Penn State Football to visit USC
UNIVERSITY PARK – No. 4/5 Penn State travels to RV/RV USC on Saturday, October 12 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
NITTANY LIONS ON CBS: Penn State will play its 28th game on CBS on Saturday. The Nittany Lions are 17-10 all-time on CBS, including last season’s 31-0 win over No. 24/22 Iowa.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets USC for the 11th time in program history. Penn State trails 6-4 in the all-time series and is set for the first matchup as Big Ten opponents. Four of the previous 10 meetings came in bowl games. The last regular season meeting was in 2000 when the teams met at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Penn State and USC last played in the 2017 Rose Bowl. Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns while adding 55 receiving yards and a score. Trace McSorley threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns, while scoring once on the ground, and Chris Godwin caught nine passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
FOURTH 100-YARD RECEIVER: Liam Clifford earned his first career 100-yard receiving game last Saturday against UCLA with 107 yards on three catches. Clifford is the fourth Nittany Lion to record a 100-yard receiving game this season, joining Harrison Wallace III (117 at West Virginia), Tyler Warren (146 vs. Bowling Green) and Omari Evans (116 vs. Kent State). PSU has four different 100-yard receivers for the first time since 2017 (Saquon Barkley, DaeSean Hamilton, Juwan Johnson, DeAndre Thompkins).
SECOND HALF SHUTOUT: On the season, Penn State has allowed just 17 second-half points and ranks fourth in the country in second-half points allowed per game (3.4). PSU has not allowed a point in the third quarter this year. After holding UCLA to -9 total yards (5 passing, -14 rushing) in the third quarter, Penn State has allowed just 87 yards on 46 plays (1.9 yards per play) in the third quarter this season. PSU has given up 363 total yards on 127 second-half plays (2.9 per play) and 100 rushing yards on 64 second-half attempts (1.56 per rush).
THE OPPOSITION: USC is 3-2 this season, including 1-2 in Big Ten play, after falling 24-17 at Minnesota last Saturday. Miller Moss threw for 200 yards and a touchdown, while Woody Marks rushed for 134 yards and a score. Easton Mascarenas-Arnold collected a team-high 14 tackles, including one for loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
5-0 – Penn State is the only FBS team to start 5-0 in each of the last four seasons and has started 5-0 in four-straight seasons for the first time in school history.
17 – Tyler Warren scored the 17th total touchdown (14 receiving, 3 rushing) of his career, most all-time among PSU tight ends.
15.08 – Drew Allar leads the Big Ten averaging 15.08 yards per completion, ranking 9th nationally.
8 – Abdul Carter ranks 11th nationally, second in Big Ten, with eight tackles for loss this year.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
Lincoln Riley is in his third season at USC and owns a 22-10 record as head coach of the Trojans.
He led USC to 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl appearance in 2022 and eight wins and a Holiday Bowl appearance in 2023.
He is the only head coach to coach three Heisman winning quarterbacks and the only head coach to have three quarterbacks selected No 1 overall in the NFL Draft.
USC is 3-2 this season and 1-2 in Big Ten play.
The Trojans opened the season with a 27-20 win over No. 13/12 LSU and added wins against Utah State (48-0) and Wisconsin (38-21), but fell against No. 18/17 Michigan (27-24) and Minnesota (24-17).
Last week against the Gophers, USC tallied 373 total yards, including 200 passing and 173 rushing.
Miller Moss threw for 200 yards and a touchdown, finding Duce Robinson for a 3-yard score.
Woody Marks rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown.
USC ranks sixth in the Big Ten in scoring offense (30.8 ppg), seventh in total offense (442.4), fifth in passing offense (292.8) and 10th in rushing offense (149.6).
Moss has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,398 yards and nine touchdowns (four interceptions).
Marks leads USC with 468 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
On defense, the Trojans rank 11th in the conference in scoring defense (18.4), 10th in total defense (316.2), fifth in pass defense (157.6) and 17th in rushing defense (158.6).
LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold leads the defense with 36 tackles (19 solo), while LB Eric Gentry has 30 stops, including 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
UCLA NOTES
The Nittany Lions are 6-3 in Penn State Stripe Out games.
Penn State improved to 5-0 for the fourth-straight year. The Nittany Lions are the only FBS team to start 5-0 in each of the last four seasons.
It is the first time in program history Penn State has started 5-0 in four-straight seasons.
This marks the 35th time Penn State has started a season 5-0 and the sixth time under James Franklin.
Penn State scored on a 16-play, 82-yard drive, covering 8:36 in the second quarter. It was Penn State’s longest drive by plays since a 17-play drive against Iowa in 2023 and its longest drive by time since a 9:04 drive against Indiana in 2019.
TE Tyler Warren recorded his 17th total touchdown (14 receiving; 3 rushing) at Penn State, breaking a tie with Pat Freiermuth (16 receiving; 2018-20) for the most all-time by a PSU tight end.
WR Liam Clifford had his first career 100-yard receiving game with 107 yards on three catches.
The Nittany Lions have allowed just 17 second-half points this season and zero points in the third quarter.
In the third quarter, Penn State held UCLA to (–9) yards (5 passing, -14 rushing) on 11 plays.
Through five games, Penn State has allowed just 87 yards on 46 plays (1.9 yards per play) in the third quarter.
Penn State has allowed 363 total yards on 127 plays (2.9 yards per play) in the second half this season, including 106 yards on 34 offensive plays to UCLA in the second half.
The Nittany Lions are allowing just 100 rushing yards on 64 attempts in the second half this season (1.56 yards per rush).
