For the second consecutive week no. 7 Penn State did not pick up as decisive of a victory as many people predicted. That said, for the second consecutive week the Nittany Lions picked up a 14+ point victory over a Big Ten opponent.
Could they have beaten UCLA by more? Sure. But a 16-point conference victory is never an easy thing to accomplish in the Big Ten. Additionally, the game was not as close as the final score with the Bruins scoring a touchdown in the closing seconds against a plethora of Nittany Lion backups.
There are certainly things to work on ahead of next weekend's trip to the West Coast, but we'll talk about that this week. For now, let's dive into takeaways from Penn State's 27-11 victory over UCLA.
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In a sandwich spot game, the sluggish offensive start was not a total surprise
UCLA is not a good football team, there is no way around it. Outside of Kent State and Purdue, the Bruins might be the worst team that Penn State plays against this season. That said, this game had sluggish sandwich spot written all over it and it showed.
The Nittany Lions were coming off an emotional victory in front of a defacto White Out crowd over a top-20 Illinois team last Saturday. Next Saturday, the Nittany Lions travel to the LA Colosseum for a top-15, potentially top-10 showdown with USC. UCLA found itself as the opponent between these two big games.
Factor in a noon kickoff with the potential for a sleepy start, and the Nittany Lions having a sluggish offensive start was not a total surprise. Had it not been for a drop by Julian Fleming on the team's first drive and Fleming seemingly running the wrong route on a third down pass on the second drive, the Nittany Lion offense may not have gotten off to a sluggish start.
Once the offense got into gear, the Nittany Lions moved the ball at will against the Bruins. This included a perfectly executed two-minute drill to score a touchdown going into the half. Not counting their kneel down to end the game, the Nittany Lions scored on five of their final six drives.
Ryan Barker is the new kicker no. 1
With Sander Sahaydak's struggles continuing, Ryan Barker was given the final PAT attempt last Saturday. Barker took over for his left-footed brethren as the starting placekicker on Saturday afternoon and took control of the job.
Barker was 3/3 on PAT attempts. More importantly, he connected on both field goal attempts, hitting from 25 and 40 yards. Cleaning up the placekicking issues was a necessity for the Nittany Lions before the travel to USC. While there may still be some concerns, at least for now Barker has calmed some nerves.
Let's talk about the defense
Tom Allen has caught a lot of flack from fans, but outside of the first half against Bowling Green the Nittany Lion defense has been stout. That strong performance continued on Saturday afternoon.
In their last 14 quarters of play, Penn State's starting defense has allowed 10 points in non-garbage time. Bowling Green's late field goal in week 2 came during garbage time and UCLA's touchdown drive at the end of Saturday afternoon's game came against second and third stringers.
When they have needed to stand tall, make plays, and get off the field, that is exactly what Allen's unit has done this season. The defensive line has been one of the best in the FBS through the first 6 weeks of the college football season, and even without KJ Winston, the secondary has played well.
Bigger tests are looming in USC and Ohio State, but if the Nittany Lion defense continues to play the way they have outside of the first half of the Bowling Green game there is no reason to not be confident in this group.
The offense missed Nicholas Singleton
It was unclear if Nicholas Singleton would play on Saturday afternoon. After not practicing this week, he was listed as questionable. However, he appeared to be a full go during pre-game warm-ups.
Once the game kicked off Singleton could be seen on the sideline in full uniform, but he never took a snap and the offense was missing their key cog.
Penn State had by far their worst rushing performance of the season rushing for just 85 yards and 2.8 yards per carry. Without Singleton, even when the offense was cooking with five out of six scoring drives, something was missing.
There was not as much explosion, especially from the rushing game. Singleton was also missed in the passing game where he can serve as Drew Allar's safety valve at times.
Whatever was plaguing Singleton does not appear to be a major issue. It certainly seemed that if Penn State were playing a tougher opponent Singleton could have given it a go on Saturday afternoon. If they're going to defeat USC next week, the Nittany Lion offense will need Singleton and everything he brings to the table back in the fold.
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