USC walked out of Beaver Stadium with more than a 31-23 win over Penn State. It left with the kind of performance Lincoln Riley could point to as one of the happiest of his career, in front of a record crowd of 114,419 on Saturday night.
The Trojans did the work on both sides of the ball, and the game turned on the details. USC’s run defense was locked in for four quarters, holding Penn State to 2.2 yards per carry for the night.
When the Nittany Lions did manage to push into scoring range in the second half, USC’s defense tightened again and forced field goals instead of touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Trojans kept answering with touchdowns of their own, and that difference ended up deciding the game.
Riley’s group also carried itself like a team that knew exactly what it was doing. The emotional edge was obvious, and so was the coaching.
By the finish, USC looked like the deeper team, the better-prepared team, the more talented team and the mentally tougher team. That’s not a sentence anyone has been able to write about USC all that often, but it fit on this night.
Riley even stayed after the game and took a literal victory lap in the rain around Westshore Field.
The win pushes USC to 6-1 and keeps the Trojans on schedule in the race for the College Football Playoff. With a bye coming next, USC has a chance to come out of it looking even sharper than it did in State College.
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USC Just Changed The Way Fans Will View This Team
The No. 19 USC Trojans walked out of Beaver Stadium with a 31-23 win that should force a fresh look at this team. For a program that has spent plenty of time under the microscope, winning in that setting gives the season a different kind of weight, especially with Jayden Maiava steering the offense and Hines making key contributions in the passing game.
USC still had to absorb its share of damage along the way, with injuries and defensive issues creating tense stretches against a Penn State offense that found some success on fourth-down tries and hit a few big plays. Even so, the Trojans did enough on third down defense and against the run to protect the lead, which is the sort of travel win that can change how people talk about a team for the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
USC Just Delivered The Road Win Trojans Fans Were Waiting For
Jayden Maiava kept USC on schedule from the start, completing 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-23 win over Penn State. The Trojans outgained the Nittany Lions 430 to 357 and got the kind of road performance their fans had been waiting to see, with the offense setting the tone and the defense doing enough to keep control of a game that stayed competitive deep into the second half.
Penn State kept pressing, leaning into aggressive play-calling and converting multiple fourth downs, but the Trojans answered the pressure with a late defensive takeaway that sealed it. It was another tough loss for Penn State, its third straight, while USC left with a result that could carry real weight as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Framed USC's Penn State Win As Something Much Bigger
Beaver Stadium has a way of testing every part of a team, and USC passed a big one on Oct. 10 with a 31-23 win over Penn State that carried more weight than a single nonconference result. Lincoln Riley came away praising the Trojans performance, and he pointed to wide receiver Trent Mosley as a notable part of the night after Mosley suited up despite some uncertainty earlier in the day.
For Riley, the victory was about more than leaving Happy Valley with a ranked win. He stressed how hard it is to win in that building and framed the outcome as evidence of where USC is headed, a sign his team can handle a tough road stage and still keep building toward something bigger. [Read more 🡒]