STATE COLLEGE – UCLA made the cross-country trip to play its first Big Ten road game Saturday, but it was the home team that looked like it was suffering from jet lag for a while. Penn State watched first-time starter Justyn Martin lead the Bruins down the field on their first possession to inside the 25-yard line. UCLA, a four-touchdown underdog, went for it on fourth-and-1. That’s when safety Zakee Wheatley met T.J. Harden in the backfield and dropped him for a 1-yard loss. “It was a big play in the game,” Wheatley said. “It gave the defense and the team more juice.” His tackle set the tone for the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions’ 27-11 win over UCLA before 110,047 sun-splashed fans at Beaver Stadium. Penn State (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0) kept UCLA (0-3, 1-4) out of the end zone until the Bruins scored on Martin’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Logan Loya against reserves with 16 seconds to go. The Lions held their fourth opponent in five games to less than 300 total yards and limited UCLA to 93 rushing yards. “I felt like we had a great effort today,” cornerback Jalen Kimber said. “We came in with the right mindset and made the right adjustments. Everybody was flying around to the ball and being aggressive. That’s what you like to see.” Penn State’s offense had a so-so day without arguably its best player. Star running back Nick Singleton watched in uniform from the sideline after being listed as questionable on Penn State’s pregame availability report, which is posted by the Big Ten. Singleton sustained a leg injury against Illinois, according to sources, and missed practice Wednesday. He leads the Lions in rushing and all-purpose yards and is averaging 7.7 yards per carry. Franklin called Singleton’s absence “a last-minute deal.” “I thought we would have him Thursday,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I thought we would have him Friday. I thought we would have him today. I didn’t find out until after warmups when Ja’Juan (running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider) and (trainer) Andy Mutnan came into the locker room and told me. “Obviously not having a guy like Nick Singleton is significant.” With Singleton out for the first time in his career, the Lions set a season low for rushing yards (85) and total yards (322). It was Penn State’s worst performance on the ground since netting 49 at Ohio State last year. “When one of our best guys isn’t able to play,” wide receiver Liam Clifford said, “we’re going to miss having him out there.” Clifford, the younger brother of former Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, helped pick up the slack, catching three passes for a career-high 107 yards. He kept three scoring drives alive with a 26-yard reception on third-and-11 in the second quarter, a 24-yard grab on third-and-4 later in the period and a 57-yard catch on third-and-8 in the fourth quarter. “Liam’s a dog,” Kimber said. “He’s always a challenge in practice. He gives me good work. I give him good work. We always push each other.” Drew Allar completed 17-of-24 passes for 237 yards and one touchdown – a 5-yard toss to tight end Tyler Warren – and rushed for another. In Singleton’s absence, Kaytron Allen tied a career high with 21 carries for 78 yards and a 1-yard score in the third quarter. The offense, though, lacked the explosiveness that Singleton provides. “Yeah, we didn’t finish some drives the way we wanted to,” Warren said. “but we did a good job of staying efficient. We hit some shots when we had him. There’s always going to be room for improvement.” Penn State has posted four consecutive 5-0 starts, the first time that’s happened in school history. The Lions are the only team who can make that claim. “We take a lot of pride in that,” Franklin said. But in two of the last three seasons, Penn State lost its sixth game. Next week’s game at USC will be a much better measure of where the Lions are. “Obviously I’m looking forward to it,” Clifford said. “They’re a great opponent, but we’re not going to focus on it until tomorrow.”