Penn State left Beaver Stadium with a better look than it had a week ago, but the same old problems kept dragging the night down in a 31-23 loss to USC on Saturday.
The crowd - the largest in Beaver Stadium history at 114,419 - got a better version of quarterback Rocco Becht, who finished 21-for-32 for 289 yards. He was sharper in the first half, moved well outside the pocket and dropped two deep throws to Chase Sowell. That was the kind of step forward Penn State needed.
But the offense still couldn’t find a real rhythm on the ground. The Nittany Lions ran it 31 times for just 68 yards, and the explosive plays never showed up.
James Peoples had the longest run by a back at 8 yards, and Peoples and Carson Hansen combined to average only 2.3 yards per carry. The offensive line never created steady room, and the result was an attack that kept stalling out.
Sowell gave Penn State a lift early with four catches for 95 yards, then didn’t catch another pass in the second half as he appeared limited by a lower-body injury. Three straight possessions ended with field goals, and that wasn’t enough.
Kicker Ryan Barker did his part, drilling three field goals, including a long of 48 yards, to keep Penn State within reach. Amarion Jackson also came up with an alert recovery of Lincoln Riley’s aggressive onside-kick attempt to open the second half, but Penn State could only turn that into three points.
The bigger issue, though, was on the other side of the ball. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava had all kinds of time, throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns on 21-for-33 passing.
Penn State never found a pass rush, and Maiava seemed to operate behind 8-second pockets at times, picking apart the defense with ease. That became even more obvious on third down, where Penn State repeatedly dropped into coverage with eight men in the back end and still couldn’t bottle him up.
Maiava went 5-for-8 for five first downs against those looks.
Freshman receiver Trent Mosley, back after missing the previous three games, made an immediate impact with nine catches for 111 yards and stressed Penn State’s cornerbacks throughout the night. USC’s receivers also made the Nittany Lions look unsure on third down, turning a strength of the defense into a liability.
There were a couple of bright spots for Penn State’s defense. Tony Rojas got a sack on one of the few blitzes the Nittany Lions dialed up. And late in the first quarter, Nathan Tiyce had a chance to pin USC deep but instead sent the punt into the end zone for a touchback, which opened the door for an 80-yard touchdown drive by Maiava and company.
Matt Campbell’s game management also felt off. He burned two first-half timeouts because the offense was late getting plays and personnel onto the field as the play clock ran down.
He used another timeout on a fourth-quarter USC punt that didn’t end up changing much, though the possession later ended with a Brett Eskildsen fumble. Penn State also had trouble consistently getting lined up and organized, another sign of a team still searching for cleaner execution.
Campbell said Penn State had moved closer, and maybe that’s true against the best team on its schedule so far. But the gap to the conference’s top tier is still wide, and the Nittany Lions are left trying to solve two glaring issues: a run game that goes nowhere and a pass rush that rarely arrives.
Penn State visits Michigan on Oct. 17 at Michigan Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
In Other News...
Penn State Still Feels The Fallout From One Costly Decision
Penn States coaching change in October 2025 set off a stretch of uncertainty that still shapes how the program is being judged today. James Franklin was dismissed after a third straight Big Ten loss, and what followed was a 54-day search that eventually landed on Matt Campbell. The move gave the Nittany Lions a fresh start on the sideline, but it also came with the kind of scrutiny that never really disappears once a high-profile job opens up.
The process drew plenty of attention along the way, including interest in Bob Chesney and Kalani Sitake, and it has only sharpened the conversation around athletic director Pat Krafts decisions. Penn State opened the next season 3-0, but the losses that followed knocked the team out of College Football Playoff contention and left the program dealing with the bigger question of whether the right call was made when the search finally ended. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Used White Out Weekend To Turn Up Recruiting Pressure
White Out weekend has long been Penn States best stage for making a first impression, and this years recruiting version leaned hard into that advantage. More than 100 prospects came through campus, giving the staff a chance to showcase the atmosphere to a group that included most of the 2027 class and several highly regarded 2028 players. Eighteen of the 22 committed players in that 2027 group were on hand, a useful sign for a class that is currently ranked No. 20 nationally.
The event also gave Penn State a chance to keep pushing ahead while the calendar still has room to shift. Along with hosting the visitors, the program handed out new offers to players in the 2028, 2029 and 2030 classes, widening the board while the buzz from the weekend was still fresh. For a staff that knows how much the White Out setting can matter, the message was clear: the pressure is on now, long before these recruiting battles reach the finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Suddenly Has A Defensive Problem It Cant Ignore
Penn States defense hit a rough patch in Week 6, and Marcus Neal Jr. ended up at the center of it. The Iowa State transfer safety was benched after struggling in coverage during Big Ten play, a reminder that the Lions portal-heavy approach does not always come with instant answers, especially when the schedule tightens and the margins get smaller.
Neal is not the only former Cyclone who has had trouble settling in. Linebackers Kooper Ebel and Jeremiah Cooper have also underperformed, with tackling and coverage issues becoming part of the conversation. For a defense that wants to stay dependable deep into conference play, the question now is whether Penn State needs to lean less on some of those Iowa State transfers and give younger options a bigger look. [Read more 🡒]