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Penn State Rallies in 2nd Half to Beat USC in OT Thriller

Tagged under: News, Penn State, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn

| October 12, 2024

Sunny Southern California played the backdrop for the mid-October showdown between #4 Penn State and USC.

Penn State is 5-0 for the fourth consecutive season; no other team in the nation can hold that claim. But in those five games, many believe the Nittany Lions haven’t been truly tested, especially on the road. They have a win over then #19 ranked Illinois, and a quality road win at West Virginia, but given the circumstances, this would be PSUs toughest game yet. One of the many stories in 2024 has been Tyler Warren’s dominance. James Franklin is on record multiple times calling Warren the nation’s best Tight End, his performance today against USC further solidified that claim. Dominance would be an understatement to describe Warren against USC today. Not only did he have one of the greatest receiving games in PSU history, he also played QB, RB, WR, and even Center.

One of Penn State’s key pieces returned to the lineup today in RB Nick Singleton. PSU ran for just 85 yards last week in Singleton’s absence, drastically down from their 200+ average. With Singleton back in the lineup for this week, they were expected to get back to their dominant running ways, but USC had other plans. For a 2nd consecutive week, a team from Los Angeles was able to subsidize the lethal PSU rushing attack. Luckily for Penn State, they won’t play another team from the Southwest of California again this year (Unless PSU plays USC in the BIG10 title or playoff, which is highly unlikely).

USC entered the game with the best weapons the PSU defense has seen in 2024, by far. They go 4-deep at the WR position with Ja’Kobi Lane, Zachariah Branch, Kyron Hudson, and Duce Robinson. USC has athletes. Those four receivers have allowed QB Miller Moss to enjoy a solid season in 2024. Moss entered the game with 9TDs and 4INTs through the first five games of USC’s season. Against a tough PSU defense, USC was able to enjoy their fair of success throughout the game. In the end, the Nittany Lions came out with a W in a thriller.

Here’s how the action unfolded:

The scoring started with a PSU field goal. On one of the wildest drives I’ve personally seen PSU embark on, they dialed up all the crazy plays. Warren caught passes, threw passes, and ran the ball. PSU got all the way down inside the five, but a TD negated by OPI had PSU settle for just three. Then the USC avalanche occurred. It started with Quentin Joyner taking the opening play of the ensuing drive a casual 75 yards.

For one of the first times this year, PSU faced adversity. It was just 7-3, not quite panic mode yet for PSU. That was until Quinten Joyner scored again and USC led 14-3.

After both teams traded field goals, we entered half-time with a 20-6 score in favor of the Trojans.

The 2nd half is when things started to explode.

Penn State, down 14, came out of the locker room in dire need of 7 points. When in trouble, they called Tyler Warren, and he answered. On one of the wonkiest play designs ever, Tyler Warren snapped the ball, waited for the double pass, and then caught the TD. OC Andy Kotelnicki was deep in his bag on that call. Then, after a defensive hold, Penn State went right back down with a Kaytron Allen TD. The game was tied 20-20.

It’s been well-documented how good Drew Allar has been this year at being careful with the ball. He entered the day with just 1INT in the prior 5 games, he threw three today. The 2nd of 3 was a tipped ball that gave USC the opportunity to take the lead with a field goal, 23-20 Trojans.

PSU was able to go down and get 3 back to tie it again, back and forth, and then some.

With just 10 minutes left in the game, QB Miller Moss went on a 9-play, 75-yard drive in under 5 minutes, and USC led 30-23. With under 5 minutes left in the game, Penn State would need 7 points on their most important drive of the season. PSU was able to work it into USC territory, on a 4th and 10 from the USC 39-yard line, Allar navigated and found Julian Fleming for a huge completion. The drive continued, but not for long. After missing last week’s game, Nick Singleton got free on an underneath route, game was tied at 30-30. Miller Moss would get the ball back, with a chance to have a career-defining drive.

The drive started with a couple of nice completions to move the ball. USC could taste the game-clinching field goal, until they couldn’t. Miller Moss missed a throw and it was picked off, Penn State attempted to get a miracle at the end of the game but failed and we went to OT.

The opening drive did not go to plan for the USC offense. They lost three yards in three plays and had to settle for a 45-yard field goal, which was missed. PSU needed just three.

The Penn State kicking group has been a talk of discussion all year, and not for good. It felt fitting that this great of a game would come down to a kick. When Ryan Barker put toe to leather, Barker became the hero and PSU walked it off in SoCal.

This game showed a lot about PSU. They were tested a lot. Tyler Warren dominated to the tune of 17 catches for 224 yards and a TD. His 17 grabs are tied for the most ever by a TE in FBS history. Although Allar threw 3 INTs, he was incredible today. Allar threw for 391 yards and was clutch all day long. This is a “tell your grandkids” type of game. PSU gets to 6-0. They have a bye next week before heading to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers.

 

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