This post was updated Oct. 11 at 10:58 p.m.

Saturday represents the start of what will be a gauntlet for UCLA football (0-4, 0-1 Big Ten) as the squad takes on No. 7 Penn State (3-1, 0-1) at the Rose Bowl in the first home game since students returned to campus for the fall quarter. The Bruins are the only remaining team in the country to not have led at any point this season, while the Nittany Lions are looking for redemption after falling in double overtime to the Oregon Ducks last week. The affair also marks the first following offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri’s departure. Here are UCLA’s predictions from Sports editor Connor Dullinger, senior staffer Kai Dizon and assistant Sports editor Ella Dunderdale – along with a guest prediction from assistant Photo editor Aidan Sun.

Connor Dullinger
Sports editor
Prediction: UCLA 13, Penn State 41

The only thing UCLA football is good at is making my prediction easier.

It really does not take any long pauses of thought or require one of those cartoon-like contemplations, where I rub my chin and look to the distance as I ruminate.

The Bruins are bad. The Nittany Lions are good.

UCLA is one of the worst teams in the country, if not the worst, and Penn State could very well be this year’s national champion.

And while I love a good Cinderella story, it’s October, not March.

UCLA is not UMBC, and Penn State is not Virginia. This game will be over by halftime. Do not be surprised when it turns into a track meet – I don’t need to spell out who’s crossing the finish line first. Running back tandem Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton will be a hot knife through butter as they run all over the Bruins’ front seven.

[Related: Scouting report: UCLA football vs. Penn State]

I hope the defense brought enough water because the UCLA offense will not be on the field for long, and I genuinely expect Allen and Singleton to run for over 350 yards.

The Bruin defense may even make Nittany Lion signal-caller Drew Allar look like the Heisman candidate and projected top-five pick people thought he would be.

While it’s UCLA’s first game at the Rose Bowl since classes commenced, I do not expect many fans to make it from the tailgate into the stadium, and if they do, they are either wearing blue or white or took the over on the score.

Otherwise, I do not expect many fans to return after the beatdown the Bruins will experience Saturday.

Kai Dizon
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: UCLA 20, Penn State 17

At the beginning of the week, I would have predicted the Nittany Lions to demolish the Bruins.

But hearing that assistant head coach and tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel is going to be calling plays?

I am excited – even more than I was for the season opener.

[Related: Sunseri out in Westwood, following Foster and Malloe]

I would not be surprised if the Bruin faithful flinches when it hears about a Bruin alumnus getting their dream job – or even just a step towards it.

And sure, football is not Hollywood – even in Los Angeles.

But the storyline is just too perfect.

Neuheisel was born at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. And just like his father, Rick Neuheisel, he went on to be a quarterback in Westwood and, later, a coach.

People have long joked that Neuheisel would become the Bruins’ head coach someday. And he has said it is his dream, even as a player. Just last spring, he joked that he had remained on the coaching staff so long because of the program’s Neuheisel quota.

He said instead of bedtime stories, his dad gave him mock two-minute drills. In 2022, Neuheisel said he was able to call plays during practice under former coach Chip Kelly.

And for all the criticism Kelly gets for his six seasons in Westwood, the reality is that he won a national title with Ohio State just last season and is back in the NFL as an offensive coordinator less than two seasons after departing UCLA – that tutelage matters.

Neuheisel’s defining moment came in 2014.

With starter Brett Hundley Jr. out with an injury, Neuheisel led a game-winning touchdown drive with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

In AT&T Stadium, the Bruins hoisted their backup quarterback as they chanted his name.

Just over a decade ago, Neuheisel lived up to the moment when his team needed him most.

Why can’t he do it a second time?

Ella Dunderdale
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: UCLA 6, Penn State 55

I am not feeling optimistic about this game.

How could I?

I will be more surprised if the affair is not a total bloodbath.

Things are already bleak for the Bruins. They are coming off their fourth consecutive loss – this one to Northwestern – in what was arguably their last real chance to secure a 2025 win.

The Bruins have consistently underperformed on both sides of the ball, averaging 321.3 yards per game while ceding 401.8. They also have not held a lead for a single second of any game. The squad has just one rushing touchdown – from redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava – and has surrendered a staggering 335 yards in penalties through four contests.

And when you add Penn State – a squad that deftly swiped through each of its nonconference opponents by over 30 points, boasting the 10th-fewest points allowed per game with 11.8 – to the mix, there truly is no hope.

To make matters worse, Penn State has something to prove.

The squad fell to then-No. 6 Oregon in double overtime at Beaver Stadium last week, adding fuel to the media criticism bonfire that has been dragging head coach James Franklin.

He has a career 4-21 record against top-10 teams, and the more criticism that is created, the more he has to prove that he has what it takes to lead a championship-caliber program.

This week, the Nittany Lions will be hungry for redemption, eager to silence critics and make it clear just what kind of squad they can be.

And the Bruins are the perfect prey.

Aidan Sun
Assistant Photo editor
Prediction: UCLA 6, Penn State 48

There is no doubt that UCLA will lose to Penn State.

The question is, “By how much?”

Before the season commenced, I thought UCLA would be 4-0 heading into this matchup – ready to welcome back students to campus with a thriller of an affair and a team worthy of the Big Ten conference after a year of painful adjustment.

October 4 was circled on my calendar as the day the underestimated Bruins would put everyone on notice, putting up a gritty fight against a top-10 opponent all while making a strong case for bowl game eligibility.

[Related: UCLA football enters new era of growth with Foster, Sunseri at the helm]

Hindsight sure is 20/20.

This UCLA team is in for a slaughter at the hands of the visitors from State College. Particularly, after an embarrassing loss in Beaver Stadium’s annual “White Out” game – one of college football’s most feared environments.

Penn State will look to blow off some steam in what might be the Big Ten’s quietest arena.

The Nittany Lions’ two-headed rushing attack will feast on a UCLA run defense that has allowed the fourth-most rushing yards per game among all FBS teams – and the most among Power Four squads. Expect the Nittany Lions to pile up over 300 yards on the ground and grind UCLA’s already miserable defense into dust.

The Bruins’ offense will not fare any better.

The Penn State defensive front is led by defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who will slice through UCLA’s offensive line with ease, leaving Iamaleava scrambling for his life so much you might think he was running back to Tennessee.

If there’s a silver lining for UCLA, it’s that it may help tank quarterback Drew Allar’s already fading Heisman campaign. The Penn State signal-caller could practically go the entire game without completing a pass and still leave Pasadena with a blowout win.

Junior punter Will Karoll, I hope you’re ready for a big day.

0-12, here we come.