UCLA and Jerry Neuheisel stun No. 7 Penn State for first win

A team in need of a savior found one in the unlikeliest of places and most familiar of faces.

Jerry Neuheisel, the UCLA tight ends coach who was elevated to playcaller only four days before his winless team faced a top-10 opponent, dialed up an offensive plan that produced points on each of the Bruins’ first five drives.

The fun let up only momentarily on the way to UCLA’s stunning 42-37 victory over No. 7 Penn State on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, fans providing their giddy verdict with a chant they unleashed from the opening drive through the fourth quarter.

“Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”

After UCLA made a final defensive stop to secure its first victory over a top-10 team since beating Oregon in 2007, Neuheisel was hoisted into the air by his grateful players, winless no more.

“He puts that belief in us that we can go out there and execute,” Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava said after accounting for five touchdowns on what might have been the finest day of his college career, “and he put together a great game plan for us.”

The question of whether this was a turning point or a temporary reprieve in a lost season remains, but at least for the moment everyone associated with UCLA (1-4 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) could deeply exhale.

“Nobody in the world expected us to win, let’s be honest here,” safety Key Lawrence, who forced a fumble in the third quarter that was recovered by teammate Rodrick Pleasant, said after the Bruins became the first team that had started 0-4 or worse to beat a top-10 team since Texas El Paso, then 0-6, beat No. 7 Brigham Young in 1985.

Neuheisel said he found out he would be calling plays at 5 p.m. Tuesday, at a time when the Bruins were parting ways with offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. Neuheisel estimated that he’s had three hours of sleep since then, his players conducting walk-throughs to master the offense only hours before kickoff.

“We had two days to practice the new game plan,” Neuheisel said, “and all they did was believe.”

Masterfully running a new offense designed to give every player confidence was Iamaleava, who finally had something to show for his cross-country move from Tennessee that made him the talk of the offseason in college football.

Iamaleava ran for a career-high three touchdowns, tying a school record for a quarterback, and passed for two more as the Bruins nearly doubled their previous high point total this season.

As valuable with his feet as his arm, Iamaleava completed 17 of 24 passes for 166 yards and ran 16 times for 128 yards, including a nifty 52-yard gain in which he spun away from a defender.

“Big-time players make big-time plays, and that’s what he did out there,” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said while clutching the game ball.

Iamaleava’s big day came after he had delivered an ultimatum earlier in the week.

“I just was preaching to the guys,” he said, “that you know, ‘If y’all don’t want to be here, man, leave man.’”

Given the circumstances, Neuheisel’s playcalling debut might have been a more valiant effort than his coming off the bench as UCLA’s quarterback in 2014 to lead his team to a comeback victory over Texas.

Remember, those Bruins were nationally ranked.

This version had been nationally lampooned while averaging 14.2 points on the way to four consecutive losses that led to the departures of coach DeShaun Foster, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe and Sunseri. Sunseri’s leaving prompted the Bruins to elevate Neuheisel and bring in Noel Mazzone, his old UCLA offensive coordinator and boss for one season at Texas A&M, as an analyst and advisor to his old protege.

The result was an offense that rolled up 446 yards of offense, but there were some foul-ups. Having grown so accustomed to being a position coach, Neuheisel said he had his headset flipped up on some plays and struggled with the button that would allow him to talk to his quarterback before others.

Iamaleava said there were a few times he had to call his own play because of communication issues.

“It was a mess,” Neuheisel said. “Hopefully we’ll get that cleaned up by next week.”

The game turned tense late, requiring a defensive stop after Iamaleava was stuffed on a fourth down, giving the ball back to Penn State (3-2, 0-2) at the Bruins’ 32-yard line with two minutes left.

The Nittany Lions reached the nine before UCLA defensive back Scooter Jackson surged into the backfield and dropped quarterback Drew Allar for a three-yard loss with 37 seconds left.

After Bruins punter Will Karoll intentionally stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety to pull Penn State within five points, the Nittany Lions could not cross midfield before the game ended.

Signs of what was to come started on the opening drive.

After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, UCLA quickly marched for a score. Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer took a short pass from Iamaleava and extended the ball across the goal line for an 11-yard touchdown that gave the Bruins a 7-0 advantage.

After 244 minutes 34 seconds of football, UCLA held its first lead of the season.

The fun was just getting started for the Bruins. His coaches having detected a weakness in Penn State’s kickoff return scheme after studying two years of tendencies, Bhaghani immediately unfurled an onside kick that Kanye Clark recovered, leading to a field goal and a 10-0 cushion.

“We were going to be super aggressive, but not do dumb things,” said Skipper, whose team went on to take a 27-7 halftime lead. “The plan was, if we scored a touchdown first, we were going to go to it.”

Neuheisel said he sensed the Bruins had a chance to return to their gutty ways given how players were acting in meetings Friday night.

“It was the most enthusiastic 0-4 team,” he said, “you’d ever seen in your life.”

There were parallels between Neuheisel’s biggest win as a player and playcaller, the blond-haired Bruin lifted off the field by jubilant players each time.

“This time, I did not have a mouthguard,” Neuheisel said, referring to the blue plastic protruding from his mouth more than a decade ago, “so I put this one just a little bit above the other one.”

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