Penn State defense can’t stop 19th-ranked USC, Jayden Maiava in 31-23 loss

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STATE COLLEGE – Matt Campbell and D’Anton Lynn faced the daunting task Saturday night of what to do with USC quarterback Jayden Maiava and his speedy fleet of wide receivers.

Campbell, the Penn State football coach, and Lynn, his defensive coordinator, had to decide whether to send blitzers at Maiava or drop eight men into pass coverage.

They often chose to rush three and Maiava made them pay for it.

He passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns in the 19th-ranked Trojans’ 31-23 victory before an announced crowd of 114,419, a Beaver Stadium record.

Maiava’s performance spoiled Penn State’s annual White Out Game and dropped the Nittany Lions to 0-3 in the Big Ten and 3-3 overall in Campbell’s first season.

“We tried to have multiplicity, especially against that quarterback,” Campbell said. “How many different ways can we disguise coverage, especially post-snap? There were times when it put us in advantageous situations. The biggest killers were some of the third-down opportunities we couldn’t finish off.

“Getting them to those points and not finishing were killers.”

USC (3-1, 6-1) led 24-23 early in the fourth quarter and had a third-and-goal from the 10. The Lions dropped eight men into pass coverage, but Kayden Dixon-Wyatt still managed to get wide open in the end zone before Maiava found him.

“Those guys spread you out,” Campbell said. “They’re going to try to get their athletes in space. They had time to make plays in those third-down situations and extend the play. We have to find a way to get off the field on third down.”

Freshman sensation Trent Mosley, who had missed the last three games because of an injury, returned and scorched Penn State’s secondary, making nine catches for 111 yards and one touchdown. Tanook Hines caught four passes for 82 yards and one TD several days after saying that the Lions defensive backs didn’t impress him much.

King Miller carried 19 times for 102 yards and a third-quarter TD that gave the Trojans the lead for good.

After Miller’s 13-yard score, Penn State drove down the field and had a first down at the USC 12. James Peoples was stopped for no gain on first down, Rocco Becht scrambled for 5 yards on second down and on third down threw an incompletion to tight end Ben Brahmer, who was covered in the end zone.

Ryan Barker kicked his third field goal of the night to cut USC’s lead to one, but they were the last points the Lions scored.

Becht completed 21-of-32 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown in a much better performance than the ones in his last two games. Chase Sowell caught four passes for 95 yards and Andrew Rappleyea caught seven passes for 63 yards and a TD.

Penn State played better and with more emotion than it did last week at Northwestern, but it wasn’t enough.

“I felt like we took a small step tonight, but we have to be able to finish,” Becht said. “We’re not there yet. We’re far from it.”

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