The UCLA football team traveled all the way to Happy Valley in Pennsylvania, with many expecting it to be a sad state of affairs.
And while the Bruins did lose 27-11 to No. 7 Penn State on Saturday to remain winless in the Big Ten Conference, they can come away with some positives.
UCLA (1-4, 0-3 Big Ten) came in as a four-touchdown underdog against the undefeated Nittany Lions – and that was before it was announced before game time that redshirt sophomore Justyn Martin would make his first collegiate start in place of injured Ethan Garbers.
Going against one of the top defenses and in most hostile environments in the country, Martin finished 22 of 30 for 167 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
The former Inglewood High star ended a nine-quarter touchdown drought for the Bruins with 16 seconds left, lofting a pass to wide receiver Logan Loya near the right sideline in the end zone for a 1-yard score. Martin connected with running back Keegan Jones on the two-point conversion to close out the scoring.
After one half, the Bruins trailed only 14-3, with Martin completing 11 of 14 passes for 116 yards. The Bruins gained 53 of those yards on a catch-and-run by running back T.J. Harden down the left sideline that got the ball down to the Penn State 10-yard line, but the Bruins managed just a field goal with 2:51 left in the first half to trim the Nittany Lions’ lead to 7-3.
That left enough time for Penn State quarterback Drew Allar to engineer an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Warren with 20 seconds left.
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Penn State (5-0, 2-0) kept UCLA at bay, its defense holding the Bruins scoreless for nearly the entire second half while racking up seven tackles for loss and two sacks.
UCLA comes home to take on Minnesota in a 6 p.m. game Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Penn State will follow west days later in a highly anticipated matchup against USC at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.