LOS ANGELES — Once again, USC had victory within its grasp only to see it slip away in another frustrating loss, 33-30, to Penn State in overtime. The Trojans are 3-3 overall (1-3 Big Ten) and have played their way out of the College Football Playoff conversation.
Here are some final thoughts from the game.
1. Penn State tight end Tyler Warren caught a whopping 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown on Saturday afternoon in one of the most impressive performances I can remember against USC since I’ve been on the beat (dating back to 2018).
Warren’s game brought back memories of Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid against the Trojans two years ago. On that night, Kincaid caught 16 passes for 234 yards and a score — another all-time performance against USC. He and quarterback Cam Rising essentially carried Utah to a 43-42 win that night.
Kincaid’s gaudy numbers felt more about willpower than anything else. He made some pretty tough catches, but the Trojans simply couldn’t tackle him, and he generated so much yardage after the catch.
Warren’s performance was different. USC has had trouble tackling in some of its previous games — mainly against Michigan and Minnesota — but this was the first time this season that D’Anton Lynn’s unit looked a bit confused.
Give credit to Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who called a great game and came up with extremely creative ways to get Warren the ball. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the opposing team and coaching staff. Lynn had some good calls and scored some victories throughout the game, but Kotelnicki won the day.
#USC was out of the national conversation playoff-wise by late October last year. This year, it’s out by mid-October. Not good enough.
— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) October 12, 2024
2. USC’s first touchdown — a 75-yard run by redshirt freshman running back Quinten Joyner — was a product of a great design by Lincoln Riley. Joyner faked the reverse to Zachariah Branch — more on him in a bit — and the defense flowed to Branch while Joyner ran to the opposite side and had an open running lane thanks to key blocks from left tackle Elijah Paige and tight end Walker Lyons.
It was a well-designed and well-excited play on several different levels. And a nice response from Joyner, who was benched for his critical fumble the previous week.
3. During Riley’s first season, it was fun to watch how his offense evolved week to week. Take his guard-tackle counter, which is the bread and butter of his run game. USC ran that play against Rice to open the 2022 season. The next week, the Trojans ran a screen to a receiver that came off the same action. A few weeks after that, Riley called a play based off the same run action that resulted in a dump-off to a receiver in space for a chunk of yardage.
That is just one example of how layers were added to the offense week after week based on one or two plays that were called early in the season.
That has seemingly happened less frequently over the past two seasons. There are times when USC has a great design — such as the Joyner touchdown run or the fake reverse flea-flicker touchdown against Washington last season — that catches an opponent by surprise. But there doesn’t seem to be the same growth or offensive creativity over the past two years as there was in Year 1.
GO DEEPER
Morales: After another close loss and a 3-3 start, USC simply needs more from Lincoln Riley
4. Branch was expected to be one of the most explosive players in the country this season, but the big plays have been lacking. His most impactful play against Penn State was the fake reverse when he was used as a decoy.
The Trojans haven’t come up with innovative ways to get him the ball — they’ve kind of forced some longer passes to him that haven’t quite worked — and Branch hasn’t consistently been separating from opposing defensive backs. And when he has, quarterback Miller Moss hasn’t been able to connect with him.
Branch had two catches for 6 yards on Saturday and now has 23 receptions for 233 yards on the season. He hasn’t made any impactful plays in the return game since the opening week.
5. No USC receiver has more than 262 yards this season. The team is halfway through the regular season now. The receiver group was thought to be the best unit on the roster. But for the second consecutive season, the play from the position has underwhelmed.
Moss played his worst game of the season on Saturday. He made a bad throw to Duce Robinson that was intercepted on the final drive. So he has to be better. The offensive line hinders the passing game too. But the receivers have to step up and be better as well.
6. One of the things that has been lost during this brutal four-week stretch for USC is the play of running back Woody Marks.
Marks rushed for 111 yards against a good Penn State defense on Saturday. He also caught two passes for 44 yards. Marks has rushed for at least 100 yards in four of the Trojans’ six games this season. He’s also caught 21 passes for 189 yards.
He’s consistently making smart plays, too. There was the forced fumble against Michigan’s Kenneth Grant, and on Saturday, USC called a throwback pass to Moss that Penn State had completely covered. Marks wisely kept the ball and cut back for a gain of 21 yards.
Through six games, Marks has been the team’s best offensive player.
7. That being said, Joyner probably needs to get more touches moving forward. He’s explosive and runs hard. This offense needs to generate more big plays, and he’s one of the few realistic options who can create them.
8. It was a tough day for USC’s pass defense. There was the aforementioned performance from Warren. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar threw for 391 yards — by far the most USC has allowed this season.
To be fair, the pass defense would be better if the D-line could consistently apply pressure. But the reality is that it can’t. That makes life tougher for the secondary.
Corner John Humphrey has struggled lately and was targeted on a fourth-and-7 and a fourth-and-10 on Penn State’s game-tying drive.
Safety Kamari Ramsey has been a great addition and is a key reason why the tackling has improved. He came close to intercepting three passes on Saturday.
9. To me, USC’s inability to close out games this season is a line-of-scrimmage issue.
When a team is leading late, it needs its pass rush to finish off games. The Trojans went sackless on Saturday and have just six this season, which is tied for 119th nationally.
On offense, when a team is trying to salt the game away it has to be able to run the ball when the opponent knows it wants to run the ball. USC struggles with that, too.
It’s just not a very good position to be in.
10. Some snap counts from the Penn State game that stood out to me (all per TruMedia).
Defensive end Braylan Shelby played a season-high 43 snaps. Safety Zion Branch played a season-high 42. Ramsey played more of a hybrid linebacker role, which created an opportunity for Branch to see more playing time as USC went with Branch, Ramsey and safety Akili Arnold on the field at times.
I’ve been high on true freshman Desman Stephens II for a bit and he received 16 snaps. He also notched a second-quarter interception that he returned 42 yards. Stephens displayed his ball skills and athleticism on the play. He will need to add more weight, even though he’s built well already, but the potential is certainly there as he matures and becomes even more acclimated to the college game.
True freshman defensive lineman Jide Abasiri played nine snaps. It wouldn’t be a surprise if his snap count continues to increase in the coming weeks.
11. A road game at Maryland is next up for USC. If the Trojans are going to make anything out of this season, they have to win this game. The Terrapins were blown out by Northwestern, 37-10, at home this past weekend and lost by 14 points at Indiana two weeks before that.
Maryland just isn’t playing good football right now. The Trojans haven’t played well on the road, though, so something will have to give next weekend.
The second half of the season should tell us a lot about USC’s culture now that it’s out of the College Football Playoff race.
(Photo of Quinten Joyner: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
