No. 7 Penn State football headed to UCLA with the intention of getting back on track after falling to No. 2 Oregon in Week 5. The Bruins (0-4, 0-1 Big Ten) offense, though, ran circles around Jim Knowles' defense in the first half and the home team took a 20-point lead after the first two quarters.
Against the Ducks, it was complaint and criticism thrown at head coach James Franklin, quarterback Drew Allar, and even offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki at times. On Saturday, Knowles felt left out and added himself into that group to make it a quartet. Fans who defended him after Week 5 immediately took the backseat after the first two quarters of play against UCLA.
All these returning star players came back to Penn State to win a national championship. You went and threw a bag at Jim Knowles to win a national championship.
— Connor Griffin (@RealCGriff) October 4, 2025
Now you’re down 17-7 in a dogfight with winless UCLA. And you already have a loss under your belt this year. Great.
Some took to social media saying No. 1 Ohio State can have its defensive coordinator back. Others simply stated the fact that Knowles is crumbling due to a team that has yet to win a game this season, which speaks for itself. Knowles' defense allowed the Bruins to score the most points in their season just in the first half. Against UNLV in Week 2, UCLA scored 23 points. Since then, it hasn't broken 20. The Bruins flipped that script around in Week 6 with the help of Knowles' weak defense.
After the loss to Oregon, Knowles gave a speech to the defense, according to Franklin in his midweek press conference. Fans joked on social media that the speech "must have really instilled doubt and negative confidence in this team."
Jim Knowles’ defense is getting trashed by a team that is 0-4 with no real coaches lmaoooooooooo pic.twitter.com/H977nPmgK2
— Janelle (@jpeanutOSU) October 4, 2025
Moving away from fans of the blue and white, too, Buckeyes fans are loving the series of unfortunate events happening at UCLA for Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten). Ohio State has given up 23 points all season. In the first half alone against the Bruins, Knowles gave up 24 points.
Jim Knowles has given up more points in the first half vs UCLA than OSU’s defense has all year pic.twitter.com/JOUFnW13nc
— 19500 Frazier Rd (@RyanDay2Heaven) October 4, 2025
The Bruins headed into the locker room up 27-7. The No. 7 team in the country with a defensive coordinator coming off a national championship win allowed UCLA to take a huge lead easily. On top of that, it has all the momentum in its favor. The Nittany Lions allowed 14 first downs and seven third-down conversions of eight attempts. The once solid aspect of Penn State's game took a giant hit against a winless team.
The defense and offense need to make a 180-degree flip in the second half if they expect to stop the bleeding, close up the score, and pull out a win that was easily expected to be in their hands.