State College, Pennsylvania – A raucous, partisan, record-setting, “White-out” crowd of 114,419 at Beaver Stadium fanned the enthusiasm of the Nittany Lions against No. 19 USC but to no avail. The Trojans (6-1, 3-1) took advantage of a very lethargic Nittany Lion team, 31-23. At our 121st Penn State game since 1980, this was the worst performance by any Penn State team that we ever attended. The perspective has nothing to do with the final score, but primarily by what we witnessed on the playing field.
The Lions showed no aggressiveness nor desire to win. An experienced coaching staff also demonstrated they have no concept of clock management. Totally inept regarding some rules and basic play strategies. They need to build some toughness within their team evidently. The Trojan coaching staff took advantage. On the field, USC did whatever they wanted to without a challenge from these faint-hearted Lions (3-3, 0-3).
USC takes advantage of “sad-sack” Lions
Trojan QB Jaden Maivia (21 for 33, 301 yards, 1 TD) felt no pressure from the Nittany Lion front during the entire game. Stalwart LB Tony Rojas recorded the lone PSU sack and one of only two tackles for losses for the Lions among his ten stops on the day. Maiava had plenty of time to throw. He never got forced to hurry. He found receivers open with lots of time to disengage from defenders.
WR Trent Mosley led the Trojans receiving corps with nine receptions for 111 yards and a TD. Tanook Hines caught four for 82 yards and a TD. RB King Miller picked up 102 yards and one TD on the ground. He consistently moved forward on his 19 carries. Kayden Dixon-Wyatt caught the other TD for the Trojans among his four receptions. The Nittany Lion defense rarely stopped the Trojans who punted only twice. On offense, Penn State runners show no desire to fight for extra yards in short yardage situations.
Trading scores early
The Trojans set the mode on their first possession driving 75 yards for a TD. Maiava connected with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Mosley. Penn State countered with a 75-yard scoring drive. On fourth and two at the Trojan 13, Becht tossed a short pass to the left. TE Andrew Rapplayea took it in to tie, 7-7. The teams exchanged punts on the next two possessions.
Second period mimics the first
USC drove 80 yards. Early in the period, Maiava hit Hines to end it with an 11-yard TD pass. PSU came right back starting from the 25. A 37-yard pass to Chase Sowell (four catches for 95 yards) put PSU at the USC 19. At the three, after review, Chris Hansen held the ball overhead to break the plan to tie once again, 14-14. Hansen led the Lions with only a paltry 28 yards on 14 carries. The Lions rushed for only 68 yards on 31 in total. The running game is pathetic, to say the least. More on this later.
The Trojans next misfired on a 56-yard FG attempt. The Lions punted from the 49 on their ensuing possession. USC started from their ten. Two combined Trojan passes eventually put USC at the Lions’ 20. With 2:11 in the half, Caden Chittenden put up a 37-yard FG. The Lion offense drove down to the Southern Cal 30. They lined up for a kick. PSU Ryan Barker suddenly slipped on a warm up kick, but bounced right up. He converted a 47-yard FG to even the score for halftime, 17-17. The stage was set for the Lions to receive the second half kickoff.
USC shows sign of what’s to come
The teams lined up to kick off, but USC came out of the locker room with other ideas. As Guest Game Analyst (GGA) Joe Massimilla noted, USC realized they could dominate the PSU defense. They attempted an onsides kick figuring if they got the short field, they could score again quickly with confidence. However, the Lions recovered at the SC 47. Barker drilled a 35-yard FG to get Penn State its first lead, 20-17. That didn’t last long. USC completed a pass and went to its ground-pounding game until a fourth and one at the PSU 21. What did they do? Six-yard out pass to Mosley for a first down. At the Lions 13, they ran option left where Miller took it in for a 24-20 lead.
USC exploited Penn State on several counts
On this next drive, the toughness, or lack of it regarding the PSU running game, became evident. RB Carson Hansen lacks the toughness, muscle, bulk, or whatever to punish defenders in short yardage situations. He carried several times where the ball was re-spotted after reviews, short of a first down. On the other hand, Becht demonstrated here and on other occasions, that instead of fighting for extra yards, he just goes down.
On the last play of the third, he gained five yards over left tackle and flopped down on the ground untouched. It looked like he could have gotten more yards had he just kept his feet. On the next play, his pass went incomplete. Barker booted a 26-yard field goal, but it struck me and GGA John Massamilla that had Becht stayed up and fought for a few more yards even beyond his “flop,” a touchdown could have been gotten. Penn State’s defense demonstrated they could not stop USC with the football. They needed seven, not three! They could have had the lead again, but instead trailed, 24-23.
