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NCAA Football: New Mexico at UCLA Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Believe or Leave — UCLA Bruins Star Delivered Stirring Message Before Penn State Upset

Originally posted on LAFB Network | By Jake Smooke | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 8:53 PM ET

Entering Saturday’s contest between the UCLA Bruins and Penn State in a half-empty Rose Bowl, nobody expected the UCLA Bruins to win this game. UCLA was winless entering Saturday’s contest with ugly losses to bottom-feeder programs, New Mexico and UNLV.

Meanwhile, Penn State looked like a legitimate playoff contender coming off a tough double overtime loss to Oregon at home. This game felt like a great spot for Penn State to get back on track, as UCLA appeared to have given up on the season.

However, interim coach Jerry Neuheisel and former 5-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava were able to fire up the team before the game successfully. Iamaleava revealed what he said to the team to motivate them in the locker room before kickoff.

According to On3, “UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava reveals message to teammates before Penn State upset: “I was preaching to the guys that, ‘If y’all don’t want to be here man, leave man.” (h/t @IraGorawara)”

UCLA Bruins Were All-In vs Penn State

Believe or Leave — UCLA Bruins Star Delivered Stirring Message Before Penn State Upset 1 Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Whatever went down in that locker room got the Bruins fired up as Iamaleava had his best game of his UCLA career, accounting for 5 total touchdowns, and UCLA jumped out to a 27-7 lead at halftime. Even though Penn State mounted a valiant comeback, UCLA was able to get the stops they needed to win the game and complete the biggest upset of the college football season.

Former UCLA coach and CBS analyst Rick Neuheisel was very emotional talking about how proud he was of his son for getting his first win as a head coach.

@cbssportscfb
A good day to be a Neuheisel
♬ original sound – CBS Sports College Football

James Franklin’s Future in Doubt at Penn State

Believe or Leave — UCLA Bruins Star Delivered Stirring Message Before Penn State Upset 2 James Lang-Imagn Images

UCLA and its fans were ecstatic for their first win of the season, but it came at the expense of Penn State head coach James Franklin. Franklin brought Penn State back to national relevance following NCAA sanctions resulting from the Jerry Sandusky investigation and subsequent firing of the once beloved head coach Joe Paterno with a record of 104-42 in his time coaching at Happy Valley.

However, Franklin’s record against good teams is shockingly bad, with a mediocre 15-28 record against teams ranked in the top 25, including a 4-21 record against top 10-ranked teams and a disturbing 1-18 record against Big 10 teams ranked in the top 10.

Franklin proved the doubters wrong last year with a deep run in the college football playoff, but expectations have never been higher for Franklin coming into this season, with nearly an identical roster returning for this season.

After Saturday’s loss to UCLA, Penn State went from 7th in the country to unranked in the latest AP poll as its playoff hopes appear to be over. This is undoubtedly the worst loss of Franklin’s coaching career and could ultimately cost Franklin his job at Penn State if they miss the College Football Playoff.

This article first appeared on LAFB Network and was syndicated with permission.

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