PASASDENA, Calif. — Nico Iamaleava threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more on Saturday, as UCLA notched its first win of the season in stunning fashion, knocking off No. 7 Penn State, 42-37, at the Rose Bowl.
The Nittany Lions, who lost to Oregon at home last week for its first loss of the season, have suddenly dropped two straight, and could fall out of the Associated Press Top 25 after a sluggish performance that saw the Bruins (1-4) take a 27-7 lead before holding off the visitors.
Penn State (3-2) allowed more than 400 yards to a team that hadn’t held a lead all season, and is being led by interim coach Tim Skipper after DeShaun Foster was fired on Sept. 14.
“It feels great. That is a valiant team and our coaches. We stuck together. Everyone counted us out, we just needed to keep going to work,” Skipper said on the CBS game broadcast. “Every single play counted today. That is a top-notch Penn State team. We kept our kinds right and just continued to execute.”
The Bruins became the first 0-4 team to defeat a top 10 team since 1985, when UTEP knocked off BYU.
“Ballers always ball out,” Skipper said of Iamaleava. “He shows up every single week. I’m glad he’s on my team, I will say that.”
