Jayden Maiava leads No. 19 USC past Penn State 31-23

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Jayden Maiava completed 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards with three touchdowns and No. 19 USC outlasted Penn State 31- 23 on Saturday night.

Trent Mosley, Tanook Hines and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt caught touchdown passes, King Miller ran for a score and Caden Chittenden kicked a field goal for the Trojans (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten), who overcame a boisterous crowd that was the largest in Beaver Stadium history.

The vast majority of the announced 114,419 were clad in white for the annual White Out game, desperate to see the first Big Ten win of the Matt Campbell era.

They were repeatedly shushed instead as the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3) fell to 13-10 in their marquee event after failing to keep pace with a USC offense that averaged nearly eight yards per play through the first three quarters.

They were quieted for good in the fourth when Christian Pierce punched the ball away from Brett Eskildsen with 3:59 to go in regulation.

Penn State never got the ball back and USC’s offense was able to kill the rest of the clock and improve to 7-5 in the series.

“It’s one of my favorite wins as a head coach now question, for so many reasons,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “Obviously phenomenal atmosphere, as good as it gets there in college football, so give credit to Penn State, their fans, but really proud of our team, man.”

Maiava, who was perfect on a quick opening scoring drive, led the Trojans on two more in the first half, each of which was answered by Penn State for a 17-17 halftime tie.

“Great team victory,” Maiava said. “Credit to their fans for showing up, but the guys handled it well.”

The Trojans attempted an onside kick to start the second half, but Penn State recovered and used the short field to take their only lead of the night on a 35-yard field goal from Ryan Barker.

Miller’s 13-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play drive on USC’s next possession and gave the Trojans the lead for good.

Rocco Becht completed 21 of 32 passes for 289 yards with a touchdown for the NIttany Lions, who lost their third straight.

Carson Hansen ran for a touchdown, Andrew Rappleyea caught another and Barker kicked two field goals for the Nittany Lions.

“It was one of the most impressive environments that I’ve been able to coach (in) and be a part of,” Campbell said. “And I think my disappointment is right now we can’t give them the result that they deserve, but the reality is we will and we will find the pathway forward.”

Stingy Trojans

USC’s run defense has gotten better over the last three weeks.

After allowing 168 rushing yards to Rutgers on Sept. 19, the Trojans tightened up and surrendered just 138 and 116 respectively to Oregon and Washington. They had their best performance inside Beaver Stadium where Penn State managed just 68 yards on 31 carries.

The 2.2 yards-per-carry average jumped out to USC defensive end Luke Wafle who finished with five tackles and a sack.

“That’s what we emphasize on the d-line, stop that run,” Wafle said. “You close that little section of their playbook and the game gets a lot more fun.”

The takeaway

USC: The Trojans outgained Penn State 430 to 357 and Mosely was hard to tackle all night. He generated 111 yards on nine catches.

Penn State: After absorbing criticism for conservative calls in back-to-back losses heading into the White Out, Campbell was aggressive from the start. Penn State converted three fourth downs on scoring drives and played their best conference game under the new leadership.

Up next

USC: Visits Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) on Oct. 24.

Penn State: Visits Michigan (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) on Saturday.

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here