UCLA Upsets No. 7 Penn State After Foster Firing

UCLA stunned No. 7 Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl, earning the program’s first win of the season after a mid-September staff shakeup that included the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster and the promotion of Tim Skipper as interim. Tennessee transfer Nico Iamaleava accounted for five touchdowns (three rushing, two passing), completing about 17-of-24 for roughly 166 passing yards and about 128–130 rushing yards as UCLA outgained Penn State roughly 446–357 and dominated the ground game. Tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel, who was elevated to playcaller four days earlier, orchestrated an offense that scored on its first five drives. Penn State mounted a second-half rally that included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Liam Clifford, but a late fourth-and-2 stop by Scooter Jackson and an intentional safety by UCLA sealed the result. The loss snapped Penn State’s 34-game streak against unranked opponents and made UCLA the first 0-4 (or worse) team since 1985 to beat an AP top-10 team.