{"id":284786,"date":"2025-10-07T21:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T21:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284786\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T21:03:14","slug":"ucla-football-seeks-more-wins-after-massive-upset-of-penn-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284786\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA football seeks more wins after massive upset of Penn State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One glorious afternoon<\/a> at the Rose Bowl isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why after they fielded the congratulatory phone calls and text messages, made a celebratory champagne toast and smiled while rewatching game footage for the first time this season, UCLA<\/a> players and coaches eagerly resumed the pursuit of something more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be one-hit wonders,\u201d interim coach Tim Skipper<\/a> said Monday, \u201cthat\u2019s the whole key to this thing \u2014 do not be a one-hit wonder, get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

While beating Michigan State on Saturday at Spartan Stadium wouldn\u2019t generate the same recognition that came with the previously winless Bruins\u2019 recent victory over then-No. 7 Penn State<\/a>, it would erase any lingering doubts that things just fell into place one wonderful weekend.<\/p>\n

UCLA (1-4 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) hopes it discovered a winning formula beyond Jerry Neuheisel\u2019s playcalling<\/a>, quarterback Nico Iamaleava<\/a>\u2019s heroics and Skipper\u2019s putting everything together. After seeing his team look listless the previous week against Northwestern<\/a>, particularly in the game\u2019s early going, Skipper adopted the word \u201cstrain\u201d as a rallying cry going into the game against the Nittany Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just draining your tank and doing everything possible that you can possibly do on every single play for us to achieve success,\u201d Skipper said. \u201cSo, strain was mentioned every single day, it was mentioned after the game, and I think that was the major difference. Our guys strained, from the opening kickoff to the very end of the game. We had to strain on every play to get the game to be a positive outcome for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was favorable for everyone on the team, including position groups that had previously struggled.<\/p>\n

Not long after the Bruins held off the Nittany Lions for an epic 42-37 triumph, UCLA offensive line coach Andy Kwon gathered his players for a group photo in the end zone. Kwon posted the photo on the social media platform X, adding a one-word caption: \u201cSTRAIN!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava passes against Penn State on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The word also was uttered twice during a short video in which athletic director Martin Jarmond<\/a> delivered the game ball to Skipper.<\/p>\n

Two days later, there was some further basking in UCLA\u2019s first victory over a top-10 team since toppling Oregon in 2007. Skipper was named the Dodd Trophy coach of the week, Iamaleava the Associated Press national player of the week and Neuheisel the CBS Sports coordinator of the week.<\/p>\n

More important, it was fun to be back in the football practice facility again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmiling. Laughing. Talking,\u201d Skipper said of the scene compared to previous weeks. \u201cWhen you\u2019re sore after a game, it actually feels pretty good, you know what I mean? Like, a lot of things, just the flow. People laugh at bad jokes now and stuff, you know? Just, man, just joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Penn State\u2019s falling out of the national rankings was a reminder of how quickly a college football season can change.<\/p>\n

The Bruins finally hope to have some stability going into the game against the Spartans (3-2, 0-2) after having installed a new defense one week and a new offense the next in the wake of multiple coaching changes. Skipper said Neuheisel\u2019s ability to explain why he wanted to run plays in certain situations to counter what the defense was doing led to an offense that rolled up a season-high 435 yards of offense, including a season-high 269 on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe explained it in a way that he was totally confident in what he was saying,\u201d Skipper said. \u201cAnd I think everybody felt that and believed in that, and it just carried over into the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who fear UCLA\u2019s offense might not be as effective now that there\u2019s footage of what Neuheisel likes to do may not need to worry. Skipper said the playbook would be specifically tailored to each opponent because the team did not have spring practice or fall training camp to install its offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to watch our opponents in all phases,\u201d Skipper said, \u201cand then we\u2019re going to game plan for them, and then the things that work that we\u2019ve done previously, we\u2019re going to do, and the new things we have to do to establish the game plan the way we want it to go, we\u2019re going to add that to the game plan. So we\u2019re just a work in progress, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

One win down, the rest of the season to go.<\/p>\n

He called it<\/p>\n

UCLA cornerback Scooter Jackson had a feeling he would make the game\u2019s biggest defensive play. All it took was Penn State running a shift his team had prepared for all week.<\/p>\n

When he saw the familiar motion, Jackson announced what was going to happen to teammate Key Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about to get out of here,\u201d Jackson told Lawrence before surging into the backfield to sack quarterback Drew Allar on the Nittany Lions\u2019 final drive into Bruins territory. \u201cI\u2019m about to end the game right now. Boom, I\u2019d seen the motion come, shift, I knew exactly what play it was going to be. We ended it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did it feel like at that moment?<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to make that play, being in my hometown, celebrating with my teammates \u2014 some of my closest friends,\u201d said Jackson, a Compton native who played at Warren High, \u201cit was an unexplainable feeling, I\u2019m not going to even lie to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A big turnaround \"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA defensive lineman Jacob Busic sacks Penn State quarterback Drew Allar Saturday at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Edge rusher Jacob Busic said a huge component of UCLA\u2019s defensive improvement was new de facto defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle understanding each player\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n

It started at halftime of the game against Northwestern, when Coyle came into the locker room and pointed at players.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like, \u2018OK, I understand who you are. I understand who you are,\u2019 \u201d Busic said. \u201c \u2018This is what we do,\u2019 and we held them scoreless in the second half. So he does a really good job at playing to our strengths and playing fast. And the less we think, the faster we play. The faster we play, the more tackles we get. The more tackles we get, the more likely it is that we win. He knows that, we know that and it\u2019s just been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing a bigger role against Penn State with fellow edge rusher Anthony Jones sidelined by injury and Kechaun Bennett ineligible to play in the first half because of a targeting penalty against Northwestern, Busic logged a sack and an additional tackle for loss.<\/p>\n

A big bump \"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper cheers on his team at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

As expected, Skipper received a hefty raise as part of his promotion to interim coach, according to documents reviewed by The Times as part of a public records request.<\/p>\n

The contract that Skipper signed Sept. 16, two days after DeShaun Foster\u2019s dismissal, called for him to make $875,000 over a roughly 3\u00bd-month period ending Dec. 31. Should the Bruins qualify for a bowl game, Skipper would receive a bonus of $20,000.<\/p>\n

In his previous role as special assistant to the head coach, Skipper was making $10,416.66 per month \u2013 an amount that equated to an annual salary of $124,999.92 \u2013 on a contract set to expire Jan. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

Familiar environs<\/p>\n

UCLA returned to Spaulding Field this week after a renovation project taking several months and costing $2.9 million provided the Bruins with a 100-yard grass practice field and two 25-yard artificial turf fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One glorious afternoon at the Rose Bowl isn\u2019t enough. That\u2019s why after they fielded the congratulatory phone calls…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":284787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,1910,146770,2961,224,5337,146772,146771,146774,5835,146769,68117,146773,138849,56536,3007,17823,56012,91610],"class_list":{"0":"post-284786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-game","11":"tag-jerry-neuheisel","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-more-win","16":"tag-new-offense","17":"tag-one-hit-wonder","18":"tag-penn-state","19":"tag-previous-week","20":"tag-single-day","21":"tag-single-play","22":"tag-skipper","23":"tag-strain","24":"tag-team","25":"tag-thing","26":"tag-ucla-football","27":"tag-ucla-player"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115334912852489058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}