Despite the 2026 season being disappointing, to varying degrees, for both schools, it was still a highly anticipated matchup of two big programs looking to salvage their year.Penn State chose to make it the "White Out" game, then sold an incredible number of tickets.
A record-breaking number, in fact.The Nittany Lions announced the highest attendance in Beaver Stadium history, packing in a remarkable 114,419 fans for the 7:30 p.m.EDT kickoff.
Penn State was coming off a brutal 34-13 loss to Northwestern where they allowed a whopping 506 total yards, including an almost incomprehensible 413 rushing yards to the Wildcat ground game.USC was one week removed from an ugly 25-21 win over Washington, and two weeks removed from a very poor 41-27 loss to Oregon.FIVE IMPORTANT COLLEGE FOOTBALL QUESTIONS THAT WILL BE ANSWERED AFTER THIS WEEKEND'S SLATEPenn State players prepare to take the field for an NCAA college football game against Southern California amid a whiteout crowd at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Oct.
10, 2026, in State College, Pa.(AP Photo/Barry Reeger)For Lincoln Riley, this had become the latest "must-win" game.
Already on the hot seat, despite his massive buyout, a loss would effectively end any chance USC had of reaching the College Football Playoff thanks to upcoming games against Ohio State and Indiana.Under Riley, SC has also struggled mightily on the road, particularly in the Eastern Time Zone.
Entering Saturday, the Trojans had gone just 4-7 in away games since joining the Big Ten.For Penn State, despite the ugly loss to Northwestern, it was a chance to make several statements.One, that Beaver Stadium is still one of the toughest places to play in the country, and two, that the Nittany Lions would progress in year one of the Matt Campbell era by winning "big games" against ranked teams.Instead, SC made the statement, and in the process, may have cooled off Riley's seat just a bit.Jayden Maiava played one of the best games of his career, completing ...