The possibilities had been there all afternoon for USC because it tried to place No. 4 Penn State away. However as soon as once more Lincoln Riley’s Trojans tiptoed alongside the brink, enjoying quick and unfastened with their Faculty Soccer Playoff hopes hanging within the stability, driving late in the hunt for one final alternative after a painstaking succession of missed ones.
So usually have the Trojans discovered themselves on this place, inside a number of inches of redemption, inside a number of performs of a key win, solely to observe it slip away. As USC took an early two-score lead Saturday, there was hope that it won’t occur once more.
However then the seconds ticked away quicker than anticipated on a crucial late drive, and a cross from Miller Moss sailed larger than anticipated, touchdown within the arms of a Penn State defender, and out of the blue, in time beyond regulation, a determined field-goal try sailed extensive left.
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The alternatives ran dry, and with them, USC’s playoff hopes largely slipped away. Penn State’s Ryan Barker kicked a 36-yard discipline objective to ship USC to a 33-30 defeat, its third loss in 4 weeks.
It didn’t need to be this manner, not after USC dominated the primary half, rolling over Penn State with its run sport. Its protection shut down Penn State’s vaunted run sport all afternoon, holding the Nittany Lions to simply 118 yards. Its struggling offensive line held collectively lengthy sufficient to win.
Even after all of the squandered alternatives, USC took over with lower than three minutes to go and 75 yards to drive for a win. However as USC labored its manner down the sector, Riley misplaced management of the clock. With the Trojans operating out of time, Moss threw one down the sector, hoping to get into field-goal place. It was picked off.
It was a becoming encapsulation of an inconsistent day for USC’s quarterback. Moss threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns, however was by no means fairly in a position to make the performs essential to push USC to victory.
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1. USC operating again Quinten Joyner scores on a nine-yard cross from quarterback Miller Moss within the second quarter. 2. USC security Kamari Ramsey tackles Penn State tight finish Tyler Warren exterior the tip zone within the first half. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Occasions)
These gave the impression to be reserved for Woody Marks, USC’s operating again, who burst out of the gates with an enormous first half, just for Riley to show away from him within the second. Marks completed with 20 carries for 111 yards.
Penn State threw every little thing at USC’s protection, biking all afternoon by means of unusual formations and funky play designs. At one level, Penn State even snapped the ball with its tight finish, who ran downfield and caught a double cross for a 32-yard landing.
That tight finish, Tyler Warren, would account for 43% of Penn State’s complete offense, torturing USC’s protection in a manner that induced flashbacks of the Trojans’ journey to Utah in 2022, when present Buffalo Payments tight finish Dalton Kincaid piled up 16 catches for 234 yards.
The Penn State passing assault would in the end pull them again into the sport, with Drew Allar throwing for 391 yards and two touchdowns.
