The Beaver Stadium grass was beat. It had been a month-long, four-game home stand for Penn State that concluded in a 27-11 win over UCLA on Saturday. James Franklin embraced his family, greeted recruits and walked to the locker room with a smile across his face. Above him, a graphic appeared on the video board: “NEXT GAME: USC.”
There were notable injuries and offensive question marks but, nonetheless, a double-digit win against the Bruins. It was a victory that made the Nittany Lions the nation’s only team to begin each of the past four seasons with a 5-0 record. But with clear flaws in certain areas, Penn State’s record in the second half of the season is all that matters.
Ahead of a consequential trip to Los Angeles next weekend, what can be taken away from the Nittany Lions’ victory over UCLA?
Where was Nick Singleton?
It appeared as if Penn State running back Nick Singleton, ruled questionable prior to kickoff, was good to go. Singleton suited up in uniform, joined his teammates in warmups and was announced as a starter. But he never played. Franklin said postgame he didn’t learn until after warmups that Singleton wouldn’t be cleared for action.
The decision ultimately came from running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and head trainer Andy Mutnan.
“I thought we’d have him Thursday, I thought we’d have him Friday, I thought we’d have him today. … Literally, it was a last minute deal,” Franklin said. “And obviously not having a guy like Nick Singleton is significant, but it was a tremendous opportunity for Kaytron to get a few more touches. It was also a great opportunity to get Quinton (Martin Jr.) in there.”
In Singleton’s place, Allen led the rushing attack with 21 carries, 78 yards and a touchdown. Martin, a true freshman, rushed just once but caught three receptions for 18 yards.
Clifford carries explosive workload
Singleton’s absence didn’t just create opportunities for the other running backs, but also one wide receiver in particular. That’d be Liam Clifford, who caught three receptions and eclipsed 100 yards for the first time in his Penn State career.
Sure, the Nittany Lions rushed for a season-low 85 yards against the Bruins, but performances like the one Clifford had showed that there is still explosiveness deep in the realms of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s playbook.
“I don’t want to misspeak, but I think our offense is one of the most explosive in the country right now currently, at least it was a week or two ago,” Clifford said. “So I think we’ve been explosive, which has been huge, because that’s something talked about a ton ever since the offseason, and just continue to adapt and change each week to what we need to do.”
A new placekicker enters the fold
To little surprise, placekicker Sander Sahaydak was benched after missing a pair of field goals against Illinois last weekend. It was Ryan Barker, who replaced Sahaydak in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Illini, who handled primary duties on Saturday. Barker nailed both of his field goal attempts, his longest being from 40 yards out, against the Bruins.
Franklin said the preseason competition between Sahaydak and Barker “came down to a percentage point,” making it a close call to award the original starting job.
“So based on it being a tight competition already, and then how the games have gone from a production execution standpoint, in that phase, it felt like it made sense to give Barker his opportunities,” Franklin said.
Defense bent, not broken against novel QB
Franklin said on Wednesday he had to look back at the high school film of UCLA quarterback Justyn Martin, who had only thrown five collegiate passes entering Saturday, to prepare for the possibility that Bruins starter Ethan Garbers would be ruled out with an injury. That, of course, happened and Martin excelled, at times, in his first career start.
Martin did a good job of extending drives, especially in the first half, through the air. But once his offense inched closer to the goal line, Penn State’s defense stepped up. By the time UCLA scored its second touchdown, the Nittany Lions had pulled most of their starters. The starting unit had allowed just three points in a bend, don’t break performance.
“I think it starts with the coaches; it starts with how we practice. We got a resilient defense, so we talk throughout the whole game about going one play at a time, like, ‘Let’s go, they’re not getting a first down right here,’” safety Zakee Wheatley said. “Saying that throughout the game, everybody’s on the same level, everybody on the same energy. We know we can’t afford anything, so we need to lock in.”
Trio of freshmen burn redshirts
All three of Penn State’s true freshmen with a “green light” to burn their redshirts did just that against UCLA. Offensive lineman Cooper Cousins, tight end Luke Reynolds and safety Dejuan Lane all appeared in their fifth collegiate game on Saturday, meaning they lost the opportunity for an extra year of redshirt eligibility.
Donkoh injured in action
Penn State starting right tackle Anthony Donkoh exited in the first quarter with what appeared to be an upper arm injury. He spent the rest of the first half stretching his shoulder in discomfort and did not return to action. Donkoh was replaced by Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci, who played the rest of the game at right tackle.
Donkoh’s injury stung for an offensive line that saw injuries last week to guards Sal Wormley and JB Nelson, who both returned to action on Saturday. Dominic DeLuca, who started at linebacker in the Nittany Lions’ first three games but missed last week’s contest with an injury, also returned to action.
Kaden Saunders, the team’s primary punt returner, was ruled out ahead of kickoff. He wore a walking boot and was sidelined. Zion Tracy returned punts in Saunders’ place.
“Tracy had been part of that competition kind of all year long,” Franklin said. “We did not have Kaden available, and he was the next man up.”
