UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A little more offense, a little more defense, and Saturday night’s White Out game between Penn State and USC might have had a different ending. It did not.
The 19th-ranked Trojans overcame a 20-17 deficit in the second half, scoring touchdowns to take leads of 24-20 and 31-23, handing Penn State its third consecutive loss, including two at home.
THE GAME: The Nittany Lions were able to move the ball against the USC defense but could not stop the Trojans from moving the ball downfield at will.
The visitors received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards on eight plays. Quarterback Jayden Maiava completed passes of 12 yards to Zacharyus Williams, 18 yards to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and a 19-yard touchdown pass to Trent Mosley less than five minutes into the game.
Penn State came right back to tie the game at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter when quarterback Rocco Becht tossed a 13-yard TD pass to a wide-open Andrew Rappleyea. The key play of the drive was a 47-yard pass play from Becht to Chase Sowell.
After teams traded punts, USC went to work on offense and took a 14-7 lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Maiava completed an 11-yard scoring pass to Tanook Hines.
However, the Nittany Lions responded immediately to tie the game again. Sowell hauled in a 37-yard completion to give Penn State a first down at the USC 19-yard line. James Peoples followed with back-to-back gains of eight yards, and two plays later, running back Carson Hanson scored from the two.
Both teams kicked field goals to go into the halftime intermission knotted at 17-17.
In the second half, points were at a premium for Penn State, and the Trojans made the Nittany Lions pay.
Trailing 20-17, USC marched 75 yards on 10 plays to take the lead for good. A first-down pass of 20 yards from Maiava to Mosley got the drive started. King Miller ran the final eight yards for the touchdown.
Penn State kicked a field goal on its ensuing possession, but USC capped the scoring on a 9-yard TD pass from Maiava to Dixon-Wyatt with 11:11 remaining in the game.
THE NUMBERS: Maiava completed 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards. Miller led the ground game with 102 yards on 19 carries. Mosley caught nine passes for 111 yards. Hines grabbed four passes for 82 yards.
Becht had 21 completions in 32 attempts for 289 yards. Sowell hauled in four passes for 95 yards, while Brett Eskildsen had four receptions for 70 yards. Rappleyea caught a team-best seven passes for 63 yards. The Nittany Lions running game struggled. Carson Hanson was the leading rusher with only 28 yards on 14 carries.
Defensively, PSU linebacker Tony Rojas made 10 tackles, including a sack. Zion Tracy and Jamison Patton each had five tackles.
THE NEXT GAME: Penn State faces Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
