LOS ANGELES โ No. 4 Penn State dug itself out of a two-touchdown hole early and got a defensive stop in overtime to avoid an upset against USC and take home a 33-30 victory.
Penn State won the overtime coin toss and put its defense on the field first. That decision paid off when Dani Dennis-Sutton tackled USC running back Woody Marks for a three-yard loss. USC kicker Michael Lantz then missed the 45-yard kick.
Penn Stateโs Ryan Barker walked on and coolly hit a 36-yard game-winner to have the Lions leave L.A. with a comeback victory in tow.
The Lions started in a 17-3 hole before finally waking up after their West Coast flight to play the Trojans, the first of what promises to be many long road trips in the reconfigured Big 10 for James Franklinโs squad.
Penn State tight end Tyler Warren put the team on his back, setting a program record for receptions, but the early deficit and two Drew Allar interceptions were too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome in regulation.
USC got out to the big lead by leaning on running backs Marks and Quinten Joyner.
After a long Penn State drive yielded a field goal to open the scoring, Joyner took a handoff from Miller Moss, faked a reverse, and took off for 75 yards untouched through the Penn State defense to put the Trojans in the driverโs seat.
TO THE HOUSE ๐ก๐ฅ@JoynerQuinten goes 75 yards for @uscfb โ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/gIxvx1KIg8
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2024
At the beginning of the second quarter, Marks burst free for big gains of 21 and 28 yards, setting up USC in the red zone, and Moss found Joyner wide open for a 9-yard touchdown.
With the Lions trailing by 11, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelniecki tried to open things up. Early on, Penn State featured a balanced attack with recently returned running back Nick Singleton.ย
Drew Allar was looking deep downfield for Liam Clifford on a third down. Instead Desman Stephens II intercepted in, and a long return set the Trojans up in field goal range to make it a two-touchdown USC lead.
The teams traded field goals late in the first half, with Barker connecting from 33 yards and USCโs Lantz converting on a 47-yarder with seven seconds left in the half.
The only thing that worked consistently in the first half for the Penn State offense was throwing the ball to tight end Tyler Warren, and that carried over into the third period.ย
After Warren topped 100 yards in the first half, Kotelniecki broke out a trick play to get the tight end open. Warren lined up at the end of an unbalanced line as the teamโs center. He snapped the ball to backup quarterback Beau Pribula. Pribula lateraled the ball to Allar, who lined up as a flanker to the left. Allar found Warren in the end zone, and the tight end made a great adjustment to the under-thrown pass for a 32-yard score.
Double pass TD for @PennStateFball to start the second half! ๐ฅ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/54lph5ddUw
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2024
Another big play to Warren set up yet another Lions score, as Allar found his tight end wide open for a 34-yard completion down the left side to get Penn State into the red zone. Kaytron Allen pounded it in from 1-yard out to tie the game at 20-20.
Warren finished with a school record 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for four yards and threw a nine-yard pass.
But the offense was coming alive, the Penn State defense was tightening. After the second USC touchdown, Tom Allenโs unit yielded drives of -2, 7, 49, 27 and 15 yards while giving up just a total of six points.
Another Allar turnover set USC in great field position again, though. Late in the third quarter, Allar was looking for Khalil Dinkins when his pass was tipped and intercepted by Trojans cornerback Easton Mascarenas-Arnold.
Even though the ensuing USC drive gained just two yards, the Trojans took the lead with Michael Lantzโs third field goal.
A long Penn State drive answered that score, with a nine-play, 72-yard effort falling just short of pay dirt when Warren was tackled at the three-yard line. Barker hit a chip shot to tie the game back up at 23-23.
In the end, it was Marks again that led the Trojans. He caught an 11-yards pass and run for gains of 6, 9 and 11 to get USC into scoring territory with just over five minutes to play. Moss got USC back into the end zone with a 5-yard strike one a slant to Kyron Hudson to make it a 30-23 advantage for the home squad.
Marks ended with 20 carries for 11 yards and also caught two passes for 44 more. He and Joyner combined for 193 yards rushing against Penn State.
But late in the game, Allarโs wide receivers then finally made a mark. With the game on the line on the ensuing Penn State drive, Allar twice completed passes to Julian Fleming on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Singleton got into the end zone on a wide-open swing pass to again tie the game at 30-30.
Both quarterback threw interceptions in the final moments trying to will their teams to a long pass play for a win, but overtime was the only result of those efforts.
Barkerโs kick sealed the deal.
๐ฆFIELD GOAL IS GOOD๐ฆ@RyanBarker111 nails the 36yd field goal for #PennState to win the game 33-30 in overtime!!
๐ https://t.co/ssGVmKU3SD pic.twitter.com/MlD8U60SPn
— Penn State Nittany Lions | Happy Valley Insider (@PennStateRivals) October 12, 2024