Coaching staff with ten years of FBS experience?
Also on this drive, with 4:11 to play in the third, the Lions gained a first down. At some point before the next play, they made a substitution. USC reacted by sending a defensive replacement in at a methodically slow trot. However (and maybe this rule needs to be reviewed), the player coming off the field did the same “after” being replaced. PSU expended a time out to avoid the delay of game penalty. It seemed that PSU coaches mis-timed their substitution. USC’s HC Lincoln Riley took advantage. It would have been helpful for Penn State to still have this one as the game wound down later. Not only this one though, they burnt two more before the game ended.
“PSU Defense needs a stop or it’s all over.”
That’s what all three of my PSU alum GGA’s John, Joe and Brian agreed on with USC getting the ball back. The question was: “When” they scored, how much time would be left? Not surprisingly, the Trojans scored quickly. Maiava led his team on a 71-yard scoring drive. He polished it off with a ten-yard TD pass to Dixon-Wyatt to go up, 31-23, with 11:11 to play. Plenty of time for a Penn State TD and two points? On a third and five from their 40, Penn State used another questionable time-out. The Lions got to the 39 of USC on Hansen’s five-yard run. However, two incompletions and a sack of Becht by DE Luke Wafle for a nine-yard loss. The Lions had to punt from the 48.
USC “outsmarts” PSU?
USC took over on their seven with 6:02 remaining. They gained only six yards and on fourth down, USC set up as if they were going to go for a first down. We and everyone else in attendance figured it would only be to run clock and attempt to draw PSU offsides. But instead of waiting for the Trojans to call time out, Penn State did! No more time outs left? Fooled again. What was Matt Campbell and his experienced defensive coaches in Terry Smith and D’anton Lynn thinking? They coached like amateurs.
USC booted a punt 50 yards to put Penn State on their 40 with 4:08 left and only a two-minute time-out to stop the clock. For a split second, Penn State fans held hope. Becht connected with WR Brett Eskildsan on a crossing pattern at the USC 35. Boom! Right there, S Christian Pierce forced a fumble and S Chasen Johnson recovered at the 35. An 11-yard Trojan run and a16-yard Trojan run took the clock down to two minutes as 114,000+ remaining fans of Happy Valley headed to the exits. Surely many, like us, avoided the post-game radio analysis for a depressing drive home in the dark.
Not the Penn State football we used to know
We wondered how many PSU fans would be returning again this season after this poor performance. How will this team with little fight in it stand up to rising teams like Purdue and Minnesota coming to Beaver Stadium? Joe Massimilla said he can’t wait for their defending national champions wrestling team to start up again! This team looks nothing like any Penn State team we’ve seen play over the years. They got a lot of work ahead to brush up on an attitude starting with toughness to win football games.
On the docket for Week Seven, our 750th game since 1979
Penn State travels to Michigan for a game between to Big Ten has-beens under new head coaches learning how to compete in The Big Ten as opposed to the Big XII. The Wolverines (3-2, 0-2) under Kyle Whittingham seek their first conference win as do the Lions. Too close to call here. Michigan comes off a bye after losses to Iowa and at Minnesota. USC gets a bye in Week Seven before returning eastward to play Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0).
We at collegefootballfan.com head into the thick of SEC play for our 750th game. We join our good friends from Auburn (3-2, 1-2) when they head to Athens, Georgia to play the No. 1 Bull Dawgs (6-0, 4-0). Two seasons ago, we attended this game won by UGA, 31-13. In 1978, we attended this long-standing rivalry with our AU friend and alumnus Charlie Murren, and he invited us again for this one with some Auburn classmates. In ’78, the game resulted in our only FBS tie ever, 22-22. With Georgia coming off a 20-17 win over Alabama and Auburn coming off a bye week, we think this meeting will be interesting.
Read more fun history of many games attended our first 42 Seasons!
If you haven’t already, please click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 746 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person. In 2026, in case you aren’t aware, North Dakota State and Sacramento State join the FBS this season. “Fifty Years” tells our story of how we got to attend our first 652 games!
Read the reviews on the book page and order your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023. Hopefully, you’ll understand how much we love this sport and what we propose for it to survive successfully. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.
Capture some memories
Please buy your copy today and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe some will bring back some of the same memories you encountered when we did. And to us this isn’t a job. It’s our lifelong adventure!
