STATE COLLEGE – With star running back Nick Singleton watching from the sideline, seventh-ranked Penn State cruised past UCLA 27-11 Saturday before 110,047 sun-splashed fans at Beaver Stadium.
Drew Allar passed for 237 yards and one touchdown and ran for another and Kaytron Allen scored once for the Nittany Lions (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0), which set up its sternest test of the season next week at USC.
Penn State’s defense once again dominated an opponent, keeping the Bruins (0-3, 1-4) out of the end zone until Logan Loya caught a 1-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds to go.
The Lions pressured quarterback Justyn Martin all afternoon.
The Lions made two fourth-down stops inside their 25-yard line, the first coming in the first quarter on safety Zakee Wheatley’s tackle in the backfield and the second in the fourth quarter on Martin’s errant pass.
Penn State held UCLA to minus-9 yards of offense in the third quarter behind a sack by Jaylen Reed and another one shared by Zane Durant and Amin Vanover.
After building a 14-3 halftime lead, the Lions extended it on Ryan Barker’s 25-yard field goal. On their next possession, they made it 24-3 on Allen’s 1-yard run.
In the fourth quarter, Allar connected with Liam Clifford on a 57-yard completion, which set up Barker’s 40-yard field goal. Clifford finished with three catches for a career-high 107 yards.
Allen set a career high for carries without Singleton, who sustained a leg injury against Illinois, according to sources. He was in uniform and listed as questionable on Penn State’s pregame availability report, which is posted by the Big Ten.
Without Singleton, the Lions rushed for a season-low 85 yards.
Penn State’s offense started slowly, gaining just 21 yards in its first two series. The Lions finally began to click after Wheatley stopped UCLA running back T.J Harden for a 1-yard loss at their 24.
Allar connected with Clifford for a 26-yard gain on third-and-11 and then Tyler Warren for a 15-yard completion to the Bruins’ 29. Allar scrambled 3 yards for a first down, picked up 2 yards on a brotherly shove and scored from the 1 on the same play.
UCLA threatened after Martin completed a 53-yard pass to Harden to the Penn State 10. But Dani Dennis-Sutton forced an incompletion and then stopped Martin for no gain on third-and-goal from the 7.
The Bruins scored on Mateen Bhaghani’s 25-yard field goal to cut it to 7-3 with 2:51 left in the half.
Penn State responded by driving 75 yards behind Allar, who completed 5-of-6 passes for 72 yards, and finished it with a 5-yard TD toss to Warren to make it 14-3 at the half.
