UCLA may have found something in a season that went wildly in the wrong direction.
Justyn time, you could say.
With their starting quarterback sidelined by injury, the Bruins turned to Justyn Martin and watched the redshirt sophomore make smart, efficient plays in his first collegiate start to keep his team competitive in a game that was expected to be four would lose touchdowns.
UCLA finally fell in a 27-11 loss to No. 7 Penn State on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium, undone by many of the same issues that have plagued it all season, but there was no doubting the Bruins quarterback’s promise.
Completing his first six passes, Martin immediately showed mastery of an offense that often seemed like a foreign language to incumbent starter Ethan Garbers. Martin didn’t force any throws or make any bad decisions while playing in one of college football’s most unforgiving environments against one of the best teams.
There would be no ending to the storybook. Martin was unable to achieve a comeback, even though he showed sufficient perseverance during his team’s final stage. The quarterback showed off his speed as he ran for first downs twice, converted a fourth down with a pass to Logan Loya and connected with Loya again on a one-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left.
Read more: ‘I just don’t want to let this team down’: Ikaika Malloe is driven to fix UCLA’s defense
It was UCLA’s first offensive touchdown since the second quarter loss to Louisiana State last month, ending a nine-quarter scoring drought. The Bruins (1-4 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) gained just 106 of their 260 yards in the second half against the Nittany Lions (5-0, 2-0).
But overall, Martin was efficient in completing 22 of 30 passes for 167 yards.
The question now: Do the Bruins stick with Martin or go back to Garbers once the redshirt senior recovers from the unspecified injury he suffered against Oregon last week. Garbers threw a few loose passes during warmups, but it was clear that Martin’s offense would be to run, based on the number of reps he did and the copious amounts of teaching he received from quarterbacks coach Ted White.
Martin received major support from a reformulated offensive line. Niki Prongos took the injured Reuben Unije’s spot at left tackle, Sam Yoon made his first career start at center and Josh Carlin moved from center back to right guard, the spot he occupied last season.
Martin showed no early jitters, completing nine of his first 11 passes as he pacified a crowd of 110,047, the tenth largest in this stadium’s history. UCLA led everywhere but the scoreboard after a first quarter in which it outscored Penn State 72-28 overall, recorded the game’s only sack and stopped the Nittany Lions on both of their third down attempts.
Trailing 7-0, the Bruins appeared on the verge of possibly tying the score late in the second quarter after Martin completed a short pass to TJ Harden on a wheel route that culminated in a catch-and-run from 53 yards to Penn. The state’s 10-yard line. On third and goal at the seven, Martin rushed for a one-yard gain instead of forcing a pass into tight coverage, allowing Mateen Bhaghani to kick a 25-yard field goal that cut Penn State’s lead to 7- 3.
UCLA’s defense also showed promise early, just days after UCLA defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe made an impassioned, emotional pledge to fix what was wrong. But Penn State drove quickly for a touchdown on the final drive of the first half, with quarterback Drew Allar completing passes of 12, 24 and 25 yards before finding Tyler Warren for a five-yard touchdown that pushed the Nittany Lions’ advantage to 14 -yards pushed. 3.
Penn State was just getting started.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
