Lights Out in Happy Valley: USC crashes Penn States White Out party with stunning upset
Nearly 107,000 fans dressed in white, packed Beaver Stadium and prepared to make life miserable for Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans. Instead, USC turned out the lights on Penn State’s White Out. Inside one of college football’s most intimidating environments, No.19 USC silenced Happy Valley with a stunning 31-23 victory Saturday Night, improving to 6-1, and finally delivering the kind of signature road win that has largely eluded Riley’s program. Quarterback Jayden Maiava was magnificent, completing 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns.
Freshman receiver Trent Mosley, returning from injury, caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown, while running back King Miller rushed for 102 yards and another score on 19 carries.The offense was explosive as it has been all season, and the defense was occasionally maddening as usual, but somehow, USC still found a way. For much of the first half, the Trojans’ secondary looked like it had mistaken Penn State’s receivers for tourists, repeatedly allowing them to roam freely through busted coverages.USC scored first when Maiava found Mosley for a touchdown following a critical fourth-down conversion.Penn State answered, but Maiava responded with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tanook Hines early in the second quarter.Again, the Nittany Lions counterpunched.Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht, who finished with 289 passing yards and a touchdown, repeatedly exploited USC’s defensive lapses.
The teams entered halftime tied 17-17 after Ryan Barker drilled a 48-yard field goal as time expired.It was an all-too-familiar sight for USC fans: Riley’s offense playing beautifully while the defense threatened to burn the whole operation down.But the second half offered something different.USC tried to catch Penn State by surprise with an onside kick to open the second half, but the NIttany Lions recovered and started the third quarter with great field position.They settled for a field goal to take a 20-17 ...