Jerry Neuheisel was the main story on Saturday, with the UCLA Bruins defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 42-37 in one of the biggest college football upsets of the 21st century. Neuheisel deserved the headlines. After taking over offensive play calling on Tuesday, he helped the Bruins score a season-high in points against an immensely talented Penn State defense. Just don’t ignore interim head coach Tim Skipper in all of this.
The interim head coach deserves some credit too
While you can’t blame Bruin fans for getting excited about Neuheisel, the former UCLA quarterback, interim head coach Tim Skipper deserves a lot of the praise too. Since he took over during the Bruins’ off week, Skipper instilled a positive attitude that was seemingly absent from the program during the beginning of the season. It’s not just attitude, either; Skipper pushed all the right buttons against Penn State. He made good tactical choices. He, along with Neuheisel and Kevin Coyle, cooked up a strategy that was capable of upsetting the No. 7 team in the country.
Striking while the iron is hot
Penn State wasn’t engaged in the game in the first half, as the Nittany Lions fell behind 27-7, but that was by design for the Bruins’ coaches. They exploited PSU’s weaknesses. UCLA started the game with two long possessions, which included a brilliantly planned onside kick the Nittany Lions never had a chance at recovering. Penn State’s talent was going to overwhelm the Bruins’ defense eventually, allowing the Nittany Lions to gain momentum in the second half. Skipper and Neuheisel allowed quarterback Nico Iamaleava to make just enough plays to give UCLA some breathing room.
UCLA’s fourth-quarter decision making
While I still don’t understand the decision to run Iamaleava out of the shotgun on 4th and 1 (Skipper seemingly didn’t either when the TV broadcast cut to him), the coaching staff executed everything else perfectly. The decision to take the safety not only wasted precious seconds off the clock at the end of the game, it prevented Penn State from getting a chance to block a second Bruin punt. UCLA also gained field position as well.
Job opportunities
It likely won’t be in Westwood, but Saturday proved that Tim Skipper is deserving of a chance to become a head coach in 2026. UCLA fans won’t ever forget his efforts against the Nittany Lions on Saturday.
List of great UCLA football upsets
UCLA was an underdog in the 1976 Rose Bowl shocker against Woody Hayes and Ohio State. UCLA was an underdog to No. 4 Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl. This game joins those two — and others — as a memorable UCLA football upset. People will talk about this win for a very long time, and they should.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Jerry Neuheisel got carried off the field, but Tim Skipper lifted the Bruins’ spirits
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
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