Penn State’s White Out has a way of warping the mood around a season, and Saturday night’s visit from No. 19 USC arrives with the Nittany Lions in an unusual spot.
They’re carrying two losses for the first time since 2016, the same year they bounced back by beating No. 2 Ohio State and rolling to the Big Ten title.
This team does not look like that team. The buzz around Beaver Stadium has cooled, too.
StubHub says White Out resale prices have dropped 70 percent over the past week, with some tickets dipping below $100. That slide sharpened after Penn State’s 34-13 loss at Northwestern.
Even so, the Nittany Lions opened as the early betting favorite against the Trojans. Both DraftKings and FanDuel had Penn State laying 1.5 points, and DraftKings also listed Penn State as a slight money-line favorite at -108 to USC’s -112. Penn State was a 2.5-point favorite at Northwestern before that road loss turned into a 21-point defeat.
NBC gets the White Out treatment this weekend, with Penn State appearing for the first time this season on Big Ten Saturday Night. Todd Blackledge, the former Nittany Lions quarterback, will be in the booth, and the game also will stream on Peacock.
USC is coming off a 25-21 win over Washington last Saturday night in Los Angeles, its second straight week on NBC. The Trojans had to dig out of an 11-point hole in the second half, and the comeback still didn’t quiet the noise around Lincoln Riley. “Fire Lincoln” chants came from the USC student section as the Trojans fought back at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
USC got a huge spark from defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, who returned a fumble 48 yards for a touchdown to help flip the game. Quarterback Jayden Maiava followed by shaking off a slow start and hitting Tanook Hines on a 10-yard touchdown pass to keep the rally moving.
The ranking picture is close, at least in some corners. USC sits 17th in the Coaches Poll and No. 19 in the AP Top 25, while Penn State did not receive votes in either poll for the first time this season.
ESPN’s College Football Power Index has the teams nearly side by side, with USC at No. 19 and Penn State at No. 20.
The Nittany Lions only dropped five spots in the FPI after the Northwestern loss.
Penn State’s biggest issue right now is obvious: the run defense got shredded in Evanston. Northwestern, using Chip Kelly’s version of a Wing-T offense, piled up 413 rushing yards, the fourth-most ever against Penn State since 1947. The defensive line was repeatedly washed out of the play, linebackers either missed tackles or couldn’t shed blocks, and the Wildcats had two backs top 160 yards while averaging 9.5 yards per run on first down.
The offense has its own mess to sort through. Penn State managed only 48 rushing yards against Northwestern, a season low, and that left Rocco Becht with little room to operate.
Becht, the fourth-year starter, completed 12 of 19 passes in the first half, and his last two games have been well below the standard he set in a three-game stretch of near-elite grades. Over those two games, his PFF grade has averaged 48.4 in the Big Ten, with 60 considered average performance.
Matt Campbell said he never considered pulling Becht against Northwestern, and he won’t be making any change ahead of USC. Becht, Campbell made clear, has to work through it.
USC, meanwhile, has to deal with the travel questions that have followed it since joining the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans are 2-2 in Big Ten games in the Eastern time zone since then, with wins over Purdue in 2025 and Rutgers this year in a 42-35 escape from Piscataway.
In Other News...
Penn State Fans Wont Like What An In-State Rival Coach Said
Pat Narduzzi had plenty to say after Pitts close win over Virginia Tech, and much of it was bound to land with Penn State fans as a familiar jab from across the state. The Pitt coach addressed a controversial missed field goal in that game, then turned his attention to the AP Top 25, questioning Penn States placement despite the recent losses that have piled up for the Nittany Lions.
Narduzzi also used the moment to make a case for his own program, pointing to Pitts undefeated start and current ranking as proof his team deserves more respect. It was the latest reminder that the tension between Pitt and Penn State remains very much alive, with Narduzzi continuing a public back-and-forth that has long carried extra weight in a rivalry shaped by him and former Penn State coach James Franklin. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Early Big Ten Slide Suddenly Looks Like A Bigger Problem
Two weeks into Big Ten play, the leagues shape is already starting to tell a familiar story at the top, with the conference heavyweights still looking the part while some of the preseason contenders are scrambling to catch up. Penn State is in that second group after an uneven start that has made the early standings feel less like a snapshot and more like a warning sign, especially with the Big Tens path to multiple College Football Playoff bids depending on its best teams stacking wins and avoiding the kind of stumbles that can linger all fall.
The Nittany Lions are not alone in that bind, but their position carries extra weight because expectations were so high before league play began. Washington is facing its own early trouble, and several coaching situations around the conference are already under a sharper spotlight, yet Penn States slide stands out because it changes the margin for error so quickly. If the league is going to earn the depth it needs at the top, the teams that were supposed to anchor it cannot keep giving ground this early. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Just Lost The Spotlight For A Huge Michigan Trip
Penn States trip to Michigan on October 17 no longer has the feel of a late-night showcase. The Big Ten announced the game at Michigan Stadium will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET, pulling it out of the prime-time window many had anticipated and shifting some of the national spotlight away from what had shaped up as one of the leagues more intriguing midseason matchups.
It still carries plenty of weight in the Big Ten race, though. Both teams are 0-2 in conference play, which is the first time that has happened to Penn State since it joined the league in 1993, and that makes the meeting even more important for two programs trying to steady themselves. Before that trip, Penn State gets its own marquee stage Saturday night, hosting No. 19 USC in a White Out game at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCs Big Ten Saturday Night. [Read more 🡒]