’ve got to tune out all the outside noise. I thought our guys worked hard at doing that last week, but obviously not well enough. So, we’ve got to stick together — the coaches, the players in the locker room, offense, defense, special teams. The reality is we did not play well enough in all three phases to win the game.
“There’s going to be a lot out there to divide, divide, divide, and we’ve got to tune all that out and stick together. I think we will do that. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we will.”
On the mood in the locker room down 27-7 at half:
“Yeah, we’ve been in this situation before. So I thought the locker room was good. Obviously, there was some emotion and there was some energy, and there were some adjustments being made. We were in a similar situation last year at USC — that was part of the discussion.
“I thought we came out and gave us a chance to win the game in the second half, but not enough, obviously, to win the game. And obviously, their quarterback was in a lot of ways the difference in the game, in multiple scenarios and multiple situations.”
On if he still believes Penn State has the best combination of talent and coaches in the country:
“Yeah, obviously, that question at this moment — how am I supposed to answer that? When we lose the last two games, then obviously, that’s all that matters. We didn’t win the last two games, but yeah, obviously I felt that way, or I wouldn’t have said it. But after two losses, it’s hard for me to answer that question and say that that’s the case.”
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