Bruins Drop Another Game as Offense Struggles

UCLA football took on a ranked opponent for the third straight week and finished with a loss for the fourth straight week. Facing Penn State for the first time in over 50 years, the Bruins fell 27-11 to the Nittany Lions, and to 1-4 overall on the season.

Here are the top three takeaways from the loss:

With Ethan Garbers injured, Justyn Martin earned his first career start for the Bruins. Martin showed moments of promise during his start. He led UCLA on a nice opening drive — before they failed to convert on 4th-and-1 — converted several third downs, and was able to accurately get the ball into the hands of his receivers.

Martin finished 22-30 for 167 yards and a touchdown. Even with a positive start, the offense still failed to put up a touchdown until the end of the fourth quarter, when the game was long over. The Bruins failed to put up 300 total yards for the fourth straight game, and the rushing attack has yet to reach 100 yards this season.

After the Bruins game against Oregon last week, the team lamented that they wanted to see their defense follow up their strong second-half performance against the Ducks in this game against Penn State. UCLA held Oregon to just six points in the second half last week, a strong rebound from their first half.

Early on in Happy Valley, UCLA managed to do just that. The Bruins forced a Penn State three-and-out on their opening drive. Cornerback Jaylin Davies made a critical tackle on third down to force the punt. This was a great start for the Bruins, and their first time not allowing a touchdown on their opponent’s opening drive this season.

UCLA held Penn State scoreless through the first quarter. The Nittany Lions would go on to score 27 points, somewhat seamlessly, though the Bruins defense did have a red zone interception come off the board because of a questionable holding penalty. The defense also recorded their first sack in weeks, with Oluwafemi Oladejo sacking Drew Allar.

The Bruins’ defensive performance won’t look phenomenal on the stat sheet or scoreboard by any means, but it was an improvement from how they played the last three weeks, and that is what the team has been seeking.

Leading up to Saturday’s game, the Bruins’ leading receiver during the 2023 season had shockingly been limited to five receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown through the first four games of the season. Loya did not record a single reception in either of UCLA’s games against Hawaii or Oregon.

In one game against Penn State, Loya topped his entire receiving total as he hauled in six receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. Loya emerged as a primary target for Martin from the get-go. He caught Martin’s first two passes of the game, including one 16-yard reception that converted a third down.

This connection between Martin and Loya was no coincidence. After the game, Martin shared that Loya has mentored him since he came to UCLA.

“So me and Logan, he has been one of my guys since I got on campus,” Martin said, via UCLA Communications. “Just helping me get used to everything, so it worked out that way, that he got a lot of targets and was open for me. Going into this game, I didn’t want to feed my receivers and I wanted to let them loose, but Logan was just the one today so that is how it worked out.”

Outside of Loya, UCLA gave a heavy share of receptions to their tight ends, Moliki Matavao, Jack Pedersen, and Bryce Pierre combined for six receptions during the game. The production of Loya and the tight ends did come in part because Rico Flores Jr. was questionable for this game.