What a bummer.

Penn State, yet again, could not get the signature win its been looking for since the 2016 win over Ohio State. With 111,000-plus fans and a raucous environment, the Nittany Lions’ faithful had to walk out of Beaver Stadium with that all too familiar downtrodden stagger.

There are many reasons why it seems Penn State cannnot get over the hump. But what is most disappointing is that a PSU team that brought back a lot of its experience from last season could not beat an Oregon team that was, for the most part, rebuilt this past offseason. With the entire season ahead, there is still time for this football team to get it all turned around, but that is going to take some big time changes, especially on the offensive end.

First and foremost, this was Drew Allar’s shot to prove the doubters wrong that he could not make the big time plays in the big time games. He certainly didn’t quelch that narrative with a 137-yard passing performance and a game-sealing interception in double overtime. The stats don’t lie. In the big games, Allar just simply doesn’t get it done. And his counterpart on Saturday night — Dante Moore — did make big plays, looked poised at every turn and bump in the road and threw three touchdown passes with zero interceptions.

So, what’s the answer? You can’t give up on the season and Allar isn’t getting benched, so head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki have to find a way to fix the offense. It makes no sense that basically your whole offensive line is back, your quarterback is back, both of your veteran running backs are back and you brought in three talented receivers from the transfer portal and the offense looks less explosive than it did a year ago.

I thought of all the analysis this week, Joel Klatt from Fox Sports had the answer. Klatt believes that Coach Franklin and Coach Kotelnicki need to tweak the offense more to Allar’s strengths. The RPO offense that PSU tries to run does not do that. Allar is at his best off play action or when he can set his feet and let the ball rip. Putting him on the move and making him use quick feet off the RPO gets him in trouble more often than not.

If the PSU coaching staff can make that change, I think you will see them have more success on offense. The more of a threat the PSU passing offense is, then I also believe that will open up the run game. It’s obvious that teams are keying on the run and daring the Nittany Lions to make plays in the passing game. I think it’s time to let the offense rip, stop calling the games so conservatively, and what happens is what happens. This team needs a spark and in order to do that you have to take risks.

The now No. 7-ranked Nittany Lions have already headed out west as they face off with UCLA later today (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS). The Bruins are winless on the season and are coming off a 17-14 defeat to Northwestern. UCLA also fired their head coach a few weeks ago, so it’s safe to say it’s a program that is currently trying to find its footing.

This is a game where the PSU defense should be able to dominate. The UCLA offense ranks 117th in the country and is averaging just 14.3 points per game.

The Nittany Lions’ defense did suffer a huge loss this week with linebacker Tony Rojas being lost for the season with a knee injury. Rojas injured his knee at practice earlier this week. Amare Campbell will continue to play middle linebacker and Dom DeLuca will now take over at outside linebacker for Rojas. DeLuca is a veteran player who has made a ton of big plays in his career for Penn State. But the linebacker room, which is probably the thinnest unit on the team, cannot afford another season-ending injury.

Defense wasn’t the issue last week against Oregon and it hasn’t been the issue this season, either. PSU ranks 19th in the county in total defense and 10th in the country in scoring defense, giving up just over 10 points per game.

The Nittany Lions will need to contain UCLA dual-threat quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the high profile transfer from Tennessee. You might remember his name from making headlines over the offseason because of NIL money. Iamaleava has thrown for 788 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and he’s also rushed for 204 yards and a rushing score.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 24.5-point favorite over UCLA.

If there was a day for the PSU rushing attack to have a breakout performance it should be today against a Bruins’ defense that has really struggled to stop the run. UCLA is giving up 232.8 rushing yards per game.

Yet another tweak I’d like to see from the PSU offensive minds would be to get Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton running down hill more. I’m not saying go straight to the power I, but get the running backs moving down hill and let them use their strength and quickness. I think that would also be beneficial to the play action passing attack.

My pick is: Penn State 38, UCLA 10.