You know you’re in trouble when you lose to a team at its shakiest. UCLA came into Week 6 winless, fresh off parting ways with its head coach, and in the middle of full-blown chaos. Naturally, Penn State entered as the heavy favorite, but no one saw what was coming. Penn State’s vaunted defense, once among the nation’s best, got carved up by a Bruins squad just trying to find its footing. Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava torched the Nittany Lions with 128 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, plus two more through the air, exploiting every weakness in Jim Knowles’ defense. UCLA built a staggering 27–7 lead before Penn State could even catch its breath.

For Knowles, who arrived from OSU boasting a defense ranked eighth in scoring entering the week, it was a brutal reality check. His unit gave up 435 total yards, looking disorganized against a team that hadn’t led in a single game this season. And when the collapse came, the criticism followed fast, especially from within. Former Penn State lineman Landon Tengwall didn’t hold back on social media, taking direct aim at Knowles’ play-calling. “There is WAYYYY too much slanting and stunts by this Penn State DL (when you slant, someone has to replace, and the replace was not going well),” Tengwall writes on X. “This is the Defensive equivalent of getting ‘too cute’ on Offense with motions and gadgetry.”

Those quick moves sound smart, right? But when you slant or stunt a lot, someone has to fill the spot you leave behind. And Penn State replacements weren’t really cutting them out. So, Nico had a field day exploiting gaps when Penn State’s defensive linemen got out of position. On big runs like his 52-yard scramble up the middle, the replacement defenders couldn’t get in place because the line over-committed or got tangled while executing stunts. And on top of that, the absence of linebacker Tony Rojas became a glaring issue.

His injury left Penn State clueless on how to contain Nico. And then on third downs, Knowles’ defensive schemes failed flat out as the Bruins converted 10 of 16 tries. To make matters worse, Penn State’s defense fell victim to costly penalties, including two offsides, one occurring on a critical 4th-and-1, which could have stopped a Bruins’ drive dead in its tracks. This just added to the frustration, and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton echoed this sentiment perfectly. “It’s embarrassing. It’s bad,” Dennis-Sutton said. “We all got to look in the mirror. There’s not one person, it’s not one coach, not one player. It’s literally everybody.”

It seems like Jim Knowles’ defense is pretty complicated and tough on players. And the result is showing. Plus, the bigger question is that the game against Oregon should have been a major wake-up call for Franklin and Knowles, but it didn’t. After holding the Ducks to just 3 points in the first half, the defense gave up 235 yards in the second half. But losing to UCLA was a major embarrassing blow. Since 1936, only four teams with a 0-4 record or worse have beaten a top 10 AP team. The last time? Way back in 1985, when UTEP took down No. 7 BYU.

So one can just imagine the weight of this situation.

James Franklin’s numb take after Penn State’s second loss

James Franklin faced a double whammy after Penn State’s shocking loss to UCLA. Coming into the season, Franklin boldly called this roster the best mix of players and staff he’s had since he arrived in 2014. The hiring of Jim Knowles speaks for itself. But after back-to-back losses, including the stunning upset at the Rose Bowl, that confidence took a serious hit.

The Bruins entered the game with the Big Ten’s worst offense by nearly every metric. But UCLA’s offensive coordinator, Jerry Neuheisel, named just days before the game, orchestrated a masterpiece. The Bruins controlled nearly 40 minutes of the clock and methodically wore down Penn State’s defense. Franklin, on his part, couldn’t hide his frustration.“We made mistakes today that we normally don’t make,” Franklin said. “A ton of missed assignments, turnovers at critical times, penalties at critical times, things that we really don’t do and have not done for a very long time.” Then there was the nightmare of trying to contain UCLA’s quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

He torched Penn State with 128 rushing yards and five total touchdowns. Plus, the absence of Rojas creates another layer of Franklin’s frustration. Despite the crushing loss, Franklin stressed the need for the team to block out the noise, stick together, and respond as a united front. “I firmly believe we have one of the best cultures in college football. I don’t think one or two games define us,” he said.