James Franklin gives props to Penn State defense, steady offense in win over UCLA

James Franklin and Penn State cruised to a 27-11 win over UCLA at home after building a three-score lead.

UCLA really didn’t get into an offensive rhythm as Penn State improved to 5-0 on the season. On tap for Franklin and the Nittany Lions next? USC.

Franklin noted he wanted his team to cut down on penalties and get the wide receivers going and sure enough, both happened.

“I think penalty wise, we did good today,” Franklin told FOX’s Jenny Taft. “We found out right before kick that we would not have Nick (Singleton) today. Obviously, that’s a significant loss for us, but overall, we did the things you got to do to win, right? We protected the football. We were more explosive, not as explosive as we would like, but overall, we played really well, and then our starting defense held a Big Ten team to three points. So I’m happy with that.” 

Without Singleton, as Franklin mentioned, Kaytron Allen carried the ball 21 times for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Drew Allar completed 17-of-24 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. UCLA didn’t find the end zone to keep up until the backups were in for Penn State in the fourth quarter.

Franklin’s wide receivers made an impact after Allar spread the ball around. Liam Clifford led the way with three catches for 107 yards. Tyler Warren caught the lone touchdown from the QB.

Oh and those penalties? Penn State only committed two for 20 yards while the Bruins had five for 45 yards. Good on Franklin for cleaning it up.

Now at 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions will head to USC for another conference matchup. This time on the west coast.

Franklin was eager to already get onto the next one as college football reaches the halfway point of the regular season.

“We’ll enjoy this for about six hours, and then obviously we know we got a challenge next week in USC, and we’ll get to work first thing Sunday morning,” Franklin said.

UCLA fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten after losing to Penn State and Franklin. The Bruins will host Minnesota next week.