No. 19 Southern California is going through a bit of a bumpy stretch, but the Trojans won’t be getting any sympathy cards from Penn State.
The scuffling Nittany Lions (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) look to avoid a third straight loss Saturday when they host USC (5-1, 2-1) in Big Ten action at University Park, Pa.
Penn State is coming off two straight defeats that followed distinctly different scripts.
The team suffered a 24-20 home setback against Wisconsin on Sept. 26, as the Penn State defense allowed the Badgers to score two touchdowns in the final four minutes. The Nittany Lions were then trounced by host Northwestern last Friday, being outgained 506-291 while allowing the Wildcats to hold the ball for more than 36 minutes.
“We lack our identity right now across the board — offensively, defensively and on special teams — to who we want to be and how we want to win football games,” said Penn State first-year coach Matt Campbell.
Rocco Becht has one touchdown pass and three interceptions over the last two games. The Nittany Lions also have struggled to gain traction on the ground over the last two weeks, averaging 3.3 yards per carry against Wisconsin and 2.2 against Northwestern.
“We need to be better with the other 10 people around him, too,” Campbell said in defense of Becht. “We need to be better in our pass protection at times, we certainly need to be better in terms of our run game. So we can get him into a rhythm, so he can play with great consistency. We haven’t been able to do that, and obviously that is frustrating.”
The Nittany Lions will try to get back on track against the Trojans, who absorbed a 14-point home loss to Oregon on Sept. 26 before bouncing back with a 25-21 triumph against visiting Washington. Even the victory was not a flawless effort as USC trailed 21-10 midway through the third quarter before rallying.
“No team comes out perfect,” said defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, who returned a fumble 48 yards for the go-ahead touchdown amid USC’s comeback. “And I feel as though it takes time. Time is something we are working on managing, and we will definitely go fix that stuff right now.”
USC’s issues against Washington included nine penalties, a stifled rushing attack that averaged 3.5 yards per carry, and an interception by Jayden Maiava, who finished 21 of 34 for 245 yards and a touchdown.
“We’ve got to eliminate (the mental and physical mistakes),” Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said. “I think that’s every team’s challenge at this point. … We’re capable of winning all of them, but we’ve got to play cleaner.
Before coaching USC, Riley spent five seasons at Oklahoma (2017-21). During his time in the Big 12, he frequently coached against Campbell, who patrolled the sidelines at Iowa State from 2016-25, and Riley went 4-2 in head-to-head meetings.
“It’s still going to come down to the 11 guys on the field executing, blocking, tackling, the fundamentals of the game,” Riley said. “That’ll be way more of the story, although I’m sure the (coaching familiarity) will get talked about quite a bit.”
USC and Penn State have met only once in the regular season in the last decade — a 33-30 overtime win by the Nittany Lions on Oct. 12, 2024.
